I want to know if there is anyone out there who has some good study habits they can share?

Question

I am trying to study for my NCETMB (Massage Therapy) and I am soooo out of the study mode I will always try to find something else to do but study. Are flash cards a good idea? I need an answer from someone who is around my age (45). How do I get back into that same study mode I had years ago (high school).

Answer 1

Decide on a time when you are determined to study.

Flashcards are good for math and terminology. You can also put up stickups around the mirror. Carry the cards in your chest pocket.

Tell your friends to not come over or call during these hours.

Give yourself a break every hour to munch, go to the bathroom or have a cup of coffee.

Be sure that your desk is against the wall, and there isn't anything in your space to distract you. Do not study too much on a comfortable couch or chair.

Do not study in the same room as the television.

Play some soft music that doesn't distract you in order that other sounds be whited out.

Keep reminding yourself why you have this goal and what it is that you want to improve in your life.

Stick to it. It might seem like a year of hell, but you will be so thrilled with the rewards and your change of lifestyle. You'll smile and often pat yourself on the back.

You may have been a good student in high school, but now, you'll do even better. Older students tend to be more focused.

Answer 2

Try flash cards or pop up jornals. read lots of notes and take more than needed. qoute "Take responsibility for yourself
Responsibility is recognition that in order to succeed
you can make decisions about your priorities, your time, and your resources

Center yourself around your values and principles
Don't let friends and acquaintances dictate what you consider important

Put first things first
Follow up on the priorities you have set for yourself, and don't let others, or other interests, distract you from your goals

Discover your key productivity periods and places
Morning, afternoon, evening; study spaces where you can be the most focused and productive. Prioritize these for your most difficult study challenges

Consider yourself in a win-win situation
You win by doing your best and contributing your best to a class, whether for yourself, your fellow students, and even for your teachers and instructors. If you are content with your performance, a grade becomes an external check on your performance, which may not coincide with your internally arrived at benefits

First understand others, then attempt to be understood
When you have an issue with an instructor, for example a questionable grade, an assignment deadline extension, put yourself in the instructor's place. Now ask yourself how you can best make your argument given his/her situation

Look for better solutions to problems
For example, if you don't understand the course material, don't just re-read the material. Try something else! Consult with the professor, a tutor, an academic advisor, a classmate, a study group, or your school's study skills center

Look to continually challenge yourself" UNqoute

Answer 3

You know the rules are easy to give while the good habits are hard to share.
Flash cards are excellent for crash work. Stay on your feet with the flash cards on the table and go after them. Walk around while you review the cards. The movement helps imprint the data.
Also say everything out loud.

I don't know how you go back to high school study mode. I had parents to enforce my lazy response. Course, I did do what I liked!!

So, don't fail to remind yourself that Massage Therapy is what you selected and what you like. Often exams make us forget that we like what we are doing. If reminding yourself that you like your field isn't working -- maybe you got the wrong field. Good luck.

Answer 4

I would add that it is better to study in short periods of time because you always tend to remember things that you study first and last. So taking lots of "mini" study sessions...over several days at least would be better than waiting until the night before and studying five or six hours in a row.

Also at least for me, it's the WRITING that helps me remember. It's the making of the flash cards that makes things stick rather than the process of actually using the flash cards. But with other people it's talking...saying things out loud...or making up songs. Whatever works for you. Just stick with it.

Answer 5

Its hard to get back into study mode when you have been out of school so long. But i used flash cards alot. They really do help. Also i made a spreadsheet on excel and put the question in one column and the answers in another. I would hide the answers and try to answer the questions. It also helps to do the opposite. look at the answers and ask yourself the question.

Answer 6

Flash cards ALWAYS worked for me, but if you aren't into that, try highlighting your notes, only marking the sections that you can't remember...go back through again with a different colored marker, putting a star next to the sections that you didn't recall the second time through, repeat with different colored markings each time until you have memorized all of your notes! Worked like a charm for me! :)

Answer 7

Flash cards are wonderful that is what I used this summer in my psychology class. Also try to take a small tape recorder and tape lectures. Then listen to them at home while you are doing something or what I did is laid in bed at night listened to my lecture and then went to bed, did not watch tv or anything else to distract what I had just heard.

Answer 8

My eighth grade math teacher swore up and down that flash cards will ALWAYS help you study--I agree. Flash cards and repetition help me. And acronyms or funny names to help you remember stuff. For example, one time I had to remember what the word "parapet" meant in 5th grade--I could never remember it, until I told myself that a PET needs a PARAPET to stay inside the yard. I saw the word PET in PARAPET and to this day have never forgotten what it meant. Little stuff like that always helps!