Use this 6-step method when you are behind on everything - try this!
Summary
TLDRThe video script offers a six-step method to help students overcome the overwhelming feeling of being behind in their studies. It emphasizes prioritizing study materials, creating a traffic light document, developing a study schedule, working with trusted classmates, finding a focus space, and applying active recall techniques to ensure efficient and effective learning.
Takeaways
- 📚 Prioritize study materials by identifying strengths and focusing more time on weaknesses to efficiently use study time.
- 🚦 Use a 'traffic light document' to visually categorize topics based on proficiency levels, aiding in focused revision.
- ⏰ Create a study schedule with timed blocks for focused study sessions and regular breaks, following the Pomodoro Technique for better concentration.
- 🔄 Incorporate space repetition and interleaving in the study schedule to optimize learning and retention.
- 🤝 Collaborate with trusted classmates for mutual support, leveraging each other's strengths to cover weaknesses.
- 🏠 Identify a 'focus space' that is free from distractions and contextually associated with productivity, not rest.
- 🎧 Utilize noise-cancelling headphones or earbuds with white noise to block out external distractions and maintain focus.
- 📝 Actively engage with the material using active recall techniques such as the 'F' technique, practice tests, and diagrams to enhance understanding and retention.
- 🔍 Seek clarification from classmates on challenging concepts, and reciprocate by helping them with your strengths.
- 📈 Reflect on past exams to understand content emphasis and professor's preferences, aligning study efforts with likely exam focus.
- 🛠️ Use the six-step method as a structured plan to tackle overwhelming study periods and maintain mental health.
Q & A
What is the main challenge described in the video script?
-The main challenge described is feeling overwhelmed and behind in studying for various exams, leading to a cycle of guilt and paralysis due to the volume of material to cover.
What does the speaker, June, offer to help students overcome their study challenges?
-June offers a six-step method that students can utilize to manage their study time effectively and maintain mental health when feeling overwhelmed by study material.
What is the significance of prioritizing study materials in the first step?
-Prioritizing study materials is crucial to focus time and effort on areas of weakness while avoiding spending unnecessary time on strengths, thus making the study process more efficient.
Why is it important to consult with trusted classmates when identifying study priorities?
-Consulting with trusted classmates provides insights into challenging concepts and areas emphasized by professors, which can be critical for exam preparation.
What is the 'traffic light document' and how does it help in studying?
-The 'traffic light document' is a tool used to visually organize and prioritize study topics by color-coding them based on proficiency levels (green for strong, yellow for adequate, and red for weak areas), helping to identify and focus on areas needing improvement.
Why is creating a study schedule an important step in the process described by June?
-Creating a study schedule is important for efficient time management and to ensure that study sessions are productive and well-paced, preventing burnout and maintaining focus.
What is the Pomodoro Technique mentioned in the script, and how does it apply to the study schedule?
-The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that breaks work into intervals (typically 25 minutes) separated by short breaks. It's applied in the study schedule by setting focused study periods followed by short breaks to enhance productivity and prevent mental fatigue.
Why is it beneficial to work with trusted classmates during the study process?
-Working with trusted classmates is beneficial because it allows for mutual support and teaching, leveraging each other's strengths to cover weaknesses, and enhancing understanding through simplified explanations and immediate clarification.
What does the speaker mean by finding a 'focus space' and why is it critical for effective studying?
-A 'focus space' is a dedicated, distraction-free environment conducive to concentration. It's critical for effective studying as it helps maintain mental focus, preventing the loss of productivity due to external distractions.
How does active recall application fit into the study process described in the script?
-Active recall application is a technique that involves actively engaging with the material to strengthen memory and understanding. It's crucial for effective studying as it promotes deeper learning and better performance on exams that require synthesis and application of knowledge.
What is the purpose of using contextual cues when setting up a study environment, according to the script?
-Using contextual cues, such as a specific desk lamp or a particular room, helps to associate the environment with focused work, making it easier to enter a productive state and reducing the likelihood of feeling tired or fatigued.
Outlines
📚 Overcoming Study Overwhelm: A Six-Step Method
The speaker, June, empathizes with students feeling overwhelmed by exam preparation and offers a structured six-step method to tackle the stress and catch up on studies. The focus is on recognizing the universal experience of being behind and the importance of a mentally healthy approach to studying. June introduces the steps and encourages students to use the method when feeling overwhelmed, especially after experiencing the relief of exam season's end.
🎯 Prioritizing Study Materials and the Traffic Light Document
The first step involves prioritizing study materials by identifying strengths and weaknesses. June suggests using past class reviews and trusted classmates' insights to focus study time on weak areas. The 'Traffic Light Document' is introduced as a tool to visually organize topics by comfort level with green for proficient, yellow for adequate, and red for poor. This document also serves as a cheat sheet for exam preparation, allowing for quick reference and reinforcement of key points.
⏰ Creating a Study Schedule with the Pomodoro Technique
June emphasizes the importance of creating a study schedule to efficiently utilize time, suggesting a modified Pomodoro Technique with 45-minute study blocks followed by 5-minute breaks. The schedule should accommodate daily routines and integrate active learning techniques like spaced repetition and interleaving. This approach helps maintain focus and prevents burnout, ensuring consistent and effective study sessions.
🤝 Collaborating with Classmates for Mutual Benefit
The fourth step highlights the value of working with trusted classmates to exchange knowledge and clarify difficult concepts. June explains that understanding and teaching topics to others can solidify one's own knowledge and provide simplified explanations that cut through unnecessary details. This collaborative approach leverages individual strengths to address weaknesses and fosters a supportive learning environment.
🧘♂️ Finding Your Focus Space and Managing Distractions
June discusses the critical nature of finding a focus space conducive to study, sharing personal experiences of creating a quiet and distraction-free environment. The use of noise-cancelling headphones, white noise, and visual barriers like dividers helps maintain concentration. The importance of contextual cues is also highlighted, suggesting that studying in the same place as sleep can hinder productivity due to associated environmental triggers.
🔍 Active Recall and Application for Effective Learning
The final step stresses the utility of active recall techniques for effective learning, especially under time constraints. June advocates for methods that require meaningful effort, such as the Feynman Technique, practice tests, and diagrams, over passive rereading or note-taking. These active methods promote deeper understanding and retention, preparing students to excel in exams that demand synthesis and application of knowledge.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Exams
💡Overwhelming
💡Prioritize
💡Traffic Light Document
💡Study Schedule
💡Trusted Classmates
💡Focus Space
💡Active Recall
💡Spaced Repetition
💡F Technique
💡Mental Health
Highlights
Students often feel overwhelmed and guilty due to the pressure of studying for various exams.
June You introduces a six-step method to help students manage their study load and mental health.
The importance of prioritizing study materials based on strengths and weaknesses is emphasized.
Utilizing the four-stage Learning System for effective post-class reviews to identify strengths and weaknesses.
Consulting trusted classmates for insights on challenging concepts and exam emphasis.
Reviewing past exams to understand content emphasis and professor's preferences.
Creating a 'traffic light document' to visually manage and prioritize study topics.
Using the Pomodoro Technique for efficient study sessions with regular breaks.
The significance of space repetition and interleaving in the revision process.
Working with trusted classmates to exchange knowledge and clarify difficult concepts.
Finding a focus space free from distractions to enhance concentration.
Using contextual cues to create an environment conducive to studying.
Active recall applications are crucial for effective learning and exam preparation.
Techniques like the Feynman Technique and practice tests foster deeper understanding.
The importance of restructuring and reorganizing material for personalized learning.
June You offers to create more videos on each learning application technique.
Encouraging community engagement by asking for feedback and additional tips in the comments.
The video concludes with a reminder to subscribe and take care, highlighting the supportive nature of the channel.
Transcripts
math exams English exams physics exams
chemistry exams computational exams
engineering exams they're here and
you're behind and I know exactly what
that feels like that overwhelming sense
of emotion and feeling constantly guilty
because you're in this endless cycle of
knowing that you have so much to study
for but at the same time feeling
paralyzed in the moment because it is so
overwhelming man I think that that's
probably Universal experience for all of
us students and I want to help you get
out of it life happens no matter how
perfect youy try to make your Learning
System no matter how perfect you go
throughout the processes I get it life
gets in the way and sometimes we feel
behind I want you to have a six-step
method that you can utilize so that when
you're in those moments you can
immediately jump to it know how to get
out of it and so that you can continue
living not just a productive life but
also a mentally healthy life because
school can become really really
frustrating if you don't know these six
steps my name is June youu if you're new
to the channel welcome if you're
returning welcome back look final
season's just ended I know a lot of us
felt a big sense of relief when it was
over and I know a lot of us struggled
our way through them and I get it
studying for exam season is is really
really difficult and especially when you
feel behind it becomes a 100 times worse
I hope that the Learning System now is
allowed you guys to be productive
throughout the entirety of the term so
you don't feel this way when it comes
down to it but again we had family
health issues the last couple weeks that
made me a little bit behind on some of
the work so I get it life comes in the
way I want to be sure that you guys are
helped and you can save this video and
use it whenever you feel a little bit
behind know your way to dig out of it
and let's get right into it so if you
learned anything in this video please
leave a comment below if you have any
questions leave them below too give this
video a thumbs up and of course
subscribe with all that being said sit
back relax and enjoy the video step one
prioritize your study materials this is
a really crucial step that we begin with
because we have strengths all of us do
right and sometimes when we are going
over topics within our semester some of
them are easier for us whether they're
inherently easy or it's just because you
had background knowledge on it or it's
more relevant to you those are your
strengths and it's important that you
recognize that and then you focus more
on your time on the weaknesses because
when you're trying to dig yourself out
of this hole why waste all that time in
areas that you're already good at right
it might feel comfortable to stay in
there and be able to do those practice
problems that we're good at solving but
in this period when we are behind we
want to recognize where our weaknesses
are and spend most of our time there so
spend a little bit of time recognizing
where your weaknesses reside and that's
why it's so important that we do stage
three of the four stage Learning System
and stage three was were those post
class immediate reviews and you would do
those for Reflections to identify your
strengths and weaknesses if you haven't
done that up to this point that's fine
just take a little bit of time here to
really understand what it is that you're
weak on so you can check your syllabi
you can look at what topics are going to
be involved within your exams and then
figure out okay here's some areas that I
feel pretty good at and here's some
areas that I'm weak at and if you need
to go quickly through those PowerPoints
to refresh your brain to say yeah these
are things that I really do recognize
I'm good with them and these things I
have no clue about then you do that but
just have that foundational piece of
this is where our weaknesses reside and
our attention is going to be spent more
there another element to this in terms
of prioritizing your material is going
to be asking your trusted classmates
what they think about where your time
should be most spent where are the most
challenging Concepts right and I say
trusted classmates very specifically
right you want to be utilizing your
friends that are very very up to date
they are people that take their academic
seriously they go to class Etc and if
they have an ability to tell you hey we
have gone through this in class and I
know that you missed a few but these are
the areas in which the professor really
emphasized and it feels like this is
going to be a huge part of the exams hey
June this this area was an area in which
the professor spoke about for a few
classes because a lot of people had
struggle with them I feel like this is
going to be tested on the exam again
great an opportunity for you to quickly
message them hop on a quick haul with
them and get that information from them
and then the third part about
prioritizing your study material just
quickly go through past exams we're not
going to actually go and start
practicing with them we're not going to
go and actually utilize the practice
test for our active recall application
but simply go there and look at content
emphasis right of course your past exams
aren't going to be the exact same ones
that you're going to have to take but
there are going to be great indications
for you in terms of where are certain
areas in which the professor is likely
to emphasize you can take all this
information you can take information in
terms of what you've perceived as your
strength and your weakness what your
what classmates have told you and also
what those past papers are telling you
and you can utilize that to really
prioritize your material and finish up
step one step two this is what I call
the traffic light document and this is
one that I've been using for quite a
while and I think it's really helpful to
utilize whenever you're trying to dig
yourself out of this hole and it's
simply going to utilize a Google doc or
it's going to utilize an Excel sheet or
simply on a piece of paper it's totally
fine too but in that First Column what
you'll do is write out all those topics
that you had just identified in Step One
and then when you write those down
you're going to also color coat them
based on how comfortable you feel
recalling that information so you're
going to have the color green for you
can do this proficiently and then number
two it's going to be your yellow color
and that's adequately and then your red
is going to be very poorly right and so
what you'll have is this Mirage of green
Reds and yellows that have a good
indication to you visually these are
areas that are really need to work on
and then here's some areas that I'm
feeling a little bit better on but
that's going to be a great great sit
signal to you to always reflect back on
you'll update this as you go along with
your study but what you'll also do is
that you'll leave columns available to
the right side of it and what you'll do
in those columns is input information as
you go through your revision things that
you find are really important things
that you really struggle with or areas
that are really weak for you that you
want to make sure that you write down
and can be able to refresh your mind on
you'll put it on that sheet you'll put
it on this traffic light document and
what this becomes for you the day of
your exams are going to to be the
perfect cheat sheet for you right when
you open up that document immediately
you're greeted with all the things that
you needed to study up to this point you
hav't a good indication of where your
strengths and your weaknesses reside all
the way up to your exams and you can
immediately look next to it to find
specific points in which you wanted to
highlight for yourself and you can
refresh upon it feel a little bit more
comfortable on exam day step three
create a study schedule and again I
think that these first three steps you
might come to me and say hey I just want
to get right into it I want to get right
into the material and I get that feeling
of wanting to just immediately jump into
the material especially when you're
feeling behind but this is much more
effective approach because one you're
going to ensure that every little bit of
time that you use from this point
forward will be utilized efficiently in
ways that you know that you need it but
two especially when you're feeling
extremely overwhelmed and you can't get
yourself to do anything because you feel
paralyzed in that moment it's a really
good thing for you to start with easier
tasks in steps one through three are you
studying that foundation for yourself
it's not going to require a ton of brain
power here but you actually getting
these things done building a structure
for you building that foundation for you
to move forward with is actually going
to build you that positive momentum
moving forward and give you a sense of
you know what like I can actually do
this and so I think that although steps
1 through three seem trivial it's really
important that you do that so with
creating a study schedule usually how
I'll allocate my time is 45 minutes per
weakness and then 5 minute breaks
obviously this is going to heavily
depend on which topics we're looking at
which subjects we're looking at but the
idea is a version of the Pomodoro
Technique right where we're not spending
an entire 6 hours straight just trying
to do our revision why because it's
highly ineffective we want to break them
up into blocks of time where we can be
productive very effectively very
efficiently but also utilize those
brakes to recuperate right to restore
our mental capacity to be able to do the
next session so 45 minutes works well
for me because I'm able to stay focused
for that long but if you find that
that's too long try 25 minutes try 30
minutes but the idea is when you
allocate time in your schedule make it
that way block times like that and then
you'll have those brakes integrated
ensure that you're also making use of
the fact that you're going to have to
wash up in the morning that you're going
to want to probably still go to the gym
Etc and put that as breaks in your
schedule and so maybe you do three
sessions where you have 45 minute blocks
with 5 minute in between breaks and you
want to do a longer break great go wash
up and put that 20 minute 30 minute
break into your schedule and then come
back to stunning or perhaps that 30
minutes is going to be you going out for
a walk integrate those types of braks
and always have them chunked into little
sessions for yourself so you can
actually stay consistent and efficient
throughout that entire process another
thing that I want to talk about is space
repetition in leaving we've talked about
both of those techniques a whole lot and
so ensure that you're integrating both
of those in your revision Tim taes and
you're not just doing one topic for one
whole day and then moving to a
completely different topic the next day
and then never revisiting the first
topic because that's going to be
inefficient knowing the forgetting curve
knowing how much you're going to forget
by the time it comes to your exam so
ensure that you're integrating those
optimal breaks of those 5 minutes 10-
minute breaks and then if you're going
to go to the gym or going to go watch up
integrate that as breaks and then also
ensure that you're integrating space
repetition and inner leaving step four
work with trusted classmates we've
already spoken to these classmates and
try to G an understanding of what they
believe the content emphasis will be but
utilize your friends here and help them
and then have them help you you see your
weaknesses might be their strengths and
their weaknesses might be your strengths
this is a great opportunity for both of
you to utilize each other and help each
other why because when you know a topic
really well and hopefully you've been
using the F technique up to this point
you're going to be able to simplify to
its crucial components you don't need
that extra fluff and so when you go and
read a textbook yeah you're going to be
hit with a lot of fluff right there's
going to be a lot of irrelevant material
and if you are in a time crunch and
you're trying to dig yourself out of
that hole it might be much more
efficient for that friend to just
explain it to you or to teach you the
way without all that right and without
all that fluff and it might be a lot
more effective for you to be able to ask
the questions immediately and ask for
clarification points but also get them
to try to fix their explanations that
will help them too so you guys are
utilizing your fing techniques together
and this is just a great opportunity
because I have two really great friends
that I utilize them and anytime that I
do feel like I'm in a hole and they'll
utilize me the same way because we are
all students that stay on top of the
material for the most part but when we
do have weaknesses usually we can ask
the other person and the other person is
able to clarify or at least build a
strong foundation so that when we go and
do other the research about it and do
topical reading about it it becomes a
lot more relevant cuz we have that type
of foundation so utilize your trusted
classmates again trusted don't just
utilize any of your classmates if you
have classmates that are going to be
lack of day school here there's no point
in asking them for help cuz you're just
wasting your time step five find your
focus space this is critical there are
so many distractions around us our
phones are one example of them but just
in general especially when I was growing
up I lived in a very loud household and
that was hard for me because every area
that I was going to was loud as filled
with people talking and even during the
day or at night I couldn't find any
place that I could do my work and I
could stay focused throughout the period
of it and so what I've done over the
past several years now is always find
what my focus space is going to be for
my first few years in college it was the
library and I found those little rooms
that you could rent out beforehand
nobody was coming in there and I could
stay locked in sometimes it was within
my own apartment but again my apartment
was sometimes loud with friends over and
so that wasn't always the best situation
but I also found that it's great when
you can utilize noise cancelling
headphones or noise cancelling earbuds
and put white noise on this I to if
you're living in a very loud situation
so that's what I would do growing up I
would have my noise cancelling earbuds I
would put on white noise on the side cuz
obviously there would be some leakages
with the earbuds and I could still hear
noise but then it would be muffled by
the white noise outside of it and I
would buy myself like a $5 divider from
Amazon and that would put my focus
exactly where I need to was which was
all my work I I wasn't tempted to look
around because mental focus is going to
follow visual Focus if you're visually
distracted you're going to be mentally
distracted as well and same thing with
sounds if you're going to be distracted
with sounds around you it's going to be
hard for you to focus on your work and
so when I have that when I have the um
earbuds and I have the white noise I'm
good with my hearing and then when I'm
talking about looking I'm good with my
divider cuz I can't look at any type of
external distraction around me and then
I would always carry a little timer
around with me and I would always look
at that if I needed a break I would look
at that timer and think to myself okay
here's the time that I have left for it
but also watching that timer would get
boring really quickly so I would
immediately go back into my work etc but
it would just give me something to look
at that was still going to be effective
instead of distracting me and so that
Focus space is going to be important not
just so that you can lock in but also
contextually your environment matters in
other words that's why it's not a good
idea for you to study in your bed or
study in the same exact room as your bed
all the time because contextually you
have Associated your bed with sleep with
rest and when you get to that point in
which you're trying to pull out your
study material and you're on your bed
all of those contextual environmental
cues are still going to be there so
you're going to feel really tired and
really fatigued but if you go to the
library where you're not supposed to
sleep and you know that and you see
other people studying too you're going
to be much more awake and so having
contextual cues around you is really
really important even for example I have
this lamp on my desk and I really don't
ever use it because I don't need it I
have the lights above me to to do my
work but I put that light on
specifically when I'm doing my deep work
sessions because contextually it just
gives me a cue that hey it's time to
lock in so find your focus space utilize
your contextual cues to ensure that
every time that you sit down and do work
in that position that you're going to be
able to be productive step number six
Active recall applications knowing that
we are in a time crunch knowing that we
have to make the most out of all the
time that is available to us moving
forward we want to ensure that we're
using techniques that have high utility
what are techniques that have low
utility it's ones that are passive it's
ones don't require meaningful effort if
you are just rewriting or if you are
just rereading a textbook or
highlighting passively that's not going
to actually provide you the depth of
learning required for you to perform
well on your exams when you get into
higher education especially you'll never
be tested on regurgitation questions
it'll always be questions that require
you to synthesize new knowledge or
perhaps compare and contrast or to
contextualize or to provide examples
with and and that can be very difficult
and if you don't have the type of
techniques that's going require you to
have that depth of knowledge in what
world are you going to be able to
perform well on your exams right and so
you want to ensure that those techniques
are actually going to be applicable and
help you for your exams and that's where
active recall applications are going to
come into play so you have your learning
method you have your fing technique you
have your practice exams and diagrams
here are another great tool for you to
utilize we just talked about how those
exams are going to require you to
synthesize new knowledge compar and
contrast contextualized and when you are
revising in a manner in which you're
constantly L seeking for those deeper
linkages between those topics and those
Concepts it's going to allow you to
perform much better when it comes down
to those questions right and so having
an ability for you to always restructure
the material is really critical in your
learning if you are constantly just
looking at Material the way that it's
handed to you whether it's in a textbook
or the way that your professor put their
slides together or if you're just taking
notes from another student learning
isn't happening because you're not
taking that additional step to
reorganize it in a manner that's
relevant to you and that's the actual
important part right to actually break
it down to reorganize to group to
compare and contrast to link information
together to to identify why something is
important and so that's why we have you
doing these types of active recall
applications the burning method the F
technique the practice test along with
these diagrams and if you do that you'll
be actually making the most out of your
time and you'll actually get the type of
learning outcomes that you want that
allow you to perform well on the
upcoming exams but also allow you to
keep that information in your brain
after the exams are over because we know
that information tends to build upon
each other in education okay I would
love to make more videos about each of
those applications and I've done a lot
of that before but I'm more than happy
to talk about that but I feel that if I
just talk about each of them again for
another 10 20 minutes it might be a
really long video so if you can utilize
those six steps the next time you find
yourself in a hole I really do believe
you'll have a lot of success again life
happens it's going to occur that we find
ourselves behind on material but having
an actual plan for us to follow when
we're in those situations can be really
beneficial can alleviate a lot of mental
stress too and that's what I want to do
for you guys I hope that you enjoyed
this video if you have any questions at
all about any of the steps or if you
have anything that I might have missed
that you want to help another person
within this community leave that in the
comments too give this video a thumbs up
and of course subscribe until next time
please take care and I'll see you all at
the
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