The core of your day should be spent on the Daily Minimums. But what if you’re struggling to do the recommended Anki, QBank questions, and Course videos? You know that some skills take time to master – when is slowing down ok, and what is an ok slow pace?
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At the outset, if you’re not accomplishing your daily minimums, start by looking at four areas. I call these the Four Horsemen of the Study Apocalypse because any one of them can derail the best-laid plans. They are:
If any of these are an issue, you will likely feel like dealing with them is a waste of time. Heck, the reason they are likely such an issue now is BECAUSE you consider dealing with th em a waste of time. However, by NOT dealing with them, you are only digging yourself into a further hole.
My advice? If you have any of them, start dealing with them now.
Burnout is extremely common, especially among those who have:
The problem with burnout is that it is a vicious cycle. Studying while burned out is nearly impossible. Your mind will wander while you’re working and you won’t learn anything. Your breaks will take forever. You won’t concentrate on QBanks, and get lots of questions wrong unnecessarily.
Deep down, you know this. However, you keep thinking, “Suck it up! I’ve been studying for so long, I just need to push through.”
It is counterintuitive, but the fastest way to complete your goals is actually to stop, deal with the burnout, then get back to studying. Will you “lose time”? In a sense, yes. However, by taking 4-7 days of just doing old Anki cards, you can come back more focused.
Studying with severe burnout is like trying to renovate your house while everything is burning. You need to put the fire out first, then get back to work
Studying while burned out is like trying to renovate while your house is burning. Stop the fire (burnout) first, then get back to serious studying. (But don’t forget to keep up with your old Anki cards every day!!!)
But everyone is a little burned out. True! I have found this online calculator useful, to track the degree of burnout in myself/students. Generally, if your score is:
Like burnout, anxiety is a vicious cycle. However, unlike burnout, it’s hard to take time off to recuperate. Instead, here are some activities I recommend:
The goal is to manage your anxiety to the point of increasing your functioning. It’s hard work – and often takes a lot of introspection. However, it will be worth it, as you will likely find yourself more productive and fulfilled.
Scientists have discovered a revolutionary new treatment that makes you live longer. It enhances your memory and makes you more creative. It makes you look more attractive. It keeps you slim and lowers food cravings. It protects you from cancer and dementia. It wards off colds and the flu. It lowers your risk of heart attacks and stroke, not to mention diabetes. You’ll even feel happier, less depressed, and less anxious. Are you interested?
The above description is from Matthew Walker’s “Why We Sleep.” Sleep is one of the most effective cognitive enhancers known. In the above description, Walker imagines what if sleep were a drug. People would pay virtually endless amounts of money for its benefits.
Like burnout and anxiety, a lack of sleep will decrease your concentration and memory, among a host of other negative effects. So why do we sleep so little? We tend to idolize “hustle.” What we don’t realize, however, is that mastery of medicine requires peak concentration.
Similarly, sleeping more doesn’t take away from your studying. In fact, it enhances it.
Feel like you “don’t have enough time to sleep because you have too much to do?” Consider the more likely alternative that you have too much to do because your lack of sleep tanks your productivity.
Want to assess the quality/quantity of your sleep and how much you can improve your effectiveness with better sleep? Take this self-assessment. (Link to journal article describing the SATED sleep measure here).
“If there is one piece of advice I would give everyone, it is regularity. If it is the weekend or a weekday, even if you’ve had a bad night of sleep, wake up at the same time.” [emphasis mine] In the book, he goes one step further, and suggests, “set an alarm for bedtime.”
His tips, per a media profile:
Related – but going beyond simple sleep – read how to effectively rest in this article.
Perfectionism and procrastination may not be identical twins. However, they are often relatives.
Perfectionism can harm your studying because you can’t move on from one thing to do another. It shows up as a day spent only on one thing (e.g., Anki, making cards, etc.) and minimal/sporadic time spent on others.
Procrastination manifests in a slightly different way. Do you find yourself saying you’ll start an activity when you’re “ready”? You keep putting it off, because the conditions aren’t right? You want to be at your peak, you need the lighting to be just right.
Whatever it is, oftentimes procrastination is a form of perfectionism.
To start dealing with procrastination or perfectionism, remember (and live by) the phrase:
Done is better than perfect
Instead of thinking of the entire task, commit to doing only the first step. The hardest part is often starting. Once you’ve begun, let momentum carry you further.
Everyone has things that come easily and not. One possibility is an undiagnosed learning disability.
Most people are not comfortable with entertaining the possibility. Oftentimes we feel shame about anything that might be viewed as a “deficit.” However, there are clear biological reasons why some people struggle with certain test-related tasks, for which there are clear pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic ways of improving.
Take this self-assessment on ADHD and a related diagnosis.
Don’t feel burned out, anxious, lacking in sleep, or like a perfectionist? Great! You are likely the minority.
If the Four Horsemen don’t explain your inability to finish the daily minimums, here are some other ideas specific to Anki and QBanks.
You should be able to do 100 old cards/hour. If you can’t, it is often due to:
Not sure if your cards are too long? Read this.
See more solutions to Anki taking too long here.
In general, you should be able to do/review/make cards on at least 10 questions in an hour.
If you’re close, it’s probably ok – your time should improve over time. However, if you’re only doing 2-3 questions/hour, there is likely a problem.
One common issue we see is people making pathophysiologic chronology cards for everything! Remember, the times to make pathophysiologic chronology cards are if you:
Often, we see people making PC cards for everything, including things they should not be. Common things that do NOT need a PC card:
For more on when to make PC cards, see the FAQ.
For how to make basic cards, click here.
For advice on how to make a compare/contrast cards, click here.
Sometimes, it’s ok to go slower on QBanks. Especially if you’re learning how to make pathophysiologic chronology cards, and want to invest the time to learn that skill.
Remember, there is nothing virtuous about moving slowly, per se. Rushing is bad, but going slowly isn’t necessarily good.
Instead, the key is to focus on acquiring the means/skills for greater long-term results. In other words, spending time to learn how to make good PC cards is a skill that takes time. Investing in learning that now can pay huge dividends later, much like taking the time to make a boat/fishing net can vastly improve the number of fish you catch.
