Tricks to stay focused and study/read?

[Bad Beat Maker]

Hello fellow 2+2'ers. Writing here to ask everyone to please share their tips on staying awake longer or focused in an effort to study longer or read something that you know may benefit (such as a poker related book).

I find myself reading poker books very often, but the bug to just sit down and play is far greater than the want to stay and read. Either that or I just start getting tired after reading 20 or so pages (which isn't alot due to the font size and pictures in the text).

PLEASE HELP! [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

BBM

[Marwan]

My prof used an analogy for studying.. He said something like, if you workout, would you want to workout 7 hours in a day or do you space it out an hour a day to get the full benefit? Obviously working out an hour a day has better benefits for the body opposed to the other one.. Exercising your mind is similar.. I wouldn't focus so much on being able to study for long amounts of time, rather, take studying or reading in smaller increments so that you can absorb it better.. Now if only if I could take my own advice maybe I wouldn't be doing my 4 year degree in 6 years.

[Bad Beat Maker]

I'm right there with ya for the degree.

Thanks.

[Blarg]

If you want to really integrate something mentally so you can carry it with you and have it at your fingertips whenever you want to, I'd suggest studying daily, and refreshing daily. Just going over what you know five minutes a day, by skimming an outline or some flashcards, is tremendously helpful. You can put all the concentration you want into studying a book one day and completely forget it the next. Especially if put under pressure. So try to make what you learn a natural part of your life.

Another tip that's much harder to cultivate for some: Try to like what you're learning. Find some way to make it spark your desire to improve. If you resent what you are learning, your mind will do everything possible to push it out of your memory. This all presupposed you have a natural curiosity about life and the world, which is a big presupposition indeed. But if you can get to be the kind of person who is curious about the world and bettering himself rather than just going through the motions, every thing you try to learn will come easier thereafter.

[KidA]

Nice post Blarg...there's not too much anyone can add after that. Just keep in mind that breaking studying habits, and general habits for that matter, will take some time so don't get discouraged.