[WMDistraction]

I decided to come home due to the extended weekend, and I'm having a really hard time getting myself to study. How I normally study goes like this:

1) gather books
2) walk across the street to the library
3) go to top (quiet) floor
4) sit down at a cubicle
5) read until done

The library I go to has numerous cubicles that, to me, feel extremely isolated. There aren't any distractions, barely anyone to talk to, and you pretty much have to be quiet. It's great place for someone like me to go study, since I easily find distractions in the most mundane of things. I cannot study at home, and I'd feel like a jerk if I went to the local Denny's, ordered a coffee, and sat down and hit the books for the next few hours; but I feel as if that's my only solution. /sobstory

My question I posit to my fellow ENFPs is this:

How do you (or did you, if you're out of school) study?

 

[Essay]

Yeah, I could use advice on this too.

Motivation's a big part, which I think for us comes down to reviewing it all in our head well before until the subject matter gets interesting enough for us to sit down with it.

As far as actual studying goes, I find that dead places where there's both potential to meet people, but no actual people, help. My local library branch is decent for that. Internetless coffeeshops outside of their peak hours are good too.

As I mentioned in another thread, mornings are best for me, the earlier the better, because I don't really have any habits that I fall into in the morning. When it comes to afternoons and evenings, I think my body is just itching to be distracted.

 

[viva]

Yeah... I don't, usually.

Whoops.

 

[WMDistraction]

Yeah... I don't, usually.

Whoops.

I used to do that, but being an English major... It's hard to know the material without reading it, y'know? :tongue:

 

[Essay]

I used to do that, but being an English major... It's hard to know the material without reading it, y'know? :tongue:

Oh, when it came to studying plays, I found I did 100% better when I read the plays in a single day, or even a single sitting. Maybe it's not a personality type thing, but I found that when I got momentum going it was totally worth skipping a meal just to get all the way through a work. But, I mean, it has to be a damn good piece of literature or else that could be pretty painful. That's only good for understanding though. How the hell I passed quote recognition tests I'll never know....

 

[WMDistraction]

Oh, when it came to studying plays, I found I did 100% better when I read the plays in a single day, or even a single sitting. Maybe it's not a personality type thing, but I found that when I got momentum going it was totally worth skipping a meal just to get all the way through a work. But, I mean, it has to be a damn good piece of literature or else that could be pretty painful. That's only good for understanding though. How the hell I passed quote recognition tests I'll never know....

I dread quote recognition. D:

 

[Linnifae]

Studying and I do not get along...unless it's a group study. I learn better in a group. Give me time alone to study and there's no one to bring me back to reality. I was going over some notes the other day on the couch at home. TV off, away from the computer and anything else that could be distracting...my cat jumps up on the couch next to me and I procede to spend the next 5 minutes poking him with my notes. :bored: I try to talk to people about things as I learn them so they stay with me better. Or sometimes if it's just memorization I'll play games with it and try to make up songs and rhymes and tricks that are more entertaining to me than the actual material

 

[Aiam]

They way I studied...if the subject was boring, I made a game of finding all the hidden connections, all the "meta-causalities." F'rinstance, I took Anglo Saxon for a semester, which I didn't think was boring but I did think was difficult, particularly when it came to grammar. It was little "a-hah" moments like this that kept me going:

The word for 'city,' in Old English, is 'ciester.' Pronounced chester. Like Dorchester, Manchester, and on and on.

By finding these little moments of connection--in plays, for instance, I'd find (or create) overarching motivations that attached certain words to certain characters because of their specific behaviors and desires--I built a 'web' of knowledge instead of a hierarchical outline. I grew up in the days before the Internet, but looking back, I studied and internalized knowledge and information in much the same way a web page presents information, with links to pertinent supbjects or items embedded within the topic itself.

As for not being distracted? My mom was very good at that, and it showed when I went to college. So I invented deals with myself. Can't go have dinner until I finish all of the next three chapters/reading assignment/rough draft of weekly paper. I'd make sure the phone ringer was off. I'd politely ask people to not try to get in touch with me until a particular hour.

And to make sure the things I studied took, I made sure I got good sleep the night I studied. I cannot stress enough how much of a difference this makes.

I hope some of this was useful--it allowed me to get myself a master's degree from an ivy league university. And people say ENFPs can't finish anything!

 

[Moby]

Hmm, interesting post.

I DON'T like to study at libraries as, honestly, these days they tend to be filled with screaming kids and laughing teens and the "quiet" rules don't seem to be enforced.

My studying usually starts about 8-9PM and I'll do blocks of 45 minutes on 45 minutes off until about 2AM then bed. I'm great at procrastinating and always find a reason, ANY reason to increase my break time or end my studying early.

During exam period, when one has days in which to study, things go CRAZY. I wake up about noon, and eat a brunch then study about 3PM-2AM again 45 minutes on 45 minutes off. However, I do two unhealthy behaviours: 1.) I don't see friends for about a week during exam time 2.) I always rent a hunting game for my Wii so I can blow away moose or deer...Somehow it really helps break the tension. I also usually get a cold a week or so afterwards since I get kinda stressed. I very rarely get sick otherwise.

The good news is my GPA is still 3.7 despite these battles I fight with myself.

 

[WMDistraction]

Hmm, interesting post.

I DON'T like to study at libraries as, honestly, these days they tend to be filled with screaming kids and laughing teens and the "quiet" rules don't seem to be enforced.

The library I study at is the campus library, so I don't have to deal with any of that. roud:

 

[Darkfiremat]

in my class there 6 student so read, answer and your done XD

 

[Savitri]

I'm that person who never studies for tests and always gets an A, or at the very least a high B.

Honestly, though... If I had to study for tests to get good grades, I don't think I'd be able to. I can't concentrate on things that don't interest me, or I'd simply forget to study.

 

[Hardstyler]

Um what's studying hold on let me look it up (looks for definition) lol still don't get this concept.I never study I don't read I pay attention to what I hear and see I seem to be to distracted when I read cause all I look at are pretty pictures.also I passed AP Us History with a A got a 5 on my test all without study:laughing:

 

[Aiam]

Well, here's a bit of synchronicity for you: The New York Times has taken on this issue, and come up with unexpected results.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?src=me&ref=homepage

 

[chadlinski]

Mate, study is KILLING me at the moment!

I'm in my final year of my degree and currently working (well sort of) on an assignment that is over 12 days overdue!

Being the perfectionist that I am, I want it to be perfect and can't rush it, however everyday I don't do it it builds up and the stress/anxiety increases!

My question is do the majority of you guys hand your assignments in late?
How do you keep yourselves motivated?

 

[viva]

I want it to be perfect and can't rush it, however everyday I don't do it it builds up and the stress/anxiety increases!

Haha, this sounds like the story of my life.

However, I don't turn things in late. Most of my professors have a no tolerance policy for late papers/assignments. So I just procrastinate until the very very very last minute and turn in work that is subpar compared to the quality it would have been if I had started it on time, which I never do.

Oh, the life of an ENFP.

 

[chadlinski]

The head of my department is very understanding of my lateness, I'm still trying to work out his personality type, but he is very chilled and the first person I would go to if I'm mega stressed out/overwhelmed. Apparently my assignments are generally written very well, I just wonder how much better they would be if I actually started them heaps earlier.

The thing that bugs me about college is there's so much inconsistency with marking. Some lecturers are really hard markers, whereas others aren't. Unfortunately the assignment I'm stuck on and over 12 days overdue is going to be marked by my lecturer who marks mega hard so I have no idea what I'm going to get for it.

Pretty sure if I was graded on my research on MBTi over the past week or so I'd be getting a HD!

 

[kaycee]

Well, here's a bit of synchronicity for you: The New York Times has taken on this issue, and come up with unexpected results.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?src=me&ref=homepage

Very informative.


I have always felt that my study habits that didn't really *feel* like habits were the ones that helped the most. Such as using a different colored highlighter for each chapter I read and highlighting a lot. I feel like the process of moving my hand from one side of the page to the other with the highlighter helps me retain the info. I can see the info later in my mind.

 

[MaggieRooWho]

I MUST have silence. Must. I could mayyyybe deal with other people talking quietly in the area, and I absolutely cannot have music. I went to music school, so my brain is wired to pay attention to the patterns in music above all other things, which is tres unhelpful.

Like some others have said, I absolutely prefer to do things in one sitting. If I can get the ball rolling, I can crank some business out. I, unfortunately, also have a really hard time with absorbing things I read sometimes. I briefly tried taking online classes, and I failed out of every single one of them because there was no teacher teaching me. I need that interaction, I need to be able to ask questions... I'll remember something if I hear it.

 

[chadlinski]

Woah, thanks for all the tips guys! you're all champions!

REALLY appreciated, keep em coming