Motivation, Stress & Time Management - Exam Revision Q&A with Cambridge students

2018-04-12 · Q&A video · Ali, Paul, Katherine, a guest · recording, 18:23 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Learning and studying (also: Mindset, motivation and happiness) · mode: Answering questions · tags: Aimed at students, Evidence-based framing

Ali, a final-year Cambridge medical student, and fellow final-year medics Paul and Katherine answer viewers' Instagram questions on focus, study hours, motivation, offer pressure, hated subjects and exam mornings: Ali recommends the Pomodoro technique, studying with friends, consistency over long hours and treating exams as a game, and cites hedonic adaptation to ease the fear of missing an offer.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Ali introduces the Q&A with Paul and Katherine and lists the seven questions

★★ Ali and two friends answer questions on revision and study tips that viewers sent in on Instagram; about 150 viewers sent messages and they filmed answers to about 25 questions. — 00:00:00 · Paul, Katherine

00:02:26 — Question 1: staying focused in a study session; the Pomodoro technique, Forest and PomSoc

★★ a guest: A guest says writing things down as you study helps you stay focused, even just the first letter or first three letters of a medical term. — 00:02:26
★★★ Although Ali has said making notes is a waste of time, he thinks making notes by hand in lectures is a useful strategy because it keeps you awake. — 00:02:50
★★ Ali says there is no evidence for the visual, auditory and kinesthetic learning styles that teachers taught them at school. — 00:02:50
★★ a guest: A guest advises working in short bursts, such as five or 20 minutes of one task followed by a five-minute break, and staying focused for each burst. — 00:03:19
★★★ Katherine recommends the Pomodoro technique: work for about 25 minutes, rest for five and repeat; she has friends who work furiously together in cafes for 25 minutes and chat for five, which works well for some people. — 00:03:48 · Pomodoro technique, Katherine
★★ Katherine recommends apps such as Forest, which lock you out of social media and other phone apps for a set time so you cannot get distracted by them. — 00:03:48 · Katherine
★★ a guest: A guest advises leaving your phone in another room as a good way to stay focused. — 00:04:17
★★ Ali really likes the Pomodoro technique but does not use it these days; as an undergraduate he and a group of his Asian friends did the same Pomodoros together in the Emmanuel College library. — 00:04:17 · Pomodoro technique, Emmanuel College
★ In Ali's undergraduate Pomodoro group a work session was called a "pom": they tapped the table once to start one, twice for a break and three times when the break was over. — 00:04:45 · Pomodoro technique
★★ Ali's Pomodoro study group later formed a WhatsApp group, the Pomodoro Society (PomSoc), a big friendship group from exam term that has been going for about five years. — 00:04:45
★★★ Ali's tip for staying focused: study with your friends, which he finds really fun. — 00:04:45
★★ a guest: A guest advises breaking a whole textbook or pile of notes into small chunks with mini goals for the day, rather than going at whatever pace. — 00:05:14
★★ a guest: A guest says the quality of study time matters more than its quantity, and sets a timetable with goals for each day. — 00:05:14

00:05:31 — Question 2: how many hours to work in exam term

★★★ Ali calls "how many hours should you study" a pointless question, because everyone learns at a different pace, has a different baseline intelligence and wants different grades. — 00:05:55
★★ Ali thinks Ibz Mo's method works quite well: eight hours of sleep, eight hours of work and eight hours of anything else you want. — 00:06:25 · Ibz Mo
★★ For students aiming for a first or the top of the year, Ali says a 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. day in the library can probably be sustained for a short burst. (hedged) — 00:06:25
★★ a guest: A guest warns students not to burn themselves out with long days of study. — 00:06:25
★★★ Ali says it is better to study consistently than to do 10 hours one day and nothing for two, because spaced repetition works on consistency; two to four efficient hours a day is fine. — 00:06:53 · spaced repetition

00:07:19 — Question 3: days of no motivation; save the day, weekends off, changing libraries

★★ Ali says everyone has days when they cannot be bothered: that day he, Paul and Katherine did about three hours of OSCE preparation in the afternoon and nothing in the morning. — 00:07:22 · Paul, Katherine
★★★ Paul's idea of "save the day": however late it gets, you can still save an unproductive day by putting in some work before bed. — 00:07:22 · Paul

“no matter how late it gets in the day, you can still save it”
★★ a guest: For the holidays a guest suggests a scheme for the week, such as deciding to take Saturday and Sunday off, so that the days do not merge into one pattern. — 00:07:51
★★★ To stay consistent Ali likes changing his work environment: in exam terms as an undergraduate in central Cambridge he went to a different library each day, about 20 in all. — 00:08:20 · Cambridge
★★ When he got bored studying, Ali would go to the Costa down the road, treat himself to a flat white and work there, because changing the atmosphere really helps. — 00:08:50
★★ a guest: A guest who makes revision timetables advises always budgeting for days when you do not feel like working, to give some wiggle room. — 00:08:50

00:09:18 — Question 4: how long study sessions should be

★★ Rather than the Pomodoro's 25 minutes on and five off, about 45 minutes on and five off worked for Ali when he was focused on essay preparation. — 00:09:20 · Pomodoro technique
★★ a guest: A guest passes on advice from school: of the four or five university applications, one should aim above what you could hope for, one should match your expected grades and the others are backups. — 00:09:45

00:09:55 — Question 5: the pressure of an offer; aiming high and hedonic adaptation

★★ a guest: A guest says missing an offer is okay because at least you gave it a go: focus on having given it your very best shot, not on the world ending. — 00:10:26
★★ a guest: A guest advises being motivated positively, not negatively: treat an offer, such as one from Cambridge, as a chance to work towards rather than a fear of missing it. — 00:10:56 · University of Cambridge, Cambridge
★★★ Ali cites hedonic adaptation: after major life events most people quickly return to their baseline happiness; studies of lottery winners and of people who became paraplegic or tetraplegic found them back at baseline within about two months. — 00:11:39
★★★ Ali says that even if you miss the university you wanted, such as Oxford, Cambridge or Imperial, you will be as happy as if you had gone there, a comforting thought that helped him cope with worrying about the future. — 00:12:09 · University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, Cambridge
★★ a guest: For a subject you hate, a guest advises asking yourself why you hate it, since people usually enjoy what they are good at and understand. — 00:12:09

00:12:21 — Question 6: revising a subject you hate; gamifying tasks and treating exams as a game

★★ a guest: A guest who was in the middle set for French at school worked on it, moved up to the top set and then enjoyed French much more. — 00:12:45
★★ a guest: A guest gamifies hated tasks, such as tidying a room: breaking them into sections with a small reward, such as a coffee, after each one. — 00:13:14
★★★ Ali advocates treating revision as a game, even for subjects you like, as he wrote on his website; it follows advice from a friend's grandmother: to avoid exam stress, treat exams as a personal game against your own best, not against your peers. — 00:14:01 · aliabdaal.com

00:14:31 — Question 7: the night before and the morning of an exam

★★ Paul: On an exam morning Paul wakes up, has a coffee, clears his mind, tries to get to the exam venue early and walks around before going in. — 00:15:03 · Paul
★★ Katherine says exam-morning routines are individual: some people get stressed doing work outside the exam hall, while others find going over their main bullet points comforting. — 00:15:24 · Katherine
★★ Katherine: For students nervous about exams, Katherine recommends Paul's approach: a really calm morning, reminding yourself how much work you have done. — 00:15:53 · Paul, Katherine
★★ Paul's mother used to take him and his siblings to the park to play on the evening before an exam, which took their minds off it and defused the stress. — 00:15:53 · Paul

00:16:22 — Next video on study techniques; Ali asks what viewers think of the informal format

★★ Ali says the next day's video (13 April 2018) will answer viewers' questions on specific study techniques, such as active recall, spaced repetition, flashcards and how to learn material in the first place. — 00:16:22 · active recall, spaced repetition
★★ Ali says a researched video such as his one on active recall takes about three hours to film and eight to edit, so in exam term he cannot make high-production videos for everything. — 00:16:58 · active recall
★★ Ali asks viewers to say in the comments whether they like this informal format with his friends' perspectives or prefer his more thought-out videos; ideally he would do a mix. — 00:17:28

Threads in this video

kept · Ali will do a 10,000-subscriber Q&A themed on study tips and revision on Thursday 12 April 2018, and asks viewers to send questions by Instagram or Snapchat message. — Ali and two friends answer questions on revision and study tips that viewers sent in on Instagram; about 150 viewers sent messages and they filmed answers to about 25 questions. (00:00:00)
refine · How should you take notes when studying? — Although Ali has said making notes is a waste of time, he thinks making notes by hand in lectures is a useful strategy because it keeps you awake. (00:02:50)
first on record · Should you use the Pomodoro technique? — Ali really likes the Pomodoro technique but does not use it these days; as an undergraduate he and a group of his Asian friends did the same Pomodoros together in the Emmanuel College library. (00:04:17)
refine · Should you use the Pomodoro technique? — Rather than the Pomodoro's 25 minutes on and five off, about 45 minutes on and five off worked for Ali when he was focused on essay preparation. (00:09:20)
first on record · How do you stop your phone and social media from eating your time? — Katherine recommends apps such as Forest, which lock you out of social media and other phone apps for a set time so you cannot get distracted by them. (00:03:48)
first on record · Should you study alone or with other people? — Ali's tip for staying focused: study with your friends, which he finds really fun. (00:04:45)
first on record · How many hours a day should you work? — Ali calls "how many hours should you study" a pointless question, because everyone learns at a different pace, has a different baseline intelligence and wants different grades. (00:05:55)
refine · How many hours a day should you work? — Ali thinks Ibz Mo's method works quite well: eight hours of sleep, eight hours of work and eight hours of anything else you want. (00:06:25)
refine · Should you cram or study a little every day? — Ali says it is better to study consistently than to do 10 hours one day and nothing for two, because spaced repetition works on consistency; two to four efficient hours a day is fine. (00:06:53)
restate · How do you beat procrastination? — Paul's idea of "save the day": however late it gets, you can still save an unproductive day by putting in some work before bed. (00:07:22)
refine · How do you deal with rejection and failure? — Ali says that even if you miss the university you wanted, such as Oxford, Cambridge or Imperial, you will be as happy as if you had gone there, a comforting thought that helped him cope with worrying about the future. (00:12:09)
first on record · How do you reduce stress? — Ali advocates treating revision as a game, even for subjects you like, as he wrote on his website; it follows advice from a friend's grandmother: to avoid exam stress, treat exams as a personal game against your own best, not against your peers. (00:14:01)
promised · Ali says the next day's video (13 April 2018) will answer viewers' questions on specific study techniques, such as active recall, spaced repetition, flashcards and how to learn material in the first place. — Ali says the next day's video (13 April 2018) will answer viewers' questions on specific study techniques, such as active recall, spaced repetition, flashcards and how to learn material in the first place. (00:16:22)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Katherine · Paul · Pomodoro technique

Also: active recall · aliabdaal.com · Cambridge · Emmanuel College · Ibz Mo · Imperial College London · spaced repetition · University of Oxford

Only in the description or credits: University of Cambridge

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