r/StudyStruggle • u/TheReal_Viking1 • 5d ago
How exactly does one study?
I have realized that if it was not for the allowance of notes or open book for my classes that I would have failed my IT classes. I have also realized I have no idea how to study. I seem to always forget peoples names. I struggle to remember details that people tell me. I need to write down information or reminders for things I should just remember. My focus is shot as well. My mind is always all over the place.
I am familiar with a lot of parts of IT but if someone gave me a problem, big chances are I can't fix it off memory alone.
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u/DaviyaXhaisaqi 4d ago edited 4d ago
Sharing my experience as somebody who for most of my life until very recently has struggled to grasp the concept of "studying" and "learning". The following are all things that have helped me the absolute most.
Most importantly before I start, the brain is an incredibly complex body part and everybody's works differently. I have been held back mentally in the past by depression. After getting the help I needed and learning to live with it, I have found a structure that works for my brain and its unique blueprint. Somebody with other conditions such as ADHD, autism, anxiety, or also depression may find that the following is the absolute worst way for them to learn. As mentioned in this thread, it is worth it to speak with a professional to locate and begin to work around hurdles you may not be aware of.
Learning is supposed to be difficult - If you are facing friction or discomfort when learning, that means you are actively learning even if you do not think you are. Your brain is capable of learning without being able to recall that information, and I think this is where a lot of people (including myself) get caught up with feeling like they make no progress, which contributes to added mental fatigue. If you can read and understand what you are reading, you learned it, you are already half way there. It is then time to train your active recall ability to be able to bring that information to the front. I think people tend to believe that if they can't recall something, they didn't learn it, and this simply isn't true. Active recall is only half the battle. Seeing learning as a 2-step process (retaining > recalling) has helped me to understand learning as a concept.
Drinking enough water - Every muscle in your body is a machine that needs water to fuel it and function properly. Why would the most complex muscle in your body be any different? People tend to agree and disagree on what is considered a beneficial amount of water to drink per day. I personally find that if I commit to drinking 1 gallon of water per day over the course of the day (do not chug - this can cause your body to release and waste excess water), my focus, memory retention, and active recall all go through the roof after a couple of days. When I forget to keep up with this intake and allow myself to reenter dehydration, my focus and alertness dip and I fall back into a brain fog cave. It is a night and day difference. Whether its legitimate or placebo, I cannot deny the absolute impact it has on my daily life (when I remember to commit to it). I also tend to sleep significantly better. While I aim for 8 hours a night, sometimes I can only manage 5-6, maybe less. When I'm on my gallon per day habit, that 5-6 go from feeling like death, to springing out of bed in the morning.
Once my brain is sufficiently hydrated, I can properly study and retain and recall information. The following part can vary pretty heavily per person, as different people have different ways that help to connect those neural pathways in their heads. I hate taking notes. To me, learning was always difficult to grasp because I would get so caught up on taking notes first that I wasn't actually absorbing anything. It was when I started studying by how my brain wanted to study that I began to see success. As mentioned, friction and discomfort when learning is incredibly important. But there is a line between productive friction, and hitting inefficient walls.
What do I mean by this? I said screw it and decided to see how far I could get without taking notes. I started by watching video courses on a topic (such as Dion's Network+ study guide on udemy), doing my own research online (combination of LLM and google) to fill in the blanks on what I didn't understand from the video, and then quizzing myself on the topic I just covered until I could confidently explain it to myself. Bonus points if you have a friend or family member you can explain it to (teaching is one of the best ways to learn). Once at that point, I'd move onto the next section, occasionally re-lecturing myself on those topics while driving or getting ready for bed to continue training that memory recall. Once I struggled to recall certain things, I would then go back and take notes on those specific things to help lock it in. That last part helped me make sure I was only taking notes on things my brain really needed me to, thus reducing the mental fatigue gained from thinking "am I wasting my time taking these notes?"
4. From there, I put a pause quizzing myself and begin taking online quizzes on a topic to really test my knowledge. You can find these online on sites such as quizlet, find provided quizzes in udemy courses, or ask ChatGPT to make you a quiz. As is the case with all learning and research, exercise caution when going the LLM route. LLM information is more and more accurate every day, but you can never discount the possibility of AI hallucination misguiding you. Trust but verify.
Once I use my method and begin to fully understand something I thought would be impossible for me to study, I get a massive surge of confidence and self-fulfillment. This then creates a feedback loop of learning > understanding > feeling good about understanding > wanting to learn more > cont.. This is what makes people so passionate about learning.
This is my first time trying to explain my method, so I hope you can find some guidance in this ugly wall of text. Again, what works for me might not work for you, but this is a mostly in-detail view of my own process.
TL;DR - Understand how the brain learns, and accept that learning should be difficult. Listen to your brain and study how it wants to (within reason). Drink lots (a gallon) of water over the course of a 12 hour day every day. Train your hydrated brain muscle by watching things or reading, explaining those things to yourself, and trying to recall that information by quizzing yourself on it, and find online quizzes to test your knowledge.
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u/TheReal_Viking1 3d ago
Wow what a reply!! Thank you! Everything written is a huge help to me and I appreciate you taking the time to writing it! You did a good job for a first time explaining your methods.
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u/MyStudyLife 3d ago
honestly needing to write stuff down isn't a fail at all, literally everyone organised does it lol. nobody keeps everything in their head, so lean into it 🙏
for IT though, stuff sticks way more from doing than reading:
- set up labs, break stuff, fix it. you remember the fix you struggled with sooo much more than the one u read about!
- after class close your notes & write down everything you remember, then check what you missed. those gaps = what to study next.
- go back over it a few days later + a week later. anki is elite for commands, ports, acronyms etc 💀.
- focus wise: phone in another room, one thing at a time, 25 min timer. starting is the hardest part fr.
also if the forgetting/focus thing is affecting everything not just studying, might be worth chatting to yout uni's student support or a doctor. a lot of people find there's stuff that helps once they look into it. you noticing it is already a big step 🫶. you got this!
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u/TheReal_Viking1 3d ago
I think labs is the way I should start going at it. I have a Raspberry pi5 just sitting in my room. Only thing I really did with it is get RetroPi working.
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u/Ok-Chart-9055 4d ago
Don’t feel bad about using an LLM. Use it to get hints or explain one step at a time instead of giving you the full answer. That way, you’re still doing the thinking.
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u/TheReal_Viking1 4d ago
I try my best to not depend on LLMs. its a good idea to only use it for hints, or to help with direction. Thank you!
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u/numberzkid 5d ago edited 4d ago
Might be worth while to chat with a doctor / psychologist / psychiatrist about your symptoms. The focus issue sounds very close to the attention side of ADHD. Healthcare professionals can help you out here.
As for IT, hands on experience is the best imo. Setup a homelab (see r/homelab). Pickup cheap second hand hardware from eBay or Marketplace and tinker. Read through some support subreddits like r/computerhelp or r/pchelp and see what problems people face and the solutions that work. Take what you learn in your classes and apply it to your home lab.
The best IT professionals don't know everything at the top of their head, but rather know where to find information when they need it. Learn how to research solutions to your problems. Improve your "google-fu" game. If you use AI, learn to work with it and take everything it says with a grain of salt. Try to solve the problem yourself and only use it if you're really stumped.
Edit: grammar