Tips for focusing on very boring study notes?
Tips for focusing on very boring study notes?
I'm studying for a test and the only resources I have are the presentations and somebody's notes in text form. It's a knowledge-retrieval test (no counting/reasoning), and unfortunately I don't know what the questions look like so it seems I really will have to go through everything covered.
Now of course some inanimate notes and a PPT file are the most un-captivating learning format that a person with ADHD could face. One thing I'm good at is going down rabbitholes, so I thought about just googling questions I have about the things written on each page. But the notes go on for 60 pages and it would take a really really long time. I'm lost for ideas. Has anybody found any learning techniques that help when focusing on things as bland as this?
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So what helped me was moving while studying. That's how I passed the Bar exam. What does that mean, multiple things. 1 way that worked was to throw a ball up and down while saying the thing I needed to memorize out loud, extra points if you could do it to a rhythm. 2. I would listen to lectures and talks on the subject while taking a walk. You could either record yourself saying your facts or find a YouTube video on the subject. It might help to hear the info in a different way. 3. Flash cards help so far as letting you know what you don't have memorized yet. 4. Read the info word for word, then repeat as if you're teaching someone the info.
For me moving and saying it out loud helped more than rewriting because I have learned to zone out while I write. As in I can be in a lecture and write notes while also engaging in class in real time because my hand is essentially independent of my brain. What does help writing wise is to do practice questions that way you're rewriting, but also changing the language enough so that your brain doesn't zone out from the repition. Repition is a personal brain killer that my brain will do absolutely anything to avoid.
Oooh. +1 for repeat as if you're teaching.
I ended up leading study groups because of this!
I'd start the study group knowing absolutely nothing, and end the class with an A+ every single time. Getting into the mindset of "how does (other person) think about this" got me asking questions in class, got me making notes to repackage information for someone else, and always wound up making me learn along the way!