Study Plan: How to organize your study routine

Alexandre Meirelles (his blog in PT-BR) wrote a book on how to study for multi-subjects exams that need months to prepare. I think his idea is so simple that can be used even when we are free to study. So you know exactly what you have to study whenever you have the time. You don't get stuck in an hour to hour plan that only leads you frustrated.

He presents the idea of Studying by Cycles (which it's not the same as the Study Cycle). The main idea is: LIFE IS MESSY. And there is no way we can plan (and follow through) every single minute of our day.

[Maybe it was unfair, and maybe there are people out there that can follow methods like the Calendar Block and never feels frustrated. But that's not me! I have tried almost everything from Calendar block to GTD, but none helped me to stop studying what I wanted and not (also) what I needed. This method is the best fit for my personality so far, and maybe you are like me, so give it a try!]

So how can we organize our priorities and study sessions?

The 5 steps to implement this follow:

1. Define the areas of study you want or need to tackle in a specific time horizon;

2. Prioritize those areas based on your goals;

3. Define the time each area will need based on its priority and amount of work required;

4. Sequence the areas in an order that will alternate different types of subjects;

5. Study the damn thing following the time allocated and the chosen order;

Bonus step: Annotate what you study daily with the amount of time you spent (it will help you to BE ACCOUNTABLE).

In the next post, I will describe how I followed each step using my real areas of study and my criteria. For now, I will make an easier example to clarify the whole idea, following each step:

1. I chose the next semester (Fall) as my time horizon. And I need or want to study in the next semester: Logistics; Mathematics; Literature; and Policy Sciences.

1. I prioritized based on how many of those areas will help my future career:

   1. Physics -it indirectly helps my future career (MIDDLE) ;

   2. Maths - it is the base of my future career (HIGH) ;

   3. Literature - it is my hobby (LOW);

   4. Social Sciences - it directly helps my future career (HIGH).

2. I define the time I will study at most in one sit = 2 hours, And then I can define the time needed for each subject by cycle:

1. Maths - High priority and 25 chapters = 2 hours;

2. Social Sciences - High priority and 15 chapters = 1.5 hours;

3. Physics -Middle priority and 14 chapters to study = 1 hour;

4. Literature - Low priority and 12 chapters = 0.5 hours;

5. Total = 5 hours each cycle

It is going to be a 5-hour cycle that I will study in the following order; Physics -> Literature -> Maths -> Social Sciences (to alternate between soft to hard sciences)

So, the next time I have time to deep focus on my study, I will set the timer to study 2 hours of Math, then 1.5 of Social Science, and so on.

If I get tired or interrupted, I will stop where I am and resume it as soon as I have the time. And it can be the next day or days from the day I stopped...

Next post I will show how I am managing my life with this method while describing some examples that have occurred during my practice.

#studyplan #studyroutine #habits #MS #studying