I want to know how students at my uni do it.

[Steel Maiden]

They study full time and they have a life. Yet they function at genius level.

I rarely leave the house (in fact I spend 80% of my life in my bedroom) and i study as much as is humanly possible.

I am part time.

Yet somehow I'm a dumb ass f***ing idiot with a brain deficiency.

What am I doing wrong?

I could try to study for 10 hours a day but I'm too thick to even do that.

But then people say I'm really clever. What am I not seeing here? In my view, I am mentally deficient.

I need to get a First otherwise I'll have to die.

[talaiporia]

I'm supposed to be very clever, but I've struggled a lot at each of my uni's - at my first uni I even failed an exam and had to drop out, though I did better at my second uni. Being naturally smart or gifted means very little in the real world, where communication is everything - and you need to do so many different things, aside from simply learn, to succeed.

Have you talked to your uni tutors about this?

[Steel Maiden]

My uni tutor is totally crap.

I don't speak at uni. I don't even smile or reciprocate. So I'm supposing that the students do so well because they form study groups and share notes etc.

Then I'm f***ed. I'm going to sleep 5 hours a day maximum so I have more time to study. I'm only going to go out when absolutely necessary.

[Steel Maiden]

I've been slapping and hitting myself every time I spend too much time not studying. Aversive punishments to increase productivity.

[talaiporia]

I don't think that's a good idea.
How much time do you study per day/per week.

[Steel Maiden]

I study 8-9 hours a day every day of the week, except when I am forced to socialise.

I feel more alert after slapping myself in the face, which keeps me awake for studying. That and coffee.

[Steel Maiden]

I'm going to be logical.

I'm going to sleep 7 hours a night.

And I'm going to use the medical library and possibly my dad's house to study in, where it is quiet and I can focus.

So goodnight for now.

[mirta]

I don't think that there's that many that don't struggle with uni. 3 weeks remaining until we'll have to hand in our work for year 1. I'm pulling all nighters. I thought that I was slow or something, but when I once ended up leaving a message on facebook about an all nighter 5 of my classmates instantly replied. Those that are serious go out very rarely. Those that don't care they'll pass or fail are the ones posting pictures of their social life. So don't worry, you're not alone :)

[Snow White.]

Be careful with overdoing the study. It's a great idea that you're going to sleep 7 hours at least and study in quiet places. I like that. But if you study too hard you might get yourself very stressed because you can't relax,and that might impact your memory. Sleep is good for memory also. I read over notes before an exam just before i go to sleep. Sleep helps to consolidate memories.

[--------------------]

I cant ask others on my course for help if I'm struggling. My tutor is quite nice and has told me to approach her whenever i struggle and so far i have been able to do that even though its difficult each time.

If you don't understand something you should ask for help. If not your tutor, perhaps go see another lecturer or someone?

And don't overdo the revision, 7 hours of sleep should be good.

[consequential]

This sounds familiar. I did this to myself and ended up as involuntary inpatient and wished I had never been born. Now I had to get mitigation to do my exams in the Autumn. You are far from stupid but people like us with MH problems are not like other people and there are even those out there who don't want to get a first or give a damn enough to even try. It is nearly impossible to get a first in everything and I have tried and if I get anything less than 60% I want to die but realistically what can I expect being a freak like me. I know exactly how you feel but I think you could be bright but just won't admit it to yourself. Don't be so hard on yourself.

[Steel Maiden]

Thank you everyone. You've all helped.

I cannot read people well so I may have misinterpreted the other students' emotions.

[consequential]

Most people pretend they don't study as if they get 2.1 s by just doing nothing. This is not possible. Maybe at school level but not at university. Ignore them all.

[beautiful_seclusion]

Do you think maybe you're studying more than necessary? Or maybe not studying efficiently? I know I used to study constantly. I was so anxious that I thought I'd fail if I didn't study 24/7 and have no life. But now that I do have a social life outside of grad school, I realize I am no more or less smart than before, but I study way less. And it's because I've learned how to study just what I need to and to do it efficiently. I've worked on lessening my perfectionism that isn't going to help my grade anyway. If I know every single detail about a lecture, but they only test on the basic concepts, it's not going to help me to know it, especially if it's not going to be relevant to me later. So I imagine it's probably more that you are anxious about it and so being too hard on yourself. I'm sure you're very smart and could get by with studying much less, but I know finding that balance of studying too much vs. too little is very hard. It could also be the study groups too, as that does help, but I really don't study with other people that often and I've still made my studying way more efficient. Maybe you could ask your professors if they have tips on what you should focus on? That might help you start studying the right parts of the course, as at least for me, it's easy to get wrapped up in the details that don't matter if I don't ask the professor straight up what types of things are most important.

[Steel Maiden]

I study very inefficiently because I have so many distractions. Also my mood has been very elevated lately do I've been finding it hard to focus.

I cannot study at all in libraries. I have to be alone to study.

I'm going to get my mood sorted out (call psychiatrist) and then I will try and be more efficient.

Although tbh besides doing random things like measuring how many Ohms my body is, I love studying because I love textbooks. I just wish I wouldn't get so obsessive about it.

[beautiful_seclusion]

Have you found anything that helps you focus? I find intense instrumental music helps me. I turn that on and all of a sudden I am insanely focused and not distracted. I have ADHD and somehow heavy instrumental music really helps. I don't know if you've tried that?

[Steel Maiden]

I'll give that a try.