Obstacles to Effective Study

 You have this fantastic mind, this awesome brain power, so why do you feel fear, stress and anxiety when it comes to studying?

Most people will have experienced difficulties in studying or revising for examinations. This chapter outlines these common difficulties so that you can accept and overcome your quite rational fears of the exam, test, assessment, essay, thesis and coursework. The key barriers to successful study are:

o The reluctant learner.
o The mental blocks to effective study. o Outdated study techniques.

The reluctant learner

The Six-o'clock-in-the-Evening-Enthusiastic-Determined-and- Well-Intentioned-Studier-Until-Midnight is a person with whom you are probably already familiar. At 6 p.m. the student approaches his (or her) desk, and carefully organizes everything in preparation for the study period to follow. Having everything in place, he next carefully adjusts each item again, giving him time to complete the first excuse; he recalls that in the morning he did not have quite enough time to read all articles of interest in the newspaper. He also realizes that if he is going to study

it is best to have such small things completely out of the way before settling down to the task at hand.

He therefore leaves his desk, browses through the newspaper and notices as he browses that there are more articles of interest than he had originally thought. He also notices, as he leafs through the pages, the entertainment section. At this point it seems like a good idea to plan for the

evening'sJirst break - perhaps an interesting programme between 8 and 8.30 p.m.

He finds the programme, and it inevitably starts at about
7 p.m. At this point, he thinks, 'Well, I've had a difficult day and it's not too long before the programme starts, and I need
a rest anyway and the relaxation will really help me to get down to studying...' He returns to his desk at 7.45 p.m, because the beginning of the next programme was also a bit more interesting than he thought it would be.

At this stage, he still hovers over his desk, tapping his
book reassuringly as he remembers that phone call and text messaging to his two fellow students which, like the articles of interest in the newspaper, are best cleared out of the way before the serious studying begins.

The phone call and texts coming back and forth, of course, are much more interesting and longer than originally planned, but eventually the intrepid studier finds himself back at his desk at about 8.30 p.m.

At this point in the proceedings he actually sits down at the desk, opens the book with a display of physical determination and starts to read (usually at page one) as he experiences the first pangs of hunger and thirst. This is disastrous because he realizes that the longer he waits to satisfy the pangs, the worse they will get, and the more interrupted his study concentration will be.

The obvious and only solution is a light snack, but as more and more tasty items are linked to the central core of hunger, the snack becomes a feast.

Having removed this final obstacle, he returns to his desk with the certain knowledge that this time there is nothing that could possibly interfere with the dedication

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