Studying is so hard, learning is even harder. 5

[barbola]

I am studying, taking courses in software development. Right now it's VB 6.0 and I'm on the last course with a 6month project to complete afterward. Then I'd to get MS certification.

I'm a single mom (half-time custody), work full time, compete in a sport that takes up alot of my time, plus the kids have something on just about every night. I'm 40 years old, have a good job (systems admin, report writing, training staff, accounting stuff, database development mostly simple stuff for end users). I have a business admin diploma.

I tried University but just couldn't absorb the material and never had good study habits, although I graduated highschool with an A average, I never really had to study and I got by.

Now that I'm back to the books I look at alot of my younger friends in their 20's going to university like it's a breeze and they're getting 4.0's and continuing on to MBA's like it's nothing, just another part of life like high school.

Why am I finding it so difficult to learn this stuff? I read the material, follow the examples, do some research online, but it just doesn't sink in. I am getting A's, but I really don't feel like I'm learning anything. I'm getting by by copying examples of what others have already done but it means nothing to me, the code I mean.

Is there a secret to being smart??? When I finally get a half a day to study, out of a period of two weeks, I seem to find other things to do like housework! I'm not very disciplined in studying and my brain seems to quit at 9pm. The concentration isn't there. My mind wanders. I get lost in all the notes and then I get frustrated to the point of tears. I need this though. I need to further my career if I want to survive and be able to afford these ridiculous gas prices.

Any suggestions on how to make this easier? I try finding an hour a day to study but I just can't find it. I know this would help me but it takes me an hour just to get geared up to start studying never mind get into it. How come other people breeze by so easily. Things used to come to me so easy. Maybe I need to be in a classroom with a teacher, but I don't have any time for that either.

Thanks!
Barb E.

 

[mmorancbt]

In reading your initial post, here are some thoughts.

While it might be a difficult habit to start, you may want to study your material early in the AM rather than late in the evening 9:00pm or after.

I know for me, particularly the past couple of years (I'll turn 40 this year) I am not nearly as sharp in the evening. I still sleep litte compared to others but my best thinking and writing time occurs at 4:00am.

When I was younger it didn't seem to matter but it does now. In the evening, I try to either get a catnap just before dinner (not easy for you as a single mom) or get to bed as close to 9:00pm as possible.

I reserve the evenings to less brain work - washing dishes, putting a load of laundry through, picking up, etc. Even though I am tired, I can power through most of those mindlessly.

Just a thought.

Also, try to figure out what you understand and then isolate those areas you don't get. It might just be poor definitions and examples (examples that assume too much knowledge) in your text book or from your teacher. Find another student who seems to get it and ask them to simplify those areas where you struggle.

Don't study what you know, just what you do not.

Good luck!



Matthew Moran
Read my career blog at:

http://www.cbtoolkit.com

Career Blog:

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/pm/career/

Todo esta bien.. Todo esta divertido (it's all good, it's all fun)

 

[Skittle]

Thats a good point about what time of day to study.
I also find I am much sharper first thing in the morning and much more motivated. By evening, I've had a long day at work so motivation and alertness are very blunt.

Even way ....way back in my school holidays when preparing for exams I found I was much more productive working on my course/exam work as soon as I got out of bed.
I used to get up and work from 7am to about midday in prepartion for exams every day.

Now I make use of Flexi-time and work for a couple of hours in the morning as soon as I get up and then go to work to do the stuff I have to do. Work stuff is easier because it's more routine, there are people around you to work with and money is a good motivator!




Dazed and confused
(N+, MCAD)

 

[barbola]

Those are good ideas, but not for me << NOT a morning person, at least not before 6am which is the time I need to get up just to make it to work by 8am. I tried going to the gym once at 5:30am....just once.

Bed at 9pm also doesn't work because when I have the kids, that is the time I get to start things like getting the house cleaned or laundry and just getting ready for the next day.

I also have alot of games/practices in the evenings that take me to 11 or 12. I am trying to find a few min a day to read.

My instructor pointed me to a tutorial that I will need to follow. I extended the course until March and I realize I need to go back and learn again how to do some of the simpler programming learned in VB2 because I managed to pass that one with high marks but I copied and pasted the whole way through without understanding any of it.

I also found a contact online who has been a huge help, but every time I come across something new, a new function or just the next task in my assignment, I get stuck again and have no clue what I'm doing.

thanks for the tips

 

[Dollie]

It seems that you simply need to decide whether or not taking classes will be a benefit to you, and if they *are* a benefit, you need to determine whether or not you want to make the sacrifices in your life that may be necessary.

I have 20 years of excuses behind me. I finally stopped making excuses and my first full semester of college is almost done. It didn't kill me either, and I don't think I've missed out on a thing.

 

[barbola]

I will admit it...I get lazy, I procrastinate, and I spend way too much time online doing everything BUT studying.

The classes will be a benefit to me, and it depends on ME as to how huge. I can sacrifice the hours I spend chatting on msn but that takes discipline, which I have very little.
I will not sacrifice my job (I need the pay), my family time (obviously), and my curling (I have way too much invested in it).

I know what I need to do. But when I sit down and do it, I find the material hard to comprehend and I get very frustrated and stressed about it. I missed or have forgotten something from the last course and need to backtrack and re-learn some of the basics. It is so time consuming compared to what I expected at the start however..it's just one course!

 

[Dollie]

Last night I overheard my professor telling another student that unfortunately, with people's schedules as they are, and as unwilling as people are to make changes to the normal routine, school work is usually deducted from your sleep.

I'm considering my venture into college to also be a new sleep deprivation experiment, with myself as the subject.

Self discipline has never been one of my finer qualities. While it's still hard to turn off the TV when Prison Break is on, I find myself enjoying my homework. My classes are like a big puzzle to me, and I just love puzzles. I'm constantly looking for a solution, so learning a new step in algebra, or doing research for a term paper is actually fun to me. The computer isn't a draw to me unless I'm doing my research online, I don't need the entertainment the internet offers near as much as I thought I did.

Yes, I'm a dork, and always have been. But, in a few years, I'll be a better educated dork.

You seem like you're on the right path, barbola, but you're the only one from here on out who can determine what you need to do about your education. If you are determined enough, believe me, it can be done.

 

[Skittle]

I also find a routine helps.

Every lunch time I drive to a local car park and spend 45 minutes learning with a book and a pad. If I stay in the office I find it harder to motivate myself and there are distractions. I summarise the information from the text book to the bare bones with a simple example.

By Saturday I have a dozen or so pages which I then type up
on Saturday morning in an accumulated summary document. I would then usually also try out the naterial on my PC ( SQL Server at the moment ).

I then use this summary document as my first point of reference when I've forgotten how to do something. The action of reading the material the first time, sumarising iy and then typing it up all re-enforces the knowledge in my head.

Then when it's nearly exam time, I have a summary document to base my exam prep on.



Dazed and confused
(N+, MCAD)

 

[SF0751]

Do you have a schedule for your curling activities? You know - games are at this date/time; practice will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm, etc. Or do you just practice/play a game whenever you get around to it, and if you're chatting online at that time - oh well, you can make up for it later in the week.

Of course not.

As Skittle points out, you need a routine - a schedule. And you need to follow it. I'm currently back in school to complete my associate's degree, and I take 1-3 classes a semester. My schedule is to study for 30 minutes each morning before leaving for work, and then for 1-2 hours during the work week. (I either go to the local library to study, or I study at the kitchen table - but it has to be somewhere that I won't be distracted or interrupted).

If you have enough free time so you can spend "hours chatting on MSN", then you have enough time to study. IF studying is more important than on-line chatting. You're the only one that can make that call.

Susan
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."
- Herm Albright (1876 - 1944)

 

[mmorancbt]

You shouldn’t have to sacrifice anything – except temporarily. While you claim that you are not a morning person – that is more of a developed habit. Really, if someone said you would lose your job, kids, and home if you did not get up at 4am and produce, you would do it.

Don’t let money invested in “Curling” be an excuse for temporarily putting it aside. If you are able to increase your total pay by $3,000 per year by adopting some new skills, that will equate to $30,000 over the next 10 years. That, to me, is horribly conservative. And you aren’t putting Curling aside for those 10 years – probably just for a few months hear and there.

Also, if chatting online is a problem, remove the application. I go to places where there is no wireless when I need to write. I leave my Verizon card at home. I disconnect – so that excuses are not possible. You need to simply determine what is important and make corrections/adjustments so that other distractions become inconvenient.

There is a phrase I heard as a kid that I believe is very true…

“When your dreams and goals hold a greater priority than the obstacles that come your way, you will overcome your obstacles and achieve your dreams and goals.”

That being said, I am convinced that most classroom study of things like programming is horrifically slow- geared to the median, and therefore is of little use for actual learning. If your objective is a degree – schooling of some sort is necessary. If you objective is learning the skill for application in business and career, I believe other methods of learning are superior.

Primarily online tutorials and a Professional Knowledge Network (PKN) – people you can speak with, email, or discuss online to fill in gaps are far superior ways to learn new technologies. I will admit that most online tutorials are not so good, but here are some I like:

http://www.w3schools.com/default.asp

Also,

http://www.gotdotnet.com/

Here is one of my blog entries on learning new technology and finding good tutorials.

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/pm/career/archives/005253.asp

Both had me writing some pretty effective web services in about 12 hours.

In any case, affirming your own lack of focus is probably not a good idea. It is too easy to provide an out when you do that.

Instead, create a realistic schedule that you must maintain and then maintain. While it may not be easy, it is very simple.

Good luck!

Matthew Moran
Read my career blog at:

http://www.cbtoolkit.com

Career Blog:

http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/pm/career/

Todo esta bien.. Todo esta divertido (it's all good, it's all fun)

 

[barbola]

Thanks again for the great ideas. I am very good at providing myself with an out. Anything is better than studying, I even get my house cleaned!

I do have alot going on, and probably should not be taking the courses, but this is the last one, and then there's a VB project that I get 6 months to complete, so it will be nice when it's done. I may think again about going for MS certification.

 

[aarenot]

I have trained many people from the worker who can not read and write fluently in any language, to a CCIE certified Business owner. Here are some simple things you can apply to see if they help. I do not begin to say I have all the answers, but I have had some success training the non-technical to the highly technical.

First of all, do not assume a classroom, or typical training methods are the best way to learn.

Things that have helped me:

Study for short periods, retention is highest at the beginning and end of a session, so keep them close together.
I do three 15 minute sessions per day, and that has greatly increased my retention.

Physical activity during learning exponentialy increases retention rates. Do not sit down and study all the time, try some other approaches. Here is one that works for me. I use PDF files and choose the read out loud function of the PDF reader while I do the dishes, or some other activity. Turn the words per minute rate up as fast as you can understand it, I go well over 100 words per minute. This works great for a busy schedule, and can also make commute times a learning experience. If you doubt that physical activity can really affect your retention rate try this, do the actions to " I'm a little tea pot" assuming you once learned them, you probably still know them.

One of the greatest benefits to audio learning is that you do not have to use your tired eyes or mind to read them, especialy after 9 PM. Another is that it turns activities that do not require your complete attention into study time, while providing a physical activity to increase your retetion rate.

I will give an example from my own experience. I used to read my Bible every day, now I listen to it. Formerly I went through the text once per year, presently I complete that in 3 weeks while performing other tasks which I normally do anyway. Now I can complete quotes others start without even knowing I had that type of command of the material.
I am not saying this is the solution to all your problems, but I believe it will increase your retention rate.
Hope this helps, and please let me know if it does.

 

[barbola]

I will give some of it a try. I'm not sure if I have PDF reader or that it would work reading "VB code" to me. I have found an online buddy who has been helping me learn "programming" basics rather than just me trying to learn the language, and he has been a HUGE help. He doesn't even program in Vb, he uses C.

As an example, I read him a paragraph of one of the API functions I needed to use. I had no idea what I read after I read it. We went through it word for word. They were words I read everywhere in VB but I had no idea what a null-terminated string was and he was able to explain in to me. That opened up about ten other areas I didn't understand.

I think there's alot that the instructors take for granted that we should know and it's not that I have a specific question when I ask for help.