Should I study during the holidays and how?

[Anonymous]

I'm not writing exams or anything immediately after the holidays. I wrote my exams already and feel like I didn't do well and I reallyyy wanna improve for Term 3. I wanna make it to the top 10 in my grade. I've never had an achievement like that before and I've always remained in the averages. I'm in Grade 11. Studying has become hard for me for some reason I get so distracted, I move around a lot and I feel like I'm all over the place. I also tend to get tired and unmotivated after a few minutes. I want to resolve this before I go back to school. I've solved one issue at school of me not paying attention in class because couldn't see what we were doing (needed glasses and I finally got tested last week ;) ) i wasn't taught how to study i usually just memorize. I'm a tactile/visual learner. I need to see and do what's discussed or whatever the person says will get out the other ear. And I fidget a lot and move a lot. The subjects I struggle with the most are Core Maths, Physics and Biology.
So yeah pleasee share tips i would be so grateful for them.

[lumos]

Personally I'd advise against studying during your holidays unless you absolutely need to, for whatever reason (most reasons are not serious enough, in my opinion). Holidays are a great time for you to relax and de-stress after working hard. It's important to let your brain rest, just like you'd let your body rest after working out. Otherwise you might hurt yourself. The same way, you can hurt yourself mentally if you don't let your brain rest properly and take in the information you've just learned. Burnout is a real thing and it's important to keep that in mind.

You mention struggling to focus and getting tired/bored, moving around a lot etc. Have you considered getting tested for ADHD or ADD? Studying can be boring so I can definitely relate to some of those symptoms (and I'm fairly confident I don't have ADHD lol), but if concentrating seems to be a consistent issue for you in your life, you might want to get tested just in case.

And while getting in the top 10 of your class is an ambitious goal, if your grades have remained average up until this point, it might be a difficult goal to achieve. The more difficult a goal is to achieve, the more likely it is that you'll give up and feel like a failure at some point, which isn't healthy. I would suggest you start small and focus on smaller and more realistic goals to begin with, and working your way up from there. If you struggle the most with Core maths, Physics and Biology, how about trying to get a better grade in those first? So if you've got Cs in these subjects (for instance), you could start with trying to raise them to a B. And then go from there.

It might not sound as fun and motivational, but taking smaller steps towards bigger and bigger goals is more realistic than shooting for one big goal in just one step. I've tried to do that and trust me, it's just a way to set yourself up for failure unfortunately haha.

[Asker]

Thank you sm for your honesty and opinion! I'll take your advise into consideration.

[lumos]

Good luck! <3

[Apulu_Imback]

Well I need to study everyday no matter if it's a holiday or not. Sometimes when I'm in vacation too. It helps a lot to remember the concepts and I do well in exams too. Just read the chapter thoroughly once, keep a notebook and note down all key points and keep reading them everyday. It won't be time taking and helps a lot to keep the concept within mind. If you want to make it interesting buy a cute notebook and write all the notes with color pens in creative way!