In preparation for SPM, I often study until 3.00 to 4.00 o’clock in the morning. I went to bed around 4.00 am and then woke up at 6.00 am for morning class. By 1.00 pm, school usually finished and then I would sleep the whole afternoon, against the rule of the hostel. I would wake up just in time for bath and dinner before attending study night session at 7.00 pm until 10.00 pm. However my most productive study would be around 10.00 pm to 4.00 am in the morning. That is because only few of us left studying at that time, and thus the environment is more conducive. Of course it was against the rules, but after seeing the results in us, the warden seems happy for us to continue studying at those odd times. He understood that 90 percent of those attending the allocated time to study were really there just because they were asked to be there, and not for studying. Consequently, they were doing all sorts of very disturbing noises in the study rooms. Not to mention their efforts in impressing the opposite sex. Sometimes while studying in the early morning, we encounter all sorts of ghostly experiences. Only a few of us could pay the price to study with ghost, in order not to live like ghost in the future. After all, what else could I do, I have a goal to achieve!
Just for a side story. Some of my male colleagues try to emulate the few hard workers like us. They often stayed and slept (not studying) in the study rooms until early morning 6.00 am (leaving the impression that they have been studying the whole night long) and then staggered to their hostel, passing the female hostel. They would be hoping that the girls would notice them as hard workers and be impressed. In fact one particular guy who happened to be my roommate, often set his clock to wake up at 5.00 am, exactly when I usually about to fall asleep. He would then bring his blanket wrapped around his body and grabbed a few books and quickly walked to the study room. He often continued sleep there, waiting for the girls to wake up in the female hostel. When he thought he can be seen by them already, he then walked back home with an act of as if he has been studying the whole night. He would stagger passing the female hostel slowly, appeared drowsy just to make sure he will be noticed, with the blanket still wrapped around his body. He was seen I am sure, because he was very popular among the girls as a hard worker. He soon got married after failing Form Five and settled in kampong with half a dozen kids, became a story not worth repeating to even his own kids. However, that story is just for padding. Hope you learn something from it.
When I was in medical school, every time there was an exam (which always seems to be just around the corner) I studied like I have never studied before. Everything else seemed irrelevant to me once I got myself to work. I forsook everything except the most basic needs like eating, sleeping and going to toilet. Nothing else matter, as long as I could open my eyes, I would make sure they were staring at something related to the subject in question. I worked until I was about to collapse of exhaustion, then I would simply sleep anywhere, anytime. It could be in my room, my cubicle, library or some special room. I would sleep when I am really sleepy, and doesn’t matter what time they were. These usually happened during the study week, when there were no lectures interfering with my own private study. However, I never compromised on sleep. I still slept on average of 6-8 hours per day, no matter how busy studying was. Another classmate of mine work even harder, he studied until his eyes were red, and his appearance turned to zombie-like. He made the medical school his second home. He passed with honor in the course in the final year. He deserved every bit of it. My point is there is no easy success. We all have to work hard for it. I did! I have a dream to fulfill, is there any less I could do?
Did I say just work HARD, no I mentioned work SMART too. That was why I frequently deviated from the rule. That was why I studied when everyone else was asleep (in Form Five), and I slept when everyone was supposed to do their study. Given the situation and the prevailing problems at that time, what the few of us did was a smart thing to do. We could absorb more while everyone else was not around than the whole day of supposedly studying with the crowd.
What I mean by WORK SMART is ‘producing more result in less amounts of effort and time’. In other words it is efficient and effective. Efficient means less effort for more result in less time. Effective means working ONLY on what is required to achieve a defined set of results. Let me give an example, it is very efficient to drive from A to B as compared to just cycling, yet driving is not effective if you are heading toward C (when your intended destination is B).
You got to find the most efficient and effective way of studying FOR YOU. DO NOT try to follow someone else style, do not even try to follow the methods and formula given by other people. Find your own way. In a short while, I will tell you how I did my SMART STUDY, but do not follow them if it is not suitable for you. They are just for examples. The principle is, finding the most productive methods FOR YOU!
I am sure you have heard of study group. This method has been proclaimed as the most productive and beneficial for studying. Let me give you a bit of shock. I found it the most inefficient, ineffective and unproductive way of studying. Complete waste of time... (to be continued)
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