Do you study un-interrupted?

binarysoul

I'm wondering how people study for certifications/IT. With all things around us, TV, game, iPODs, youtube, family, cellphones, snacks, news, movies and many other things, it seems almost impossible to study uninterrupted for even 45 minutes.

So the question is, do you study undisturbed for one hour? How do you resist listening to music and watching TV while you study/read?

Netstudent

I try my best to study uninterupted. I have a g/f and 9 month old kid though so it's very hard to isolate myself from them. I don't do well with interuption because I am in deep thought and deep concentration when I study. I try not to get frustrated and just deal with it. I study in complete silence. Sometimes when I read, I turn all the lights out except for the light over my book. This helps be block out everything thats not study material.

binarysoul

I can hear you man!

If you study the life of most scientists and philosophers, they had been very focused individuals and followed simple lives while they achieved inventions and discoveries.

Maybe I pickup a couple of rotuers and switches and live in a Rocky Mountains cave for a few years

ladiesman217

The best way I know if you don’t want to be disturbed studying is to do it at night when everyone is sound asleep. Same with netstudent, I’m also a family man and it’s also hard for me to get a good time studying, so i do it at night. No one can resist listening to music when studying unless you can perform a trance and isolate yourself to the real world. (if i can only do that )

Best thing is find yourself a study room where you can lock yourself to avoid annoyance.

funk soul brother

Just make the target for yourself.

NinjaBoy

Same here, I have a wife and a 8 week old baby. I do my best studying Saturday and Sunday morning before anyone wakes up

-ken

Mishra

I just plan on taking a couple of hours to sit down and study. It is focus time! The struggle for me is just simply sitting down. ^_^

I usually have light music on in the background.

networker050184

I have a wife and kids also. I study in the morning or at night. I try to sneak some study at work also, but it usually gets intereupted so I mostly just do review at work. When I do labs I usually listen to some music though. When I read I need scilence.

Schluep

I start my day at 5:30 a.m. already as it is, so I don't see myself going any earlier to study in the morning when it is truly quiet. I just had to learn to deal with the interruptions as best I could. I have enough discipline that when I study I do not have the desire to listen to music, watch television, or read non-study material. It is often phone calls which I need to take that become my greatest distraction, so I just had to learn to deal with it and get back to what I was doing. I usually fill up my 2 liter water bottle or several glasses of water so I am not constantly leaving to refill my water (though I need a quick bathroom break every hour or so with how often I drink).

I prefer to study when it is quiet. First time reviewing anything is usually when it is silent and I have a computer available to test and play with what I am reading. If I review it a second time I usually do so while exercising on an elliptical or while listening to quiet classical music (preferably with either piano or violin as the primary instrument) as these methods help to trigger my memory later (as long as I understand it first).

snadam

I also have a wife, and we are trying to move. So recently, I find it EXTREMELY difficult to study lately, especially since my lab is about to be packed up; along with the other issues that come with moving. I also am on call pretty much 24/7 so as soon as something comes up, its time to put the book down and work. My best study days are the ones when I don't get any emails or calls in for help; which lately are fewer and fewer. I have completed exams in the past with distractions before, so I figured it was going to be fine. However, I DO NOT recommend moving/studying at the same time if you can avoid it.

I just need the determination back, but right now all my focus is on moving.

binarysoul

Schluep wrote:

I start my day at 5:30 a.m.

That's imperssive! In my wildest dreams I can't imagine [although I dearly wish] to wake up that early

Can it be said that late-wakers, e.g. myself who sleep 8-10 hrs are lazy?

Mishra

binarysoul wrote:

Schluep wrote:

I start my day at 5:30 a.m.

That's imperssive! In my wildest dreams I can't imagine [although I dearly wish] to wake up that early

Can it be said that late-wakers, e.g. myself who sleep 8-10 hrs are lazy?

I work from 6am-2:30pm as well.

seuss_ssues

I used to enjoy my 8 hours of sleep.

Now im happy when i get 6.

Netstudent

seuss_ssues wrote:

I used to enjoy my 8 hours of sleep.

Now im happy when i get 6.

Your not the only one...BY thursday or friday, the accumulation of lost sleep starts to play hell on study/school concentration.

shednik

Netstudent wrote:

seuss_ssues wrote:

I used to enjoy my 8 hours of sleep.

Now im happy when i get 6.

Your not the only one...

definitely

Schluep

binarysoul wrote:

Schluep wrote:

I start my day at 5:30 a.m.

That's imperssive! In my wildest dreams I can't imagine [although I dearly wish] to wake up that early

Can it be said that late-wakers, e.g. myself who sleep 8-10 hrs are lazy?

Heh, I wouldn't say that all. If you have more energy and are more productive getting the extra sleep could allow you to get more accomplished than you would otherwise and can often outwork the people who get less if the discipline is there.

I average about 6 hours per night, though it would be nice at some point to start getting more. I don't see it happening anytime soon with my current schedule however.

leefdaddy

I have a wife but no kids... I study best when she is sleeping... luckily she works early in the morning and goes to bed early at night

networker050184

Sometimes if I stay up too late studying I'm too tired by the next night to even concentrate. If I read I start to doze off. I try to get seven hours, but if I hit something interesting it ends up more like four or five.

KGhaleon

*topic title*

Ah...hah...ahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

There are various places I know of to study. In my home there is peace and quiet, but I get easily distracted and little is accomplished. I used to study for all my certs in coffee shops, which were loud sometimes...but my burning concentration would always get the job done. I also liked to eat or drink something while I'm working away.

Recently I discovered a library nearby which is pretty quiet, but then again...no food or drink. <_<

katel2k

waking up the thread... hehehe I also have a 6 month old kid and a wife, Im on the midshift at work, I find it difficult to find time to study at night as i am exhausted. Also, i cannot resist to hold my cute kid. What I do right now is wake up in the morning around 4am and study for 2 to 3 hours.

HeroPsycho

This especially helps for those of you who find it difficult to find a place to study, or just can't concentrate longer than an hour or so...

When I was in college, I'd get up in the morning, study before no one else woke up, and then got to class 30 minutes to an hour ahead, and study there. This gives you the breaks you need, and provides you with isolated time to study as well.

I applied this within IT as well. If I have to be at a jobsite at let's say 9am, I get up at 6:30 for example, get ready, study for 30 minutes, leave, get there by 8 or 8:30, and study again. If it's a workplace that will interrupt you, find someplace nearby where you can study without interruption. The other nice thing about this is it helps prevent showing up late to work from a traffic jam or something unforeseen.

As for listening to music, I find it's not that music is distracting, but certain kinds of music is distracting to me. If it's complex or new music I haven't heard, I get distracted. Things more simple that I've heard a lot often times get me energized. I actually have a playlist of music that does that for me, and I play that when I study. Obviously, your mileage may vary on that.

Mrock4

My day begins the good Army way, at 5:30am till 5pm.

I find that I cannot study if I have the T.V. or anything like that, because that just makes it even harder, considering the area by my apartment is ridiculously loud 24x7. I'm actually going to try a somewhat new approach to studying- drive 2 miles to the library, at the same time each day, and just sit down and study. I think this will be a lot better, since it feels more like a true "studying" environment since I generally associate my room with Xbox and watching movies..not studying.

freetech

We have an internet cafe closeby, 5 miles or so.
On days off I go there in the morning and study until my posterior gets sore. No distractions, beethoven's ninth in the earbuds and VPN into my home lab. I get SO much studying done that way. It works for me.

Darthn3ss

binarysoul wrote:

So the question is, do you study undisturbed for one hour? How do you resist listening to music and watching TV while you study/read?

I do most of my studying at odd hours in the morning where theres nothing good on TV and no one is awake

Mishra

Whoa... weird browser problem posted in this thread. Ignore post.

Claymoore

Since I have the 'gift' of ADHD, I something to distract other parts of my brain so I can focus when I study. The best way I found was quiet music - preferably without lyrics - so I wind up listening to movie scores. This also helps block out the ambient noise of my apartment complex.

Scottee

I had the attic of my house converted into a room, and keep a doule bed and a PC up there. If i need to study using a video course, I just sit at the desk in silence, if i need to read a book to study, I chill out on the bed. Its pretty much silent, as its 3rd storey so the girlfriend and dogs (two big noisey german shepards!) cant be heard.

If I am trying to study, i tend to unplug the network cable from my PC, so even if I want to get distracted, I cant (unless its to look something up on here )

Aquabat [banned]

yea i don't even know what to to anymore, i think i have super adhd or something, or mabye i just hate reading about ipsec after a long period of time,

i usually read like one book a day. literature/political

but i open my pix book and i fall asleep after like 5 minutes

i'll get the network warrior book, mabye that'll cure my rls

cisco_trooper

binarysoul wrote:

I'm wondering how people study for certifications/IT. With all things around us, TV, game, iPODs, youtube, family, cellphones, snacks, news, movies and many other things, it seems almost impossible to study uninterrupted for even 45 minutes.

So the question is, do you study undisturbed for one hour? How do you resist listening to music and watching TV while you study/read?

Avoid listening to music? Never. I personally study best with music blasting in my ear at right around 100 decibels. Without that constant sound in my ear then I'm left with TRUE distractions. For me constant noise is much better than the sporadic.

royal

I listen to music when I study. I don't get too distracted unless people keep coming up to me to talk or ask questions.

undomiel

I'm one of the music listeners as well as I study much better with music going on. Albeit it needs to be just instrumental and not with vocals because the vocals can be distracting. What's going on around me doesn't really distract too much unless someone's watching a movie. Doesn't matter what language. It is completely distracting, even if I've seen it a hundred times.