How to make studying a little less painful

I am studying for the boards for the next 6 weeks. So, I probably will not be posting on here very much during that time. I'M SORRY OK? Except not really, because I genuinely doubt that anyone actually reads this. 

To keep you preoccupied, 

here is a list of things to make the prospect of 6 weeks of studying a little less painful:

1. Rad Study Playlists from 8tracks! Especially ones with gorgeous mopey piano pieces and a few soundtrack classics (LOTR, *ahem*) thrown in there.

The Fault In Our Stars from EvanMaryniuk on 8tracks Radio.

(or, you know, just listen to the Shire theme over and over and over again)

2. Buy yourself some Rad materials- Usually I am ALL about cutting edges (cheapo-depot over here,) but there is something about writing and taking notes with a really nice pen that is pretty hard to say no to. So get your self an Office Depot frequent fliers' card and go to town on fun highlighters, cute tabs, a coffee mug with with a photo insert (I stare at the blue waves of Balos on mine every day- there's a fine line between teasing and torture), decorative paper- whatever it takes to make holing yourself up in 4 walls for 4 weeks straight even a teensy bit less painful

simple journal from recycled materials found on etsy


I am literally addicted to these pens. It is a sickness.

3. Plan fun stuff for after studying. For example, if I am extra-good this week, I get to go to the church gyro night with my friends! If we are EXTRA good, we might just pop over to Seacrest Wolf Preserve and play with some wolf cubs. What more motivation do you need to work your ass off? Yea, that's what I thought

Ugh. I can't even...source

4. Mix it up- I don't know about you, but the prospect of reading a single subject in a single medium is just way to daunting. Instead, I prefer to bounce around- an hour of microbiology lecture notes, then switch to watching a 35 minute video on pharmacology, then jump to doing a practice quiz on all subjects at the end of the day. Otherwise the work's just way too tedious.

5. Make lists. Not rocket science to most people, but it was to me. Even organization as simple as using the reminders app on my new iPhone (yay!) has helped me improve in staying on top of my responsibilities tremendously, both academic and otherwise.

Seriously, these may seem like dumb, no-duh-you-moron-what-rock-have-you-been-living-under revelations, but I didn't figure out these methods till halfway through my grad school career, so either (a) they are not actually all that obvious or (b) I really am too dumb to be going to medical school. I like to think that the truth lies somewhere in between :-p

Wish me luck guys!! I'm gonna need it.

Oh, and by the way...

CHRIST IS RISEN :)