How To Study Better For The Finals? - FOCUS Management!

Dental hygiene school is no joke. The final exams are probably haunting you already. How many subjects are you going to be tested on? There are many TIPS out there about “improving how you study.” You all heard about the obvious things such as “don’t procrastinate or don’t drink”. StudentRDH is NOT here to repeat the obvious. We want to give you some REAL and JUICY tips. Not the regular Bla Bla Bla.

StudentRDH (dental hygiene boards prep courses) believe in human power and would like to help everyone achieve success. Today, I would like to talk about 3 SUPER important methods that will improve the way you study. Those 3 tips are related to FOCUS management. What, focus management? You probably never heard about it, but it is KEY to success.

1. FOCUS 25 minutes at a time. Put your distractions away.

Goal: achieve HIGH FOCUS
This is called the POMODORO technique. I call it the TOMATO technique. This is how it works:
1. Make a serious goal you want to achieve for the next 25 minutes. (Example: finish 20 questions for radiology and read the rationales).
2. Put all distractions away. Do not answer your phone, do not open another web-browser, do not walk away to get your tea right now. Those can wait for 25 minutes.
3.  Commit to focusing for those 25 minutes.

Watch the YouTube video that explains this TOMATO TECHNIQUE in 5 minutes.

2. MOVE around after 5 minutes of INTENSE work.

Goal: Provide OXYGEN to the brain

Say you have been able to stay in this high FOCUS zone for 25 minutes. Then stand up and do something. Sit-ups, walking around, jumping… anything, but do SOMETHING. Stagnant positions are the enemy to high efficiency. It is scientifically proven that the brain is more stimulated when the body is moving. And as blood flows, the brain will be provided with more oxygen. We study enough anatomy in dental hygiene school to understand this concept!

So, to get another good round of 25-minutes of focus, MOVE. If you cannot, at least do some stretches while seated.

3. MAKE A LIST of things you will do the NIGHT before.

Goal: Clearly state your milestones for the next day.

If we don’t have goals to achieve, it is easy to get lost. Think about football players. The general goal is to score points. But do they go onto the field, figure out the positions and plays on the spot? NEVER. They have plays planned and rehearsed. This applies to you #DHwarrior. Plan the night before, rehearse it in your dream, then tackle the list the next day. But make sure you create a list that is super CLEAR. The list can look like this:

- Oral pathology, finish the last 2 chapters of the book and finish the practice questions. (2 hours)
- Oral pathology, read the PowerPoint the teacher gave us. (1 hour).
-Pharmacology, memorize all drugs related to hypertension (1 hour).
- Presentation, make the structure for 10 slides (1 hour).

As you can see, the objective is CONCRETE.

The same techniques will apply when studying for your dental hygiene boards (NBDHE, NDHCE, CSCE, CRDTS, WREB). Start using those techniques today, and you will improve in your FOCUS. When you are successful in this method, please contact me at ClaireJ@StudentRDH.com because I would love to share your success story with others who are in #DHschool or will take their dental hygiene boards. HAPPY, FOCUSED studying! You are bright, we want you to see results!