Studying Tips for a Mature Student

orangesmartie

ste_coxy wrote: »

It is obvious, yes; however, in practice it is not always easy to do - especially when you don't get a seat in the mornings.

This is where dictating notes/cases and putting it onto an MP3 player gives you a big win. You don't need a seat to be listening. Also little note cards in a folder don't take up a lot of room and can be operated one handed. Of course this requires some prep from you on the weekends, to give your self enough material for what essentially amounts to an extra 5 hours of study time per week. Its not a huge effort though.

I think the thing I am currently lacking is motivation - i have long days and when I get home it is hard to make the effort to sit down and dig out the study books.

Currently I am trying to fit in a hour on a Thursday night and a hour on a Sunday too. I realise this is not sufficient but because I am fairly busy in the week it is hard to commit to more.

Its an easy trap to fall in to to say that you work long days and so can't study etc. Harsh as it may sound but its an excuse - you have to motivate yourself. One way of doing it is writing down a detailed timetable Mon-Sun and filling in blocks of time for work, travel, eating, relaxing and studying - this is a very structured approach that may help you motivate at particular times.

When you go to college to study, can you stay behind for an extra hour or so in their library and do some reading? or perhaps do some practice questions like Explain the the McNaughten rules and their application? This again is an opportunity to to practice the rote learning and put it into practice.

I'm really sorry to say but two hours a week studying is really not going to cut it in ilex. Law is an intensive subject which requires a lot of reading. The minimum recommendation of study time is 8 hours per subject. I don't know how many subjects you do per term/year. I did three subjects a year - that was a min of 24 hours per week, excluding any class time. And believe me, you can fit it in with a bit of planning and organisation. You just need to view things in a different light - listening your notes on the train for example is 5 hours straight off the bat.

If you can't study at home, then i really recommend local libraries and college/uni libraries. They are a godsend!

Just a word to the wise about staying at work - check with your boss. Some employers are great and don't mind, others will view it as misconduct to remain on the premises, using their facilities for non-work related activities.

I agree its hard to get into the habit of studying, which is why I suggest some really structured methods to help you get started. If you feel studying in the evenings is too much on top of your job (it was for me when i was doing 10 hour days) then make the most of your weekends - you've got at least 16 hours of study time there - based on 8 hour days.

Good luck.