spook Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Hi everyone. I'm finishing the last couple of courses in lawschool right now. I have some exams ahead. But there is this one course that is soooo boring. I just can't seem to get in touch with the stuff I need to learn. I read 5 sentences and "wake up" 5 pages later I've studied some boring subjects before, but never encountered anything like this before. It's only 300 pages, so I should be able to learn this stuff in 3 days if it was the least bit interesting. Do you guys have any tips on how to deal with really boring stuff? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhino Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 How about marking it off into smaller blocks and make a schedule for learning each section? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Do you guys have any tips on how to deal with really boring stuff? Thanks! Spook, how do you deal with boring stuff like dry-firing routines? Do you pull the trigger with front sight on brown, or do you look for proper sight picture? Do you draw your gun as fast as you can, or do you try to "feel" each and every single muscle movement to get the draw done as smooth and fast as it should be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I have to change my environment. I always go to a coffee shop or a similar joint. If I try to read that junk at home, I just zonk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdj Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 When I encounter something that boring, I usually ignore it and go on to something else [Memories of sitting an applied maths paper where the only topic I could answer questions on was complex number theory since I'd refused to look at the applied dynamics ]. Assuming that's not an option for you : Try to make it interesting by constructing a framework around the information. Invent creative mnemonics, look for interesting patterns in the information, build a mental meta-data set that you annotate with the boring stuff, ... None of this will help the fact that the stuff is really boring but it'll give you something to keep yourself occupied while some of the material sticks Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
short_round Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I have to change my environment. I always go to a coffee shop or a similar joint. If I try to read that junk at home, I just zonk. I have to agree with this one. Lots of coffee in a place that's resonably far away from things I would rather be doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted May 25, 2004 Author Share Posted May 25, 2004 Rhino, thanks for the tip. I'm afraid it's too late to divide it in chunks if you know what I mean. Examination is next friday I have to change my environment. I always go to a coffee shop or a similar joint. If I try to read that junk at home, I just zonk. LOL, going to a dutch coffee shop will not improve my ability to focus. They sell everything but coffee there . But changing the scenery is a good idea. I'll try it. Sky, I actually LOVE dry firing. I could do that all day (actually, I've been doing that all day instead of learning). Dry fire never gets boring. Kevin, I really like the tip you gave me. It's what I did when I studied physics. I forgot to mention that this stuff is not just boring, but there's no logical system behind any of this. No patterns whatsoever I'll just have to cram that stuff into my walnut sized brain I guess ) Short Round, coffee is a great idea. I fell asleep after my last post and just woke up. Sheesh, talking about a waste of time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 I have to change my environment. I always go to a coffee shop or a similar joint. If I try to read that junk at home, I just zonk. LOL, going to a dutch coffee shop will not improve my ability to focus. They sell everything but coffee there . But changing the scenery is a good idea. I'll try it. Crap! I totally forgot about that! So, what do that call the places that actually serve coffee? Opium dens? Head shops? The Golden Triangle? Downtown Bogota? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Spook, I was referring to dry-firing practice because of the involvement it requires, not because it's boring. I mean, if you dry fire, you're not just drawing and pulling the trigger (which won't help you as it won't reading without focusing on concepts beyond words), you're trying to focus on all the different aspects of the practice. While dry firing, you keep your attention wandering from the hand to the grip, to the target, to the front sight. You never let your mind rest. Think of all the analogies you can find between dry firing in preparation for a match, and reading to learn for an exam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiG Lady Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Nobody's quite mentioned EXACTLY what it is (the subject) that's causing the boredom...... I found a numbers-and-rhythm mnemonic kind of thing that had me memorizing about 18 numeric things in the computer hardware area the first day I saw them. After eight weeks I still recalled these things but the other two guys in the class never got them. (Now, they knew everything else that I DIDN'T know, but we're talking about the METHOD here). There MUST be a way... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexmoney Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 You are likely bored because you have no expectation of needing the material...or, some such thing. Change your expectations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted May 25, 2004 Author Share Posted May 25, 2004 Think of all the analogies you can find between dry firing in preparation for a match, and reading to learn for an exam. Thanks Sky, this is the stuff I had in mind to make things more interesting. Only problem is that when I try and find analogies between studying and shooting, I wind up thinking about shooting So, what do that call the places that actually serve coffee? Opium dens? Head shops? The Golden Triangle? Downtown Bogota? LOL, we call 'em Cafés. But they're still not the kind you would find in the US One of the things that stayed with me after my visits to NY is that it's a huge city, but there are so many quiet places. I loved that. No such thing here. Over here it's just 16 million people living in an area the size of New Hampshire and Vermont put together. Nobody's quite mentioned EXACTLY what it is (the subject) that's causing the boredom...... SigLady, the subject of my course is Family Law, Laws invloved in marriage and divorce, etc. Need I say more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted May 25, 2004 Author Share Posted May 25, 2004 You are likely bored because you have no expectation of needing the material...or, some such thing.Change your expectations. That's deep Flex. I have to let that one simmer for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 No such thing here. Over here it's just 16 million people living in an area the size of New Hampshire and Vermont put together. Wow! Time for you to move to the country..... Even on the Champs Elysees in Paris I could find good places to go hang. (Go to Paris, head toward Notre Dame from L'arc de Triomphe and back along the south bank in some alley is a place called the Higlander. It's a little pub. You can go do your homework in the corner and watch the Limeys hit on French chicks when the book gets too boring.) BTW, there's also absolutely nothing wrong about studying while utilizing a half-case of beer and a fistfull of typing paper as learning aids. I aced a bunch of physics tests that way. Deriving Newtonian mechanics actually becomes interesting when you're wasted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
short_round Posted May 25, 2004 Share Posted May 25, 2004 Study groups sometimes helped me back in the day. Better if you found someone from the Swedish Bikini Team to read the material to you. I'm sure you would pay attention then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted May 25, 2004 Author Share Posted May 25, 2004 Well, I think I'm finally getting there. I had about half a gallon of coffee since my last post and my little 1,5 hour powernap worked pretty good The expectation thing seems to do something to the way I read my book. Thanks for all the suggestions guys and girl. This place and the people here are truly great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevin c Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Good luck on the exam! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 "In bocca al lupo" for your exam (and you should know what does it mean, if your ex-girlfriend was italian)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 Thanks guys! Sky, I know what the words mean, but I don't know what the expression is My GF was right, I should have paid more attention to her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Sky, I know what the words mean, but I don't know what the expression is For some strange reasons, here in Italy we don't say good luck to anybody, because it's common belief it will bring him bad luck. If you really want to get a hunter or a fisherman mad at you, tell him good hunting/fishing. We have a whole bunch of sayings to mean good luck without even speaking those words, and some of them are really dirty... The cleanest of these expressions is "In bocca al lupo" which translates to "you're going into the wolf's mouth", to which it is common to reply with "crepi", that translates into "may it die" (maybe to mean "I hope I'll be too hard a bit for the wolf"). Don't ask me where do they come from, I don't know. And don't even ask me to teach you the dirtiest sayings... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 And don't even ask me to teach you the dirtiest sayings... Dude, you can read minds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S. Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Bill Gates is offering $1,000,000,000 to any class member to ace the test. And paying the taxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck D Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 Family Law bores you? That's one of my best subjects. I'm stunned at how people treat each other AFTER they "claim" to want to spend the rest of their lives together. I tend to look at it from the standpoint of I had better know what I'm doing if and when the day comes that a client of mine is seeking relief from incidents of domestic violence. When you study, try and take the gravity of the material into consideration. If someone REALLY needed your help....could you help them? Do you know enough to at least steer them in the right direction? Don't worry anout the exam...you'll do fine. Go get 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shooter Grrl Posted May 26, 2004 Share Posted May 26, 2004 You think Family Law is boring, try Business Law - blech!!!! I'll trade ya I have to write 6 case reviews by midnight (that's about 11 hrs from now!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spook Posted May 26, 2004 Author Share Posted May 26, 2004 Chuck, thanks for the kind words One of the big differences between US law and European law (minus UK law) is that US law exists of more case law. We just have to learn a "system" (which is not very systematic ) and get maybe 5 or 6 important cases per subject. Less juicy stuff so to say. And yes, it is amazing how people treat eachother after they're married. The people who teach this subject at my university all have "just girlfriends" Kath, I just finished Business Law last semester. I feel your pain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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