Overwhelmed → Success: How To Pass Exams With Flying Colours

How to work smarter, not harder (actually explained)

When I just started at Med School 4 years ago, I fell behind in the first weeks of university because I struggled to study efficiently. The volume of study materials stressed me out. It was the first time I’d seen so much content. I wasn't sure how to handle it.

Only a few weeks in I was overwhelmed and anxious.

I realized my approach wasn’t working. I had to change something, so I did.

I tried many different study methods until I realized what I was missing.

Speed.

99% of students underestimate speed.

Since I’ve prioritized being faster:

• I passed ALL my exams

• I maintain a healthy lifestyle

• I save 10+ hours/week for fun

I’ve been able to consistently create content on social media and build my audience up to 700k+ followers.

I’m nothing special, I’m just quick.

Work faster = Finish sooner = More time for fun

Here’s how I do it.

Phase 1: Study Without Distractions

If you want to get work done, you must create an environment where you are set up for success.

That means:

• Focused work for a long period of time

• No distractions

• No anxiety about wanting to be somewhere else

Personally, I wake up early to study in the mornings.

6am to 11am is the time of the morning when nothing's happening.

No one's going out, no events and no one will reach out to me.

Even if I ignore my texts and calls no one will have an issue since it’s socially not an active time of day.

It's very easy to focus in the morning because there are no distractions. Doing the work in the morning allows me to spend the evenings chilling with friends without feeling guilty for not working.

You need to find a time of day when you know you won’t be distracted and when you are awake and able to focus. For some people, this might be late at night, for others early morning.

Once you have your time, you make firm agreements with yourself.

I have agreements with myself, which take a lot of discipline:

• Leave your phone OFF/SILENT and OUT OF SIGHT and reach while studying

• Always reward yourself after a long day of studying

• Don’t use social media in mini-study breaks, ever. No exceptions. Even as an influencer.

• Keep a bottle of water with me while studying

If you stick with these agreements you will find it a LOT easier to study.

Phase 2: Increase video speed

I play all of my lectures at 2-3x speed and type notes throughout. It's not easy to jump from 1x to 3x immediately so I suggest you gradually increase the speed over time. When I just started medical school, I was only comfortable with 1.75x. Now I go up to 3.5x.

Keep the speed slightly over your comfort zone. This way you're always challenging yourself and improve over time.

There are 2 Google chrome extensions I use to manually select the speed to one decimal point:

1. Fast Panopto for recorded university lectures. Manually select playback speed to one decimal point.

2. YouTube Playback Speed Control. This helps you manually select the speed of YouTube videos.

This has such a big impact on me. I no longer feel intimidated by 60+ minute lectures since I can get through them in half the time.

If you’re fortunate to have captions on your lectures, that’s even better because your brain can read faster than you think, so captions help.

Phase 3: Work Smarter, Not Harder (Actually Explained)

Many students think good grades require hard work and long hours, but it doesn't.

You can get the same grade as someone who works 2x more as you do if you work smart.

There are 2 ways I started working smarter:

1. Not wasting time on taking notes

The goal with studying is to get the information into your head, not into your notebook.

So stop worrying about making notes and start worrying about understanding it.

Here’s what I do instead:

1. Google the topics. In under 60 seconds find multiple helpful resources.

2. Copy and paste the notes from these websites and within 15 minutes you’ll have a giant summary on the topic.

3. Skim through my university lecture and refer to these websites for 'notes'.

All I want is a good grade and a good understanding in the shortest time, how I get there doesn't matter.

2. Not wasting time attending lectures

I graduated my last degree with 11% attendance.

If you have to attend for clinical placements, I understand that, but sitting in a room and watching somebody read off the slides is pointless.

Here's what I do instead:

First, I open the lecture slides and scroll through to see what it’s about.

For example:

Let's say they’re teaching about Asthma. Once I know the topic is Asthma I don’t need the lecture. It’s too long (60 mins+) Instead, I go to YouTube where videos are:

• Short (<10 mins)

• Edited

• Scripted

• Checked

• Engaging

• Quality audio

You can watch three or four YouTube videos in the time that you would watch one lecture.

But what if I HAVE to attend lectures?

There are times I have to attend lectures too while I simply don’t want to be there.

Most students accept this and sit idle, listening or scrolling on their phones. That’s a waste of time.

Instead, find some work you can do while in the lecture. Clean your emails. Plan tomorrow. Do some flashcards. Write a grocery list. Literally, anything that could make your time worthwhile.

This has been a very effective method of work.

I’m very protective of my time and I don’t like to waste any of it. This simple act of valuing my time highly is why I’m able to create content while being a full time medical student.

Phase 4: Artificial Deadlines

Parkinson’s law states that work fills the time we allocate to it. If you give yourself 6 weeks to complete a task, it will take 6 weeks to finish it.  If you give yourself 6 days, you will probably get it done within 6 days.

Give yourself artificial deadlines for study work.

The idea is not to strictly stick to them, but it’s to create a sense of urgency. Your brain will take something seriously when you have a clock ticking down.

Two ways I set deadlines for myself:

1. Tell a friend about the work I have to do and when it has to be finished.

2. I often do this on social media too with YouTube posts or this newsletter. I post a story saying ‘New post at 6pm’ when I haven’t finished it yet.

This forces me to get it done and creates accountability. Sometimes I make a deal with my sister and tell her if I don’t complete my work by a certain date, I’ll give her £100. That usually gets me going.

I hope you realise that these tips are simple. There is no actual ‘secret’.

It’s just obvious things that few people do. I‘ve been doing this for more than 4 years now and I have virtually no stress about exams.

P.S.

Have the first weeks of the new Uni year overwhelmed you already?

In next Sunday’s newsletter, I’ll show you how I live a fulfilled life without neglecting my studies.

Subscribe so you don’t miss it. It’s free.