Do you want to know how to decrease your Step 1 stress and avoid burnout?
I know a lot of you guys probably have experienced it or heard horror stories about it. Going through my very first week of dedicated prep, I didn’t know the right things to keep in mind and so I had to learn the hard way.
Today, we are going to give you three valuable tips to help you continue your Step 1 preparations with ease.
Let’s get into it!
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Tip #1: Start And End With Lowest Step 1 Threshold Task
Start and end your day with the lowest threshold task. Also, this is a fancy way of saying to…
“Find the thing that’s easiest for you to do and begin and end your day with it.”
In my opinion, this may be the easiest study technique.
Choose the best resource that you enjoy doing and put them at the start and end of your day. That way you will feel like your Step 1 prep started and ended on a good note.
As for my experience, what helped me is using flashcards or things that are enjoyable such as watching a Sketchy video or Pathoma video.
You may have something totally different, but make sure the two ends of your schedule where you’re going to feel the least motivated and the most burnt out being the beginning and the end are accounted for.
If you do that, then waking up every morning isn’t going to be so hard, and getting to the end and doing that very last task is also going to be doable.
Bonus: Want to learn more about studying for Step 1? Check out our full ultimate guide on how to study for Step 1 here.
Bonus: Want to pass Step 1 with confidence and learn the strategies I used to get a 250+ when it was graded? Click here to get access to our free video training to boost your score today so you can pass one your first try!
Tip #2: Be Strict With Your Clock Out Time During Step 1 Prep
If you’re a seasoned listener of TheMDJourney, you’d know my concept about the clock out time.
I recommend putting the clock anywhere from 7 to 8 and to stop studying after this hour. This will give you time to relax towards the end of the day without going to bed—immediately after finishing your Step 1 prep for the day.
So have a clock out time and be extremely strict about it.
Another tip, if you have a significant other, family member, or a friend, ask them to text you at your preferred time to make sure that you’re sticking to your clock out schedule.
Keeping yourself accountable is going to help your overall wellbeing and I promise you, that extra hour or two that you spend studying is not going to lead to an improvement in your score.
As a bonus tip, since we’re talking about schedules, it is advisable to be flexible with yours.
From my experience, If I wasn’t motivated and I was more tired, I’d go back to sleep and some days I’d wake up at 9 or 10.
That extra hour or two definitely allowed me to get through the rest of the day versus trying to push through and not really being able to get a lot in terms of retention from what I was actually learning.
Always make sure that you value your wellbeing over the strictness of your schedule and be flexible.
Also, have a little bit of a buffer between your different Step 1 tasks. If you’re using first aid and doing some UWORLD and your typical time slot would be from 9 to 10 and 10 to 10:30, you have a little bit of buffer between each task.
If something goes a little bit over time, it’s not going to screw your whole schedule up. And that way if you sleep a little bit more, it’s still going to be okay.
Bonus Tip: Want to know what could be my favorite Step 1 resource? Check it out here!
Tip #3: Keep A Running List of Step 1 Confidence Topics
My final tip for you guys on how to minimize it and decrease your burnout and stress during Step 1 is to have a running list of everything you feel really comfortable with and keep adding to it.
This may be a Word Doc or an Excel sheet, or a written thing if that’s what you prefer.
Bonus: Want to pass Step 1 with confidence and learn the strategies I used to get a 250+ when it was graded? Click here to get access to our free video training to boost your score today so you can pass one your first try!
Keep a running list of everything you feel like you’ve mastered. It may also be checking off things as you go through them and first aid.
Just having some form of visualization where you can track how much you’ve mastered and learned over time instead of focusing on everything that’s still left to be done can really give you a little bit of motivation to keep going.
Sometimes a lack of confidence can cost you more points than a lack of knowledge. So keep those in mind.
Anyway, those were the three different ways in addition to some bonus tips on how to minimize your stress and burnout rate during the Step 1 prep.
If you want more of these tips, check out the masterclass that I’ve created here on how to succeed and get a 250+ on your Step 1 without the stress, the doubt, and the burnout.
I’ll be talking about three more discoveries that I’ve made during my dedicated prep to help you as well as my other students.
Also, if you enjoyed this post, you may also like:
How To Study For Step 1 [Ultimate Guide]
Get A High Step Score [Top Step 1 Resources]
Best Question Banks For Step 1 And How To Use Them
Step 1 Is Now Pass-Fail — The Good, Bad, & Ugly
You may also want to learn how to crush your Step 1 without stress. If you are, then it’s best to grab your spot by joining our free Step 1 Masterclass here.
In this masterclass, I will teach you three strategies to score a 250+ on your exam!
On the other hand, if your goal is to achieve success on your USMLE Step 1, join the Step 1 Academy today.
Inside the academy, you will learn exact strategies and methods to raise your Step 1 score without difficulty.
Click here to learn more.
I hope you guys learned a lot and found this post helpful.
Until next time my friends…
