“I’m tired of medical school. I’m just tired of studying in medical school.”
Those exact words have come out of my mouth plenty of times. So trust me, I get it. You’ve worked hard to get to this point, but now you feel like you’ve hit a wall.
As common as med school fatigue is, I assure you there are ways to overcome it.
In this post, I will share with you the 5 reasons why you’re likely tired of studying in medical school and how to overcome it.
I’ve given these tips to my coaching students and many have made small adjustments to begin to enjoy their med school experience again.
So let’s get to why you are likely tired of studying in medical school.
Your System Is Flawed
We’re often trying to learn the next best thing. “What are the best study methods for medical school?” “What techniques help you get good grades on your test?”
But these questions are superficial. It’s no wonder that students who only look for these sorts of answers often deal with medical school burnout.
While it’s fine to improve the techniques you use (I teach several on this website), the system of how you study is more important.
Whenever one of my coaching students tells me about their med school fatigue, I ask what part of their system is causing their fatigue. But they have no answer.
It’s because they don’t have a clearly defined system.
Now to help paint an example of a study system in medical school, let me share the one I used when I was a 2nd-year med student.
For me, everything begins with planning. So the night before, I had assigned a task for every 30-minute interval. May seem a bit much but I promise you it works. (You can check out how I plan my day in this video).
When I’m planning I know that I can stay motivated for 1.5-2 hours at a time. With this knowledge, I sandwich my tasks between something fun or relaxing. I may do my syllabus reading for 2 hours, hit the gym, and then begin my flashcards. This gap is necessary for me and thus part of my system.
Next, I’m not someone who can roll out of bed and immediately hit the books. So I need something in my system to build momentum.
I personally enjoy working on a creative project for the blog or youtube channel for the first 30 minutes. It’s much easier to wake up for these kinds of tasks. Then I move to the syllabus chapter.
My system requires this momentum and so I make sure that there is something with a low barrier of resistance to start my day.
Similarly, I must end my day with little friction. Thus I have a clock out time. For me it’s 7:30 and I avoid working after this time.
You see I didn’t mention anything specific on how I study. Instead, I have a system in place to help me get my work started every day (regardless of my motivation), have appropriate breaks, and call it a day in a very structured fashion.
If you want to learn my favorite study method, you can check it out in this free step-by-step guide and video course.
Click here to check out the course.
How To Evaluate Your System
You can see how my system is created from start to finish to get me started and keep me focused and productive. When something isn’t working, however, I make sure I adjust.
So now it’s your turn, what is something in your system that is causing you fatigue or forcing you to lose motivation?
It may be the start of the day and getting started. You may be a victim of someone with low motivation. If this is the case then you need to create a system to add some motivation to the start of your day.
You may struggle with being tired of your first few tasks. If so, perhaps you need a system on changing how much you work at a time. Check out my post on how to stay focused when you’re studying to learn how. Click here to check out the post. (insert post on how to stay focused in medical school)
Finally, you may be someone who is working themselves into the ground. If so you may be in dire need of a clock out time. You may also be a great candidate for someone who should plan their days backwards. Check out the video below.
Regardless of where you’re being hung up, evaluate where the friction is happening and tinker with that phase.
Think of studying like going to the gym. While neither task sounds exciting, you can have cues (ie. put shoes and clothes out by your bed as a reminder to run) to help yourself carry out both tasks.
If you want more help in creating your perfect system, you will love our newest course Level Up Your Studying.
If you are a pre-med or medical student who is looking for a better way to study, then this course is for you. The 3-week course will teach you how to create your perfect study system which will get you better grades in half the time!
You can check out Level Up Your Studying here.
Your Goals Are Unrealistic
Because we’re in the medical field, unrealistic goals is a common reason why you’re tired of studying in medical school.
You may be used to making all A’s in your classes since you were in pre-K. Now you may be finding getting those same results a bit harder.
But ask yourself if those same goals are required to get you to where you want to be.
If you’re a pre-med then yes you need good grades, but you can take the burden off yourself by perfecting the other elements of your application.
If you want to learn how to create your perfect application, check out our all-inclusive guide for pre-meds, The Pre-Med Journey.
You can find the book on Amazon here.
If you are a medical student then ask yourself what goals you’d be okay with achieving. I, for example, wanted an A on every exam and quiz. While this goal is admirable it’s not always realistic.
So I switched my goal from getting all A’s to get the best grades I could with 5-6 hours of work a day.
You know what happened? I still got all A’s!
I focused first on my time goal for the sake of my sanity and in return, I became more efficient with my time.
When your goals are all about the grades and scores, you tend to assume that more is better. While in fact, it’s the practice of being efficient with your time and strategies which can help you achieve your desired goals.
So check if your goals are number related which are often backed up by ego, concerns for others, and pride vs. personal related.
You Don’t Have The Right Study Environment
Do you study at home and get distracted or instantly tired? You’re likely not giving your study environment enough attention.
Some of us study great at home, others need some ambient noise and thus do better at a coffee house.
Most of us probably need different environments depending on the task.
I, for example, can’t read a syllabus chapter with a bunch of people talking around me. So I find a nice cubicle at school to do my reading. I do, however, like to do flashcards early in the morning in the comfort of my own desk.
Find if there is a place where you’re more focused. Try to optimize a majority of your time there.
Next thing about our study environment is what shouldn’t be there.
You guessed it, the phones and other distractions – get rid of them.
In my video about how to avoid getting distracted while you study, I share a few great apps which can keep you productive and focused.
You can check out the video here.
Your study environment is an important part of your study system – going back to our very first tip. You may schedule your morning with one study environment and then your evening with another.
Regardless, make sure everything in your studying is done for ultimate efficiency.
Often we can get over being tired of studying in medical school by building a few days of motivation where our studying is on point. This is much easier with the right environment and system.
Note: Want to learn how to study in medical school? Check out this post – Ultimate Guide On How To Study in Medical School.
You Lost Your Motivation
I recently got an email from one of my international students who said that she was 5-years into her training and was struggling with her motivation.
I’m not going to act like you’ll love medicine 100% of the time during your training. Often this is the reason why we’re tired of studying in medical school – it’s no longer interesting.
So overcome this, we got to get that motivation back. I’m huge about staying motivated in medical school and have plenty of posts and videos I’m sure you’ll love.
First, check out the following video of why you’re likely stressed in medical school.
Next, you will love how I stay motivated in medical school.
Finally, for that last touch of motivation, check out this video on how to accomplish anything on your medical journey.
After watching these videos I hope you can regain some motivation of why you choose to do this in the first place.
One of my favorite concepts that I mention in the second video is the idea of the golden nugget.
The golden nugget is a great memory or experience that you wish every day was like. For instance, you may have had a great encounter with a patient and always remember that experience.
This is your golden nugget!
Now next time you’re feeling demotivated, reflect back on that patient encounter and reflect on what made it so great. More important, what effort did you put in that led to result.
Take this same approach with your studying. Think back to a golden nugget when you just did great on an exam. What kind of effort and consistency did you put in?
If you want to repeat the results, you’ll likely have to repeat the effort you put in.
So regain that motivation and help yourself avoid getting tired of studying in medical school.
You Are Leaving No Time For Yourself
This is probably the most important reason you’re getting tired of studying in medical school. You have no time for you!
A great example of this was a recent email I got from one of my readers. She was a pre-med who felt like she was working her way into the ground, had no time for herself, and she felt guilt when she did take time to relax.
Of course, she was going to get tired of studying. Her entire system placed studying at a higher priority than her personal sanity.
Do you want to hear my personal response to her? Check out the following video!
This video is a great resource on every tip I share with my coaching students.
If you are tired of studying in medical school, I’m sure the content in this video will help transform how you approach your studying
These were the top reasons you’re likely tired of studying in medical school and how to overcome them. Which reason was yours? Comment below and feel free to share your struggle. I’d love to hear from you! 😀
If you enjoyed this post then you’ll love the following blog posts.
Here are some blog posts that will also help you with your studying:
Top 5 Study Methods For Medical School
Ultimate Guide – How To Study in Medical School
How I Studied Less Than 5 Hours A Day
How To Perfect Long-Term Retention in Medical School
How To Study Effectively in Med School
My Morning Routine in Med School
If you’re interested in how I study, check out my free system here.
Finally, I love to point you to two fan favorites. First is our How To Study in Medical School book. The book is filled with a handful of amazing reviews on how helpful the book was.
You can check out the book here and get a bundle discount!
Next, I’d encourage you to check out our most transformative product yet, the Level Up Your Studying video course.
This is a 3-week video course which helps pre-meds and medical students create their perfect study system to get better grades while cutting their studying in half.
You can check out the course here and take advantage of the lowest price we’ll be offering!
Thank you so much for reading. Comment below with any questions you have!
Until next time my friends…
