Don’t know how to study for maths exam which is on the edge

[Katherinepierce]

Hey,

I’m new here .Good to join you all .. I need your help as I don’t know how to study maths .

I am always distracted. I even sleep well. I don’t use my social media account or have phone with me still I can’t concentrate. When I start doing maths I feel like I have forgotten everything I studied till now. I am not able to remember anything ,and I have my maths exam in 10 days .

It’s very important for me , I have my whole syllabus coming and I can’t do anything. I start doing maths and after a while I can’t. Don’t know what to do . Even my surrounding are good no one to disturb but still I am failing to do maths . I have even made a table of all the formulas but still it doesn’t work . I don’t know what is wrong . Please help

- Thank you

 

[Geofleur]

As you've eliminated many of the things that can break concentration, we need to consider the remaining possibilities.

One possibility is that you have a condition that affects concentration, such as ADHD, which would need to be diagnosed so that you could get the proper medication for it. I have students who have this and who did much better after they started treatment. In any case, psychologists are experts about how to manage our minds, so seeing a psychologist for something like this is a good idea (at least long term - I know your exam is soon).

Another possibility comes down to external versus internal motivation. People tend to be able to focus a lot better when they are doing something for its own sake and not for some external reward, or to avoid some punishment. The way to handle this problem is to try to see the inherent virtues in the material you need to study, to get excited about it.

This is a big one for me; getting enthusiastic about the material is my first step in learning anything. I have been studying this huge math book for a long time now, and I'd never be able to keep opening it day after day if I didn't value the material for its own sake.

These are only the possibilities I could think of and there are probably others. It's definitely important to understand what is leading to your lack of concentration before we can know what to do about it.

 

[berkeman]

Good reply by @Geofleur

@Katherinepierce -- We are not able to diagnose or offer medical advice here on the PF. The most we can do at this point is ask you to talk with your family doctor (or one of the doctors at the health center on campus) about all of this. They have some tests that should help you figure out the right approach for all of this. Best wishes.