When you’re not sure what you’re supposed to be doing, your stress levels increase. You can’t tell if you’re studying too much (or too little), and you don’t even know if what you’re doing will help you accomplish what you need. As a result, many students procrastinate, paralyzed by the fear that they’re not going to do things the “right” way. Yes, even I am guilty of this! Fortunately, you can prevent this dangerous inaction by using Step Four of the Your Nursing Tutor goal-setting technique.
Step Four: A Method to AVOID the Madness
Before I became a nurse, I was studying to become a psychologist (you can find out more about me at www.YourNursingTutor.com/about). And if I learned anything about people while studying psychology, it’s that when you’re not sure what to do or you’re afraid of failing, then you’re unlikely to do anything at all. And that’s a sure-fire way to end up procrastinating. If you want to avoid falling into that all-to-common trap, here’s what you need to do first.
Believe: Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
Change the way you think about “failure.” Just because you don’t do something perfectly does not mean that you failed. You only fail when you give up. (And “giving up” does not necessarily equal failure either, but more about that in a future blog post…)
Redefining what failure means can free you up to experiment and try different ways of accomplishing your goal. If one way doesn’t work, you didn’t fail: you succeeded at finding a way that didn’t work! Now you can cross that method off your list and move on to another that might work better.
Find an expert
The stakes are high in nursing school, and you probably don’t feel like you have the luxury of time to use “trial and error” to pick the best study method for your situation. In that case, an expert is essential because they can quickly assess your needs, and guide you towards the study techniques or other methods that will have the highest probability of helping you achieve your goal.
The first place you should look for experts is at your very own school. Talk to faculty, take advantage of office hours, or pay to hire a nursing tutor. If you’re lucky, your school might already have a free nursing tutor available! Depending on what your goal is, make sure you also think outside of the nursing school box. If you’re working on dosage calculations, for example, check to see if your school has a math lab that could help you improve your algebra skills.
The internet can also offer a ton of information and expertise that can help you choose the best Methods to reach your nursing goals. Obviously, I think Your Nursing Tutor is a great resource, along with the PASS Program! And you can always feel free to email me for advice if you can’t find the information you’re looking for on the website.
However you decide to do it, create a plan of action for yourself to make sure that you don’t get paralyzed by fear and self-doubt. You have many more important things to do!
In my next article, I’ll be discussing Step Five in my Goal setting plan: Is it YOURS?
Nicole is a Professional Nursing Tutor with over 15 years experience, and the founder of Your Nursing Tutor. She has a BSN, and an MA in Clinical Psychology. Nicole specializes in providing easy-to-follow, proven study methods (like the Silver Bullet Study System) that transform frustrated nursing students into calm, confident nurses! When she’s not helping students through her Live Tutoring Membership, Nicole loves spending time with her husband, homeschooling their 6 kids, and staring at sunflowers.