Three Common Study Group Mistakes

Most study groups start by accident when a bunch of friends decide to study together.  Unfortunately, good friends don’t always make the best study partners.  If you don’t feel like you’re getting the most out of your study group, ask yourself if you’re studying with the wrong people.  Study groups aren’t a social activity, so it’s more important to review with people that will challenge you and keep you accountable, even if you’ll never become best friends.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of negative self-talk, and that trap becomes even more vicious when you start sharing those negative comments about yourself with your classmates.  For example, have you ever caught yourself thinking something like “I don’t know what’s going on in class, so I’ll just sit back and listen to everyone else in the study group.”  Would YOU want to work with someone who has that kind of attitude?  It’s the equivalent of saying “I don’t think I can do it, so I’m not going to try…I’ll just mooch off of your hard work.”  No thanks!

Everyone needs to vent occasionally, but it’s frustrating when your study group does more venting than reviewing.  But are you contributing to the problem?  Once everyone starts complaining, it’s easy to just join in and add your own problems to the list.  That just wastes precious study time, and encourages others to continue chatting instead of getting down to business.  Before you know it, an hour or two has passed and you’re no closer to being prepared for your next exam.

In my next blog post, I’ll be sharing some strategies you can use to prevent (or fix!) these mistakes.  Once you know the Your Nursing Tutor way of approaching study groups, you’ll start loving study groups instead of dreading them!