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How to Study Smarter, Not Harder: The Cambridge System — Transcript

by Dr. Izzy Sealey · 2,847 words · 410 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00during my seven year studying medicine
0:01at Cambridge University I was presented
0:04with the biggest academic challenges I'd
0:06ever faced in my life it was sink or
0:07swim and what I learned during this time
0:09about the true value of studying was
0:12absolutely crucial to my academic
0:13development I realized learning is not
0:16all about studying harder but rather
0:18studying smarter in this video I'm going
0:20to walk you through seven specific and
0:22simple study habits I've adopted which
0:24saved both my grades and my sanity and
0:27can hopefully do the same for you today
0:28we'll go beyond just the basics of
0:31active recall and space repetition which
0:33you might be familiar with if you've
0:34watched some of my other videos and I'll
0:35bring you along on a little journey with
0:37me through each of my years at Cambridge
0:39from first year up to my seventh year
0:42I've made a mini notion guide with all
0:44of these tips which you can access
0:45totally for free via the link below if
0:47you're interested if you're new here my
0:48name is Izzy I'm a Cambridge graduate
0:50and a doctor without further Ado let's
0:52get into the video the first habit is
0:54the co-working Habit studying is not
0:56known for being a particularly fun
0:58activity but that doesn't mean we can't
0:59try during my first year of University
1:01one of my friends who was also studying
1:03medicine studied with me every single
1:05day during our first year exam term we'd
1:07meet up in the morning and start
1:08studying together then go get lunch in
1:10college together and Hall and generally
1:12support each other through the whole
1:13process we'd cover topics at the same
1:16time and help each other check our work
1:18this made it feel so much more fun and
1:21enjoyable and sustainable and then when
1:22we ultimately passed all of our exams
1:24together we felt a real sense of
1:26camaraderie and could celebrate together
1:27it can be really easy to sort of retreat
1:29into your own space when studying and
1:31shut out the outside world and thinking
1:34that by being zoned in we do things more
1:36effectively but in reality this is
1:38actually a great time to work with
1:39friends to not only bounce ideas off
1:41each other but also to strengthen those
1:43friendships additionally having an
1:44accountability buddy for something is
1:46actually proven to increase goal success
1:48and help you to move towards whatever
1:50your goal is so for example in the case
1:51of studying studying with a friend and
1:53keeping each other accountable can help
1:55you to feel that sense of accountability
1:57and get things done within a an hour day
2:01week month you can make an agreement
2:02together and be like today we're going
2:04to get through all of the topics in
2:06renal for example number two is the core
2:09content habit my second year of medical
2:10school was when we had the most
2:12pre-clinical knowledge to learn it's
2:13literally a volume of knowledge that I'd
2:16never experienced before among Cambridge
2:18Medical students as well it was a
2:19notorious year for Burnout which was
2:21something that I personally experienced
2:23and also several of my friends and I
2:24have a video talking more about that
2:26I'll link that somewhere over here it
2:28was physically impossible to learn
2:29everything and know everything and one
2:31of the features of the pre-clinical
2:32medical curriculum at Cambridge is that
2:34the syllabus is not clearly defined and
2:36there's almost an unlimited volume of
2:38stuff to learn if you wanted to which
2:40was a feeling I was really not used to
2:41as previously at school I was always
2:43able to learn everything on the syllabi
2:44because it was very much limited so here
2:47I learned to apply the perito principle
2:49also known as the 80 20 rule this
2:51concept was discovered by Italian
2:52economist Wilfredo perrito who in 1896
2:56observed that roughly 80 of Italy's land
2:58was owned by roughly 20 20 of its
3:01population and he continued to notice
3:03this 80 20 phenomenon for example 20 of
3:06the plants in his garden bore 80 of all
3:09the fruit the central idea behind this
3:11concept is that 80 of all functional
3:13outcomes result from 20 of causes so
3:17when you study focus on the core topics
3:19first in other words focus on that rough
3:2120 that's going to give you around 80
3:23percent of the results laser focus in to
3:27all of those 20 on each topic before
3:29moving on to anything else or going into
3:31more depth for example in Pharmacology
3:33which is the study of medications and
3:35mechanism of drug action I would start
3:37by learning the core drug classes and
3:40also the main few examples of these as
3:43the core 20 of the knowledge before only
3:45later considering adding all the rest of
3:47the drugs in that class some of which
3:49aren't actually used in clinical
3:50practice anymore and also any specific
3:52side effects for any Niche drugs that
3:54aren't really used anymore by
3:55establishing this core understanding of
3:57these core content areas I could reap 80
4:00of the benefit of studying without
4:02having to go through all of the niche
4:04details that were unlikely to really
4:06come up in the exam in any big way
4:07number three is the Curiosity habit
4:10which is essentially about leading with
4:11curiosity curiosity can be defined as an
4:14intrinsic motivation to learn in my
4:17third year at Cambridge I intercalated
4:18with a Bachelor of Arts in biological
4:21anthropology which essentially is the
4:23study of human evolution Health cultural
4:25development social networks since seven
4:28million years ago this was assessed by
4:30essays and also a dissertation with some
4:33research and was more free form than my
4:35pre-clinical medical studies and I found
4:37myself learning a lot and also being
4:39able to tailor my learning to what I was
4:41interested about I learned to follow my
4:42curiosity with Academia and so for
4:44example in one of my modules which is
4:46around social networks one of the topics
4:48was memes and I found myself asking more
4:52questions about how memes spread and how
4:54viral memes can become a part of our
4:56culture and spread throughout a whole
4:58society so quickly and as a side effect
5:00of this I realized that the things I was
5:02genuinely curious about really stuck in
5:04my memory so much more you might have
5:06found this yourself when you find
5:07yourself remembering really random and
5:09potentially not very applicable or
5:11functional facts that are just really
5:12interesting and you're genuinely curious
5:14about and actually there's a lot of
5:15science behind this because when
5:17exploring a topic to learn about we
5:18learn much more effectively and retain
5:20more information when we're genuinely
5:21curious about it in this study which
5:23I'll pop on screen the researchers found
5:24that Curiosity does indeed have a potent
5:27effect on learning itself in both
5:28immediate and one day delayed memory
5:30tests participants showed improved
5:32memory for information that they were
5:34curious about and for incidental
5:35material learned during states of higher
5:38curiosity as part of this study they did
5:40fmri scans which stands for functional
5:42magnetic resonance imaging and they
5:44found the activity in the midbrain and
5:45nucleus accumbens was enhanced during
5:47states of high curiosity so essentially
5:49if you're in this state of really being
5:50in the sense of wonder of like oh I
5:52really wonder what happens next or oh
5:54why does this happen then you can
5:56naturally learn things more effectively
5:57and remember stuff much more efficiently
5:59so you might be thinking okay Izzy but
6:02what if I'm not curious about a subject
6:03I'm learning in school and that's really
6:05a fair point because I think we've all
6:06been here and not everything we learn
6:08will naturally be interesting to us I'll
6:10talk a bit more about how we can deal
6:12with content that we don't find super
6:13interesting or that we find difficult in
6:16habits five and six so stick around for
6:17that if you're interested number four is
6:19the less is more habit which is
6:21essentially about working less which I'm
6:23sure you'll be very pleased to hear in
6:24my fourth year I started my clinical
6:26studies and I started clinical
6:28patient-facing placements in hospitals
6:30I'd go into placement from nine to five
6:31and then try to go home and study
6:33afterwards and maybe go to the gym and
6:35push myself and I found that quite
6:36quickly I was getting a really really
6:38tired out and my energy levels were
6:40dropping along with my productivity I
6:42found something really unexpected which
6:43was the less I pushed myself to work
6:45when I was feeling drained the better I
6:47actually learned and performed this
6:49links in with the point before about
6:51curiosity where when I was allowing
6:53myself to really rest and recharge and
6:55feel curious and excited to learn I was
6:58able to memorize and learn and absorb
7:00material much more effectively through
7:02this experience I discovered first hand
7:04how important taking care of yourself
7:06and actually allowing time to rest is I
7:08know literally everyone harps on and on
7:10about how important it is to take breaks
7:12and allies or to rest it's so true so
7:14take it from me after seven years of
7:17studying at Cambridge I'm telling you
7:18work Less in his book titled rest why
7:22you get more done when you work less the
7:23rest expert Alex student Kim Pang talks
7:25about the benefits of rest and its
7:27ability to help you think more
7:28creatively and effectively he recommends
7:30simple measures like taking breaks to
7:32walk or nap which can really replenish
7:34your energy fill up your cup and boost
7:36your ability to concentrate one crucial
7:38component of rest that he also mentions
7:40is stopping at the right time and this
7:42can be actually really counterintuitive
7:43and actually super interesting so this
7:45actually triggered my curiosity into
7:46something I won't forget Pang recommends
7:48that you actually stop working at just
7:49the right point which is when you see
7:51your next move but you decide to leave
7:53it until tomorrow the writer Ernest
7:54Hemingway was a famous advocate of this
7:56practice actually and he would say to
7:58always stop when you know what is is
8:00going to happen next overall this is a
8:01great way to avoid burnout and also
8:03provide a sense of clarity and ease of
8:05restarting reducing that activation
8:07energy when you're starting work the
8:09next day because you already know your
8:10next step of course the crucial
8:12Foundation of a rest is getting proper
8:14sleep I've made a more in-depth video
8:15all about this subject which you can
8:17check out over here with a bunch of
8:18evidence-based tips if you're interested
8:20and when we talk about rest we mean real
8:22genuine relaxing activities that allow
8:24your body and mind to actually take a
8:25break from over stimulation so what I
8:28don't mean to say that technology can
8:30never be involved so such as watching a
8:32movie or show can sometimes be a nice
8:33way to unwind try to be mindful about
8:35what you choose to do during this rest
8:36period And I would potentially
8:37controversially suggest that scrolling
8:40on Instagram doesn't really count as
8:42true rest and unwinding and instead
8:44maybe take some time to read a book stay
8:46away from screens maybe go for a walk
8:47something like that number five is the
8:49Sprint Habit in my fifth year of medical
8:51school we had the infamous pathology
8:53exam at Cambridge which was one of if
8:55not the most challenging exam I've ever
8:58taken in my life but this exam would
8:59have to to interpret histological slides
9:01understand the pathophysiology of
9:03disease along with clinical presentation
9:04investigation and management some of the
9:06content was unbelievably dry so I
9:09experimented with a lot of different
9:10ways to try to combat this and one thing
9:12that I found really really helped was
9:14blocking a set time to focus Pomodoro
9:17Style by using a Pomodoro Technique we
9:19can make learning feel a bit more
9:20motivating and encourage ourselves to
9:22study dry or difficult material if
9:24you're unfamiliar the Pomodoro Technique
9:25is a method of studying developed by a
9:28student in Italy named Francesco cirilla
9:30in the 1980s it was named Pomodoro
9:32because the clock that he used was
9:33shaped like a tomato which is pomodoro
9:35in Italian the keycepts are number one
9:37get your to-do list and a timer to set
9:39your timer for 25 minutes which is the
9:41set time for a Pomodoro and then focus
9:43on a single task until the timer Rings
9:45number three when your session ends mark
9:47off of Pomodoro take a five minute break
9:48in Cirilla's book he recommends
9:5125-minute Pomodoro intervals and five
9:52minute break intervals but you can
9:54actually Tinker with these times and
9:55various different Studies have found
9:57different times work for different
9:59people often our minds and bodies work
10:00in almost ultradian rhythms which are
10:02usually around 90 minutes so generally
10:04setting a focus period of somewhere
10:06between 25 up to maybe 90 minutes would
10:09be effective and generally I find that
10:11for drier material shorter pomodoros are
10:13better because it's more mentally
10:15draining to make yourself look at
10:16something that you really don't want to
10:18whereas if it's something you can get
10:19into a flow with then try increasing the
10:21Pomodoro duration because then you can
10:23actually really get into some deep work
10:25on the topic six is the triplet habit
10:27which is scheduling three blocks of
10:29studying with a topic for each in a day
10:31in my sixth year at Cambridge covered
10:33lockdowns had hit and delayed a lot of
10:34teaching and exams and I ended up taking
10:36a gap and some time out for part of the
10:38year and I was at home with a lot of
10:40unstructured time I found that by
10:41planning each day with three topic
10:43themes I could give myself some sense of
10:45structure for example in the morning I'd
10:47study Mandarin then in the afternoon
10:48slots in the early afternoon I'd learn
10:50medicine and then in the late afternoon
10:52maybe I'll learn about another medicine
10:54topic groundbreaking it's a great way to
10:56divide up the day and have a variety of
10:58topics to study but still allow time to
11:01focus fully on each one and by its
11:03nature this is very helpful with
11:05unstructured days so in my case this was
11:06during covert lockdowns but it could be
11:08something really helpful if you have
11:10weekends or if you're a student who has
11:12full days to study to see if it helps
11:13bring Clarity focus and motivation to
11:16your day number seven is the Frog Habit
11:18in my final year at Cambridge Medical
11:20School I had exams which were the
11:21culmination of all of the years of study
11:24beforehand which was like meant to be
11:25the Pinnacle of my clinical knowledge
11:27and examination skills for these I had
11:29to demonstrate that I was fully ready to
11:31graduate as a doctor I learned that I
11:32could make my day flow more smoothly by
11:35starting with the hardest tasks or
11:37topics first I don't know about you but
11:38I find that in the morning my willpower
11:40to get through difficult things is much
11:42higher so as soon as I wake up if I get
11:45the hardest things out of the way I'd
11:46feel a sense of momentum and then the
11:48rest of my day would play more easily
11:49because I'd be like oh ha I've already
11:51finished the hardest thing the rest of
11:52my day seems relatively pretty chill
11:54this is summarized so nicely by this
11:56quote from Mark Twain which I absolutely
11:57love if it's your job to eat a frog it's
11:59best to do it first thing in the morning
12:00and if it's your job to eat two frogs
12:02it's best to eat the biggest one first
12:04of course even in the morning it can be
12:06hard to do things that you're
12:07intimidated by the most and this won't
12:09work for everyone and getting there is
12:11not an overnight process so if you're
12:12looking for like a bit more guidance or
12:14inspiration on this subject I'd really
12:15recommend the book eat that Frog by
12:17Brian Tracy and if you're interested you
12:19can read a summarized version with a few
12:21extra juicy links and Analysis on short
12:23form and you can get free trial plus 20
12:25off via my affiliate link down below if
12:27you're interested if you enjoyed this
12:28video I think you might like this one
12:30over here where I talk about seven life
12:31lessons from seven years at Cambridge
12:33University where I talk about the
12:35broader life lessons Beyond just
12:37studying that I learned at Cambridge
12:39University which is some of the most
12:40valuable things that I learned during my
12:42time there let me know in the comments
12:43below or by email if any of these tips
12:46helped and if you have any more that
12:47you'd like to add thank you so much for
12:49watching and as always take care of
12:51yourself and I'll see you in the next
12:52video bye

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