Why do I feel sleepy when I start studying? What can I do?
What are some of the most effective ways to fight depression?
What is the most depressing one liner?
What’s the most motivating one-liner ever?
How do top students study
How hard do MIT students study?

Why do I feel sleepy when I start studying? What can I do?

It may be the time of day that you are studying. If you study last thing at night, or in a darkened environment, then it may be your brain is getting ready to go to sleep when you are trying to get it to do a daytime job of studying.
Also, if you don’t get enough sleep (7-8 hours) each night, then this will mean you will be sleepy the next day.
If you are tired, and you are in a warm, or relaxed state, this can allow your body to turn off the adrenaline that is otherwise keeping you going, and make you feel sleepy. Which means you need more sleep, otherwise you are relying on artificial things such as sugar highs from fizzy drinks or other sweet things, coffee or caffeine drinks, or the buzz of being almost late for everything, to keep you going.
Also, watch what you eat. If you are eating sugar or refined starches as carbohydrates, especially in large quantities (e.g. bread, pasta, cakes, cookies etc) then your body will struggle to regulate your blood sugar levels, and you will get lows which will make you feel sleepy. Large meals can do this too, as your body takes energy from your brain and other functions to engage in digesting your food.
It’s a fine balance. Eat too little, not enough energy to keep your brain effective. Eat too much, get all sluggish digesting that food.
Exercise can also affect how you feel. If you get regular exercise, then this can help you regulate energy levels more naturally again, but again, watch your eating around this, as if you exercise vigorously, then have a large meal because it makes you feel hungry, then not only have you used up energy (which gives you a natural high, so can be helpful for maintaining energy levels) but you are using up more energy to digest it, before it can be unlocked for energy that you body can actually make use of.
Having said that, the boost of blood through the brain by pumping blood around your body with exercise, can be particularly sustaining for that afternoon lull. I’d recommend a short run, some sports game, a walk around the block, or a trip to the gym at lunch time any day to keep your concentration levels at optimum level through the afternoon.
Back to the sleep thing again - if you do get enough sleep, but you don’t get good quality sleep (e.g. because you have blue recharging lights keeping light in the room, are watching TV or using your computer just before going to bed, are eating too close to bedtime, are fretting about too many things so your brain is keeping you semi-conscious, or because you are overweight / have a genetic predisposition to snoring) then this will also affect how sleepy you are during the day. Evidence suggests that sleep and awake are not two independent states. They overlap, and if you are edging into the ‘asleep’ state whilst being awake, then your brain is fighting to go into ‘self repair’ mode. It suggests you need to give it the chance to do so, otherwise a brain that isn’t allowed to repair will become clunky, ineffective and eventually, may fail through one of a number of degenerative conditions.
And finally… If you add all this to a subject you are not that interested in, then you can become easily distracted. Try to study with fewer distractions , and try to find something about the subject that you do find interesting, or link it to something you are interested in.
E.g. bored with physics? Interested in guitar? Study the wave dynamics of stringed instruments, and suddenly physics becomes very interesting. Even if it is off-curriculum.

What are some of the most effective ways to fight depression?

The root of my depression has been the cure of the same.

Shortest possible background:

Self-doubt. Future is abstract and my mind has always been calculative. Failing was a fear until I did. Thereafter it was a fear of putting efforts and not getting the desired result.

Self-pity. I have had been into it many times. I would pity my situation of having everything needed to lead a normal life still going bonkers of petty things. Look at happy girls and pity my situation.

Depressing period. The summers were coldest for me. When the blazing sun, burned the earth in the afternoon, I would curl myself up in a blanket with fans off. Sometimes I would be sleeping the whole day to get up and sleep again. Hunger was deceptive. Sometimes I would be hungry like I had been homeless for the entire life and somedays, an entire day could be passed without having a single crumb.

Self-harm. Finally. The weight of the anxiety, guilt, was weighing too much on my head and to distract myself this happened to be the dangerously alluring way out.

Suicidal thought. I remember staring at the train zooming into the platform and thinking how would it be like just jumping off and ending it for once and for all. Finding an effective way to die peacefully. IF taking sleeping pills would work? How bad I wanted to peacefully sleep and never wake up.

What keeps me going?

Three very important lines kept me going and keeps me going.

How worse could it go now? I have failed. I have hurt myself. I have failed relationships. I have done nothing too substantial to boast about. I wanted to die but I a still here. Now what?
I did not choose this life for me. I am still not there where I have wanted myself to be in.
No one will believe in my struggle until I succeed in life.
Self-love is not bullshit. I follow Mr. Bean here. I save money from Pocket money and treat myself with chocolate myself when I am in my menstrual cycle. I mean why you have to expect your partner to make you feel special?
Acknowledge your small achievements. It could be a very petty thing for someone to do and stupid for people but it is okay to treat yourself with ice cream after taking an exam for which you prepared wholeheartedly. I always treat myself with ice cream after an exam that went aligning with my satisfaction.
Convert your loneliness into your ME TIME. Sometimes we get more depressed when we see others enjoying and hanging out with people and we do not have any. It is fine. Go to a restaurant and eat alone. It might seem pretty awkward, you might try to deduce what people are thinking about you initially but nobody cares honestly.
Seek help. It is okay to contact people who write about depression. It is okay to share your story which you think is embarrassing to talk about. There are many who have been through your state. Talk to them. They would not judge you. Sometimes people might not reply, you would feel bad as well but those who reply will listen to you patiently and help you. Discuss with people who genuinely want to help you.
Keep working hard and maintain consistency. Despite getting no positive result, keep working hard. It will keep you busy and sometimes it also gives overwhelmingly surprising results. I was very skeptical about my CAT performance. I used to think why I am wasting time by putting efforts when clearly smart people will crack it and I would not? But in the end, I managed to get a few calls from older IIMs as well.
In the end, remember that this is not the life you wanted for yourself. Until you decide to help yourself, nobody can help you. You are valuable to yourself if not others.

What is the most depressing one liner?

“I didn’t even touch her” said the boy in his suicide note.

“I am not suicidal but if a bus is about to hit me and I have a chance to get away , I won’t. If someone points gun on my head I will smile and say, pull the trigger.”

Inspite of being topper, She failed in her exam. Invigilator felt her entire body, looking for a cheating slip.

It took my dad 3 month to explain the 6 year old me, what is divorce?

“Have you ever wondered what a human life is worth? That morning, my brother’s was worth a pocket watch.”.

No matter how much time has passed, when she looked at him.

She saw always, the wild white haired by she had fallen with.

Whenever life sucks, remember you are going to die.

After coming from his funeral she checks the WhatsApp chats and found his last message

The heart was still beating.

“He was a bright student “ said the professor telling the police how a boy killed himself just before his farewell party.

“You are not depressed you are just faking it” he said to himself while desperately trying to sleep.

“it’s not how it feels” she said after looking at her friend’s ‘WhatsApp status’ about depression.

“Why isn’t it working?” he said angrily 5 minute after drinking the rat poison.

“It wasn’t clean enough” He answered when Doctors asked about the scratches on his face.

The 8 year old advised the doctor, “Tell her I’m hungry, she’ll wake up.” - Unknown

He wanted to stay with her forever, but no one was allowed in the graveyard after closing.

I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way. So I stole a bike and asked for forgiveness.

“You should study engineering, it’s the only way you can be successful, idiot”, said the father as the son kept his camera in their storehouse.

“You can’t even buy me a remote control car, what kind of a father are you?”, said the little boy as his father looked at his empty wallet.

“I used be in the top of her call list. Now I’m not sure if I’m there even in her contact list” sighed the man as he remembered his good old days.

He/She was ashamed of his/her illiterate mother, she was proud of her manager son/daughter.

She was standing in the balcony to send off her son going abroad, but he never looked up.

Father slapped his wife but his son was severely injured because of the pain…

He didn’t achieve 95% in the board exam. His parents scolded him severely. He took 95 sleeping pills at that night and never woke up.

After a fight with mom,I decided to skip the dinner.Little did I know,two stomach remained empty that night.

Their love story started with sharing each other’s tiffin’s in school and ended with sharing each others lives.

Dear dad,now I understand why you never brought things for yourself.Yours lovingly,A daughter who got her first month salary.

“Thief… Thief…” the crowd shouted and ran towards him.Hungry face of his sister made him run with the full strength of his little legs.

‘I am full and I am not hungry.Have it!!’ :- the hungry mom fed her daughter.

He cried not because he is weak, because he had been strong for too long.

‘Hey google,Please set a reminder to call mom.’

‘How many times should I tell you it is a bird for god sake?’ yelled the son to his Alzheimer affected dad.

Is my ring covered for a return policy?

“Mom is nothing more than a burden that needs to be shoved off into an old age home”, she heard her son say as a warm drop of tear rolled down her cheek.

I work hard whole day and night and still, I get only rs.150 per day.-a labour said who had to take care of his family and children.

I quit, I could not fulfill your dreams.-a teenager said who could not clear any particular exam and committed suicide.

She promised to stay with me forever, but left me for an iphone.-a boy said whose girlfriend broke up with him just because some other guy was offering the girl an iPhone.

I took care of him since childhood, I tried to fulfill every wish he had , and this is what he did to me.-said a mother whose son left her in an old age home.

Why was my brother killed? Why God, why?-said the girl whose brother was killed when a person was drinking and driving and his car hit her brother.

The son carried the father to grave remembering all the times the father carried him to ice-cream shops.

All his mother wanted was a compliment for her hard striven food while her son chewed it chatting with his girlfriend.

Her mom said in anger that she’s “just like her father” , she cried because she knew how badly her father broke her mother .

Old man asked Shopkeeper that ‘why he does not get any calls from his children if his phone was alright ?’

He was done with his work at office but decided not to go home because he did not wanted his wife to be caught, cheating upon him.

What’s the most motivating one-liner ever?

• Do it for the people who want to see you FAIL.
• The problem is that people are being hated for being real and loved for being fake.
• Don’t be afraid of being different, be afraid of being like everyone else.
• “Time is an illusion. There is only the ‘now’’.
• Speak when you feel that your words are better than your silence.
• When you feel like quitting, remember why you started
• “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default.” - J.K. Rowling
• “Nobody cares how tough your upbringing was. Nobody cares if you suffered some discrimination. And moreover, you have to remember that whatever you’ve gone through, it pales in comparison to the hardships previous generations endured - and they overcame them. And if they overcame them, you can overcome them, too”-Barack Obama
• “Do you know why there are no Lamborghini or Ferrari Ads on TV?” Because the people who can afford them are not sitting around watching TV all day”
• The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude. People may hear your words, but they feel your attitude.
• If you don’t build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs. — Tony Gaskins.
• “I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.” ——on Vito Corleone in The Godfather
• “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” - Bill Gates
• “You must first be willing to fail - and you must have the courage to go for it anyway.” - Michael Bloomberg, CEO, Bloomberg
• “It is often easier to make progress on mega ambitious dreams. Since no-one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition” - Larry Page, Founder, Google.
• “The biggest risk is not taking any risk… In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.” - Mark Zuckerberg, Founder, Facebook

How do top students study

I am an above-average student at Caltech. I don’t think I study particularly hard, but I do

1.Get 8-9 hours of sleep a night. This allows me to go to class well-rested and do my problem sets with greater efficiency.
2.Always go to class. Even if the lectures are not useful, they serve to structure my day. Having lots of free time creates diminishing returns for me - three hours isn’t too different from four hours, but having one block of three hours and one block of one hour is significantly better.
3.Spend a lot of time working on my problem sets before I ask others for help. I like to think that all my time spent getting nowhere on problem sets gives me a deeper understanding of the material. And I don’t know about you, but I find it way easier to concentrate when there’s no one else in the room.
4.Start my sets the day they come out (at least for the first few weeks!). You’ll probably spend more time on them, but being ahead will boost your morale. Plus you’ll have time to go to office hours and you won’t feel pressured to pull an all-nighter on the last day.
5.For some classes, I read the book before going to lecture. Try and have a schedule for reading the book so you don’t slack off. Also, you won’t have time to read the book for all your classes, so choose wisely.
6.Use the Mac app SelfControl to block Quora, Facebook, and other distractions during the day. I promise I’ll turn it on after this answer!

Oh, and for math classes, you really have to read the proofs. Don’t be one of those students who skips over them because they have no relevance to the problem sets. Reading the proofs will build up your mathematical maturity, just like lifting weights builds your muscles.

How hard do MIT students study?

MIT students often one up each other about their workloads. You’ll often hear:

Grades, social life, sleep : pick two.

I’m trying to double major, which means I’ll have to take six classes next semester, while working on my start-up, and I need a week off to go present my research at a conference and compete at Nationals for sport pistol.

I’m so hosed.

It’s only midnight.

Sleep is for the weak.

This makes it hard to estimate how much people really work.

I believe that the average MIT student spends ~55 hours per week on classwork, plus 5–10 hours in part-time jobs and research projects.

This is backed up by the official numbers: in 2014, the average student took 51 credits per semester (equivalent to 13 credit-hours at most US schools), which is supposed to equal about 51 hours of lecture, lab, and homework each week.

To be clear, those are 55 hours of dedicated, challenging work. Once you count procrastination and busywork, most people will spend more than 55 hours sitting at their desk.

I have written about how this fits into day-to-day life here: What is dorm life like at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)? . MIT students often work late into the night and socialize by doing problem sets together. It’s perfectly normal for a couple to spend time together by working quietly side by side.

As a beginning MIT student, I worked too hard. I missed too many camping trips, too many opportunities to try new things, and too many talks by amazing scientists.

On the other hand, MIT pushed me to work right at my intellectual limits. Without knowing those limits, I wouldn’t be able to guess at the contributions I can make in science and in life.

I don’t recommend that anyone try to study as hard as MIT students.

I do recommend that every student push on their limits - intellectual, social, and ethical - often, and soon.