There’s a story about a group of mice who are tormented by a particular cat. This cat picks off members of their mouse community. This makes the mice understandably upset. This cat is really cramping their style. They love the house. They love the food. But that darn cat.
One night, they have a meeting to decide how to deal with the cat situation.
A very smart mouse gets up and says, “The biggest problem we have is that the cat sneaks up on us. If we knew he was coming, we could get away. All we have to do is put a bell around the cat’s neck, and we’ll be able to hear him coming; our problems will be over!”
The mice cheered and danced: “What a brilliant idea!”
There was much rejoicing.
Then an old wise mouse stood, “Which of you will put the bell around the cat’s neck?”
The mice fell silent. You could’ve heard a pin drop.
The bell is a great idea, but it is hard to implement. Really hard.
Let me tell you another GREAT idea that is really hard to implement: Studying every day.
You’ll remember more if you study every day, no questions about it. Breaking up your sessions into smaller chunks is the way to go. Three hours on a Saturday would be better split up into six, thirty-minute sessions spaced throughout the week.
Sounds easy. Makes sense.
“What a great idea. I’ll just do a little bit every day”
And the mice cheered and danced.
But you’ve probably found out that it isn’t that easy. We tend to think that we are doing more “work” if we sit for long periods. No one thinks they are accomplishing anything in 30 minutes, let alone 15. Our skepticism makes it very hard to implement.
I believe in this so much that I created two resources just to help you study a little everyday:
-The Physician Assistant Exam Review Podcast
–The Final Step
Both are designed to make it EASY to study every day in small chunks.
Brian Wallace
