There are many reasons why you may not stick with the study plan and essentially sabotage yourself, or allow environmental factors sabotage your NCLEX preparation. Here are 7 ways to sabotage your preparation and tips on how to keep yourself on track and onto NCLEX success.
1. Unrealistic Study Plan– Do you set a goal for yourself that is so unrealistic to your current lifestyle and what level you are starting from (baseline), that it becomes impossible for you to stick to the plan? For example, are you considered a “high risk” for failure candidate (multi-attempt, ESL, long-time graduate, have children, and working full time) and want a study plan that will force you to study 8 hours per day so you can be ready for the exam in less than one month because your authorization to test is expiring? As a general rule, design a study plan following the rule of “small and frequent” vs. “large and occasional.” Spreading out short segments of preparation times throughout the day vs. cramming a 4-hour study session at the end of a workday is more likely to be followed. Focus on quality vs. quantity. You are more likely to absorb more information by allowing small amounts of content to be digested throughout the day.
2. No sense of urgency: Urgency is the most challenging to simulate because you can live with or without the license. Usually, you already have a job that pays well or you have no pressure to test because you are financially supported by a family member. If you lack a sense of urgency, start by committing to a test date so it officially creates a goal in mind. Also, keep in mind that even if there is no need for the license right now, such a need may eventually arise. The longer you put off studying, the harder it is to pick it up again in the future, and worse case scenario is having to start from scratch.
3. Unsupportive Family & Friends– Unfortunately, you may have the hurdle of having to deal with the negativity or distraction from family members and friends. It is very important to minimize interaction with these types of people for the duration of the study plan; focus on why you want to be a nurse, and surround yourself with supportive people like mentors, study buddies, and your NCLEX coach. Stay positive and on track by keeping yourself accountable to someone who cares and is supportive of your goal.
4. Disorganization & Overwhelming Materials: The first step of your study plan is to organize your time and materials. This is the most common and simplest hurdle that candidates overlook. It is important to have short term (complete readings and exam on OB by the end of the week) and long term goals (by the end of the month my test average will increase by 10%). Next, time management is important in finding areas in your life where you can squeeze in the time to study. Finally, filter your resources. Make sure you only have one or two resources at the most. When choosing, which tools to use for your preparation, ask yourself the following: can you connect or engage with the material and is the content digestible and easy to understand? I will discuss choosing the most ideal content for you in another blog, coming up next month.
5. Overcommitment: In life, you can only fit in three priorities at any given time, for most this is family, job, and social life. Your priorities should be able to adjust when needed to accomplish short term goals. When you have decided to commit to a review program, it should move up to the top three, and everything else can wait for a while.
6. “Throwing the baby out with the bathwater:” Do you always strive for perfectionism; do you think to yourself that “if it isn’t perfect, then what’s the point?” Do you easily get disappointed and lose motivation when your scores are low or don’t improve immediately? Then you think to yourself: “I’ve blown it. I might as well completely throw out the study plan!” If you have a little setback or mini-failure, consciously stop yourself from throwing it all away and seeing the ‘whole thing as just ruined’ and then really ruining it.
7. The familiarity of ‘failure’: Are you used to situations not working out, or being around ‘dysfunctional people’ that it feels easier to sabotage yourself, by behaving in some way that either worsens or destroys your progress rather anticipate failure. You will need to build your confidence. You will need frequent reassurance, preferably from a professional, to help you see how much progress you are making every step of the way.
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