[NABS-L] Question About Sleep When Trying to study

Tue Oct 22 18:53:43 UTC 2024

Hi Elizabeth,

What a great question and one that I bet most of us can relate to. I struggle with the same thing, I don’t know if it’s a blindness specific thing or if I’ve just always had a short attention span/a high tendency to fall asleep since I’ve mainly always relied on audio, but here are just some things that I do to keep myself attentive: 

1- Don’t let JAWS / Voiceover just read everything on the page: I always make sure to go line by line myself, or at least paragraph by paragraph. This allows for a constant motion on your end and something that you can keep doing to keep your self somewhat stimulated. I’ll admit, I’ve definetly fallen asleep doing this a handful of times, but it is at least a starting base to try and keep yourself paying attention and holding yourself accountable for each line you read. 

2- Take notes: definetly helps, especially if it’s a reading you need for class. Long chapters and a bunch of reading isn’t just boring for us to listen to, sighted people also can have trouble processing a bunch of information, and find it boring as well. Even though we can’t skim a chapter the same as sighted people, I always recommend reading the introduction, then the conclusion, and then the headings/first sentence of every paragraph in between to get the gist of the reading. Taking notes of the big ideas can help you get comfortable with what’s going on, and help you stay up and alert because your trying to write things down.

3- AI: don’t be afraid of ChatGPT, it’s a great tool! If I get plopped a 20 page paper in front of me, I’m going to majorly struggle to get through the whole thing, mainly because I don’t fully know what to expect. You can do the skiming trick I mentioned above, but something I’ve been doing recently is plopping my reading into ChatGPT and asking for a summary of the reading. After reading the summary, I’m more comfortable with the material, and it’s easier for me to go back and read the actual chapter, because I now have a better understanding of it. Additionally, there are new tools like Notebook.lm that if you put a pdf version of your reading into it, it can auto generate an engaging 2 person podcast, which is way easier to listen to. Again, I’m not saying for you to forgo reading your chapter completely because these tools definetly leave out some important information, but consider utilizing some AI tools to help you get started. 

4- Environment: I’m a big do work in bed person, and you can imagine how many times I fell asleep doing work that way. Go to the library, coffee shop, your front porch,, the park anywhere that’s not your bedroom, ideally in public where there are other people so you feel social pressure not to fall asleep in the middle of a public space haha. 

5- Dress nice: All my friends in college make fun of me, because whenever it hits final study period, I dress to the nines, do my makeup, where the nicest outfits. My mentality, if I dress like I’m the main character of the movie, I’ll act like one and study super hard, and have a happy ending and do well on my exam haha. Also, it prevents me from falling asleep / wanting to lay in bed. 

I’m definetly pretty extra, so this is just what helps me,  but hopefully you can find it useful too. Keep me updated, and don’t hesitate to reach out with anymore questions :) 

Best
Manahil 
-
Manahil Jafri
She/hers/her 
1st Vice President | National Association of Blind Students 

> On Oct 22, 2024, at 2:10 PM, Elizabeth Sprecher via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Oh, these are over the year headphones, they do not go inside the ears at all. Is that what you mean?
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Oct 22, 2024, at 11:14 AM, Aaron via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Hello Elizabeth,
>> I just wanted to share a quick note about wearing headphones frequently.
>> I’d recommend avoiding in-ear headphones for long periods and opting for
>> over-ear or other types instead. Many people, including myself, have
>> experienced significant hearing loss from prolonged use.
>> 
>> 
>>> On Tue, Oct 22, 2024 at 9:53 AM Romack, Justin via NABS-L <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> I would be very eager to read others’ feedback on this…
>>> 
>>> I struggled (and continue to have difficulty) with staying awake while
>>> reading… and didn’t have this same difficulty when I had eyesight. I lost
>>> my eyesight in 2008 (as a junior in college) and am now almost 40 and in
>>> graduate school. The reading is intense and, more often than not, I
>>> struggle with fatigue in heavy reading situations.
>>> 
>>> I think cognitive load plays a part… You have to carry more information
>>> reading nonvisually than you do when reading with eyesight because so much
>>> of visual reading is about context, orientation and cues. We don’t always
>>> have this same feedback when listening to content. My braille reading is
>>> much slower, so while this option keeps me awake, it’s fatiguing for
>>> different reasons because it just takes so much longer.
>>> 
>>> The only reliable trick I’ve found is to take frequent breaks. I read in
>>> about 10-15 minute chunks (sometimes more if the content is super engaging)
>>> where I get up, walk around, do some push-ups, etc etc for about three
>>> minutes. Then I’m back at it.
>>> 
>>> Again, I would love to hear other’s solutions because this has been a
>>> challenge for me, too. 😊
>>> 
>>> Take care,
>>> J
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
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>>> 
>>> Justin Romack, Assistant Director
>>> Disability Resources | Division of Student Affairs
>>> 1224 TAMU | College Station, TX 77843-1224
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>>> From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Elizabeth Sprecher
>>> via NABS-L
>>> Sent: Tuesday, October 22, 2024 11:35 AM
>>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>>>> 
>>> Cc: Elizabeth Sprecher <elizabeth.sprecher103 at gmail.com>
>>> Subject: [NABS-L] Question About Sleep When Trying to study
>>> 
>>> Hi all, I wanted to ask about any suggestions to possibly stay awake
>>> during the day while studying. I use a screen reader, so I'm wearing
>>> headphones all the time, and I'm usually cold where I'm studying, so I have
>>> a tendency to wear a coat.
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>>> This Message Is From an External Sender
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>>> 
>>> Hi all,
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> I wanted to ask about any suggestions to possibly stay awake during the day
>>> 
>>> while studying. I use a screen reader, so I'm wearing headphones all the
>>> 
>>> time, and I'm usually cold where I'm studying, so I have a tendency to wear
>>> 
>>> a coat.
>>> 
>>> I'm not sure if my falling asleep might be related to a robotic voice in my
>>> 
>>> ear, or losing the remainder of my vision, but I did not have this problem
>>> 
>>> before, and I need to get work done.
>>> 
>>> In addition to coffee, what suggestions do you have to stay awake during
>>> 
>>> the day, especially when I'm studying alone, in a comfortable spot? I've
>>> 
>>> tryed moving towards a window but that didn't really help either.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Thanks
>>> 
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