If you planned a study group with some friends, do you think you would get more done?

I was never a study group kind of student but in grad school a few friends devised a note-sharing process that pretty much insured we all had all of the important stuff in our notes.

Honestly, I think I always got a lot less done in a study group. Because I and my friends would always goof around and mess up stuff. We would end up wasting all the time we were allowed and have nothing much to show for it. From then on the teachers would make sure I was not with my friends during those times :(

I have to say this, but it depends

- age of the members of the group (and how serious/mature they are)

- studying for what? LSAT exam is different from medieval history presentation

- size of the group. Anything over 4 is too large.

- availability of alcohol

No. If at least one girl was involved, some hanky-panky might ensue. If one guy was involved we’d be getting stoned.
(Assuming it was me in a past life.)

I tried being a part of a study group one. Others in the group like it but not me. Because the group didn’t emphasize the areas of the subject matter that I needed to spend more time with and spent too much time on material that I was strong on. So I had to spend extra time studying on my own. Therefore to save time I dropped out to study on my own. Got the 3rd highest grade in a large class.

I’m in my 50’s. It’s not for school, but you could do school work if you are taking classes. I am talking doing actual work if you work from home, paying bills, or things like if you want to start writing a book, that sort of thing. I think I would get more work done and be on facebook and fluther less, if I had some other people around me.

Not likely, I work better with no distractions.

@JLeslie I think it’s a good idea, and possibly lucrative now with Boomers retiring. Perhaps work stations with small common area’s but clear boundaries, like a library a bit. I like it.

@KNOWITALL Oh, that’s a good idea. Like a library. Although, I was thinking its people meeting up who know each other, so there wouldn’t have to be a quiet rule like a library, but mostly people would be quiet anyway. What is in the common areas?

In the common areas could be tables for 4–6 people who don’t necessarily want to be alone alone. Also there could be carrels for those who like having people around them, but don’t want to interact with them. Make sense? Just being in this place could encourage work, plus we couldn’t just zone out on the tv or take a nap or eat which we might otherwise do at home as an avoidance behavior – or for whatever other reason.

I think I would do better if I didn’t know the people.

@JLeslie Either way perhaps, but promoting an environment for increased productivity is a bit different to me.
I wouldn’t be paying to see you, no offense, so a bit of decorum would be a very important detail. Work from home increased productivity, because no one interruprs or wants to chit chat. :)

For a short time I was a member of a group that met monthly to discuss a topic in math selected by the group leader. I found that the anticipation of group interaction plus some discussion over the Web was a strong incentive. Knowledge is meant to be shared.

@KNOWITALL Someone recently told me there was a study that productivity was lower working from home. I need to research that study. I have a feeling the way productivity was evaluated wasn’t apples to apples. Maybe I’ll do a Q.

I wouldn’t want to go anywhere to work probably. I prefer to work with others in the room, but it’s nice to be at home too. Maybe if I lived in a chaotic home. I have a friend who always rents an office to work. She says she much more productive.