Recommended Reading

One book I would recommend even though it is not specific to self studying is How to Become a Straight A Student: The Unconventional Strategies Real College Students Use to Score High While Studying Less by Cal Newport. While I read this book several years ago, I think you will find it helpful. Newport wrote this book based on interviews he conducted with high academic college students.The book is broken down into 3 parts. Part 1 is Study Basics, Part 2 is Quizzes and Exams and Part 3 is Essays and Papers. The first part Study Basics, focuses on time management. Newport has come up with an easy concept to manage your time effectively. Basically, it involves two things: a calendar and a list. The calendar is used to record things you need to do in a day and the list is used to record things that come up throughout the day. The calendar only needs to be updated in the morning (by adding things from your list that were added the day before) and it only requires about 5 minutes per day.

There are 5 steps in Part 1:  Declare War on Procrastination. Step 1 Manage your Time 5 Minutes a Day  Step 2:  Declare War on Procrastination Step 3: Choose When, Where and How Long 

Part 2 Quizzes and Exams. Here again Newport breaks this down into Steps. Step 1 is Take Smart Notes Step 2: Demote your assignments Step 3: Marshal your Resources Step 4: Conquer the Material Step 5: Invest in Academic Disaster Insurance Step 6: Provide A+ Answers. Each step provides strategies within each one.

Part 3 Essays and Papers. Again Newport has provided easy to follow steps. Step 1: Target a titillating topic Step 2: Conduct a Thesis-Hunting Expedition Step 3: Seek a Second Opinion Step 4: Research Like a Machine Step 5: Craft a Powerful Story Step 6: Consult your Expert Panel Step 7: Write without Agony Step 8: Fix don't Fixate

While some tasks can be difficult to begin, they are certainly all doable and are techniques that have been proven to work.