Smartphone Study Methods for the Administrative Scrivener Exam | Summary of Services Used and Study Content

Studying for the Administrative Scrivener exam through self-study while raising children.
To make the most of spare time, my smartphone was an indispensable tool.

I was self-studying while raising children, and with the added challenges of my child's surgery and hospital stays, I was rarely able to secure a block of time to sit at a desk.
In particular, deciding how to use those few minutes or tens of minutes—after putting the kids to sleep, during hospital wait times, or in a dark hospital room after lights out—was crucial.

At first, I used free smartphone apps, but as a beginner, I found the explanations difficult and almost gave up.
Even so, I decided to 'go through it once' and keep going, eventually paying for the Gokaku Dojo service and making smartphone-based output study a habit.

In this article, I have summarized when I actually used my smartphone, what I studied, and what services I used.
I hope this serves as a reference for those raising children or anyone who is busy and wants to utilize spare time to study.

Why I studied on my smartphone

Why did I study on my smartphone?
In short, it was because I had almost no time to sit at a desk.

At the time, I was raising a 1-year-old and a 4-year-old.
My youngest child had a rare disease and couldn't attend daycare, so I was caring for them at home and was with them constantly during the day. The only time I could sit at a desk to study was after the children were asleep.

After the children were asleep, I would study properly using textbooks and problem sets.
But that alone was nowhere near enough time.

During the period when my child's surgery and hospital stays overlapped, it became difficult to even sit at a desk. There was no space to study in the hospital room, and there were set lights-out times, so I couldn't open a textbook after the room was darkened.

In such a situation, the fact that 'I could open my smartphone anytime, anywhere' was a huge advantage. I could adjust the screen brightness to study in a dark room, and I could solve even just one problem during a few minutes of waiting.

I couldn't get large blocks of study time.
I don't think I could have secured this much study time without my smartphone.

Times when I studied on my smartphone

I mainly studied on my smartphone at the following times:

In bed after putting the kids to sleep
After putting the children to sleep, I would open my smartphone and study right there in bed. Getting up to sit at a desk sometimes woke the children, so it became my daily routine to solve problems on my phone in the bedroom.

Hospital wait times
There was a lot of waiting at the hospital, such as waiting for consultations or test results. Even in short bursts of 5 or 10 minutes, I could solve one or two problems on my smartphone.

After hospital lights out
While staying at the hospital, the room would go dark after lights out. With my smartphone, I could turn the brightness down to the minimum and continue studying in bed.

Other spare moments
During the children's nap time, I would sit at my desk and solve problem sets. However, when I didn't feel very motivated, I would solve problems on my tablet instead.
I mainly used my smartphone for solving Gokaku Dojo problems, but I used my tablet when a larger screen was more comfortable.

Besides that, I would repeatedly open my smartphone and solve just a few problems whenever I had a spare moment, such as during housework.

Even if I couldn't get large blocks of study time, by accumulating these spare moments, I was surprisingly able to secure enough study time.

What I actually studied on my smartphone

On my smartphone (including tablet), I mainly focused on output-based learning.
For example, I did the following types of study.

One-question-one-answer
I used smartphone apps and Gokaku Dojo to solve questions in a one-question-one-answer format.
I repeated the cycle of solving one question at a time during spare moments and reading the explanations to understand them.

Practice questions (five-choice format)
I built practical skills by solving five-choice questions in the same format as the actual exam. It was a format that was perfectly manageable on a smartphone.

Reviewing weak areas
Smartphones were also convenient for repeatedly solving questions I got wrong or areas I was weak in.
I was able to pick out and solve only the questions I struggled with during short breaks.

Past exam questions by year
I also solved past exam questions by year on my smartphone. Since it is impossible to solve all the questions in one day, I made progress little by little during spare time.
By solving questions in the actual exam format, I was also able to get a sense of time management.

My study method involved reading through the textbook once at the beginning, and then going back while checking areas I didn't understand through practice questions style.
Smartphones were extremely well-suited for the task of "solving questions."

Services used: From free apps to Gokaku Dojo

When I first started studying, I used a free smartphone app called "Past Questions 2025."

It was a convenient app that contained past questions categorized by field, allowing me to solve them little by little during spare time. The fact that it was free to use was also a major appeal.

However, as a beginner who had just started studying, I often found the explanations difficult to understand.
I knew what the correct answer was, but it was hard to understand why that option was correct or why the other options were wrong, and I almost gave up several times.

Even so, I had decided to "go through it once," so I kept solving until the end, even without fully understanding everything. I believe this experience became the foundation for my later studies.

Once I had progressed to a certain level in my studies, I paid for an online learning service called Gokaku Dojo.

The reasons I chose Gokaku Dojo are as follows:

• Recommended by an acquaintance who passed through self-study

• Abundant number of questions

• Can repeatedly solve only the questions I got wrong

• Can be used on tablets and computers, not just smartphones

I wanted to solve as many questions as possible on my smartphone, so I paid for it. By paying, I think the quality of my smartphone learning improved significantly.
I was able to feel that I was "studying while properly understanding" even during spare moments, which helped me maintain my motivation.

Free apps are by no means bad.
However, I felt that if you are a beginner and want to progress while properly understanding, it is worth paying for a high-quality service.

Things to be careful about when studying on a smartphone

Studying on a smartphone is an effective method for those who cannot sit at a desk.
I personally don't think I could have secured this much study time without my smartphone.

However, to be honest,I didn't study on my smartphone because I wanted to.
If I had time to sit at a desk, I would have preferred that.
I only used smartphone study because it was my only option given my circumstances.

That is precisely why there are some things I want people in similar situations who are studying on their smartphones to be careful about.

1. The burden on your eyes and body is significant

I want to say this loudly: studying on a smartphone for long periods puts a strain on your body.

Actually, a month after the exam, I suffered from severe vertigo and couldn't stand up.
The diagnosis was vertigo caused by displaced otoconia. The cause is not entirely clear, but I personally feel that continuing to study on my smartphone in the bedroom might have been a contributing factor.

Since then, I have stopped bringing my smartphone into the bedroom.

Eye strain, neck and shoulder stiffness, and decreased sleep quality—long-term smartphone use has various effects on the body.
In particular, you should really be careful about using your smartphone in a dark room.

2. It is difficult to maintain concentration

Smartphones are prone to interruptions, such as notifications or the temptation to check other apps. I turned off all notifications and logged out of distracting apps like social media.
Furthermore, I used blocking apps that limit smartphone usage time to force myself into study mode.

3. It is not suitable for input-based learning

I felt that reading textbooks thoroughly or organizing knowledge systematically is still better suited for paper or a computer.
Because smartphone screens are small, concentration tends to drop when the amount of text to read increases, and understanding often remains shallow.

I focused my smartphone study on output-based learning, such as solving problems, and would return to my textbooks later to check any topics I didn't fully understand.

I feel that treating the smartphone as an output-only tool resulted in better efficiency.

If you still want to study on your smartphone

If, like me, you have limited time to sit at a desk and have no choice but to study on your smartphone, please try to be mindful of the following:

• Don't push yourself if your eyes are tired: Rest if you feel even the slightest discomfort

• Limit smartphone use before bed: Protecting the quality of your sleep is also important

• Turn off notifications: Create an environment where you can concentrate while studying

• Use the smartphone only for output: Be conscious of how you use different tools

Studying on your smartphone is convenient, but it is not worth sacrificing your health for.
Do not push yourself too hard, and please make use of your spare time while consulting with your own body.

Thank you for reading until the end.

I will continue to update my experience with studying for the Administrative Scrivener Exam in my note magazine "Administrative Scrivener Exam Study Record Until Passing".

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