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Screwed yourself again this semester, didn’t you? April 23, 2008

Posted by krayxlidlon in Uncategorized.
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It’s finals week isn’t it? Crap.

Alright, more than crap. You’ve put off all the things you have to do till the last minute, have altered your sleep schedule and now you are sitting there, feeling like you really just want a beer and sleep. Maybe just the sleep.

We all know that the best laid plans seldom work out. That’s normal. Everyone paves their road to hell with study plans, and binders, PDAs and calendars. Nothing works 100% of the time and we all feel the crunch.

As for the “health tips”? I think enough of us have put ourselves in the hospital or at least in a caffeine induced daze to have seen the following once or twice before.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/brain-food-eat-for-productivity.html

http://esc.calumet.purdue.edu/athletic/wellness_portal/index.asp?pageType=3&pageContent=VIEW_FAQ&FAQID=3

So now that you’re reading this, basically just putting of MORE of your homework/study time, I can try to start touching on what may help you. It’s too late to eat right, too late to plan ahead. So grab an orange, pull the water out, and try these five things.

1) If you don’t know it now, don’t bother.

Cramming is going to do nothing but stress you. Yeah, it is. You’re trying to optimize what you do know, not half ass the whole thing. Seriously, if it’s a comprehensive final, how much is one section going to hurt you? Rule of averages.

2) Walk away from the computer.

Do I need to tell you this? Make some flash cards, yo. Trust me.

3) Space out your subjects, review in spurts

I mean spend less than one hour with each topic. Then every few hours review. Use your note cards.

4) While I am on spacing, space out your energy drinks

DO NOT drink 4 red bulls in a row. Drink one and then wait about 30 minutes. It’s a drug, give it time to work and don’t let it all hit you at once. Drink a lot of water and juice. GATORADE IS YOUR FRIEND.

5) Don’t second guess.

You care enough to want to pass. Trust yourself.

Hey, don’t worry too much, there’s always next semester.

“Dead Week” and Other Myths April 17, 2008

Posted by Cendri in Meta, Productivity.
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Starting Monday, it’s “Dead Week” for me. There’s been much debate as to why it was called that, either be it because there’s no tests supposed to happen during the week so people can study for finals, or because that rule doesn’t apply to projects, quizzes, or other forms of torture that professors can inflict on hapless students.

I’ve always hated the end of the semester, which was always the time I felt most like a stereotypical student. A victim of the stress and binge.

At first, I wondered if this was because I was unorganized, had gotten too comfortable in the semester. So I started doing things earlier, kept a better eye on long term projects. No avail. I still found myself sleepless and running around like crazy during the last three weeks. So I figured it was the professors, trying to see if they could crack me before I was free of their grip.

Then I learned it was a bit of both.

(more…)

Spring Semester: Opening April 16, 2008

Posted by J in Productivity.
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For my online classes, spring semester just recently started. For some reason, I decided that taking a full twelve credits on top of working full time would be a good idea. Luckily, none of them look particularly complicated – I’m taking intros and basic general education requirements right now – and I think some basic time management will get me through.

The challenge with online classes is not just that I’m totally responsible for my attendance and due dates, but that many online classes require more attention than traditional classes. For example, one of my professors suggests that I visit the class discussion board at least four times a week! Very few college courses would require that kind of daily commitment.

These classes also require a lot more teamwork than one would generally expect from, say, a college math course. During the mini-term I spent a lot of time covering for teammates who couldn’t be bothered to do anything. I hope this is better during the full length terms.

All of this means I need to keep my courses in the front of my consciousness every day – without letting them take over either my work or my personal time. My trick is to place a large number of course-related triggers in my to-do list. Homework and quizzes show up on the day before they’re due, but “check discussion board” items appear almost daily. They keep me from forgetting to follow up once I’ve made my initial post, or from forgetting to post at all until the last day.

It may make my to-do list a lot longer, but it also means I can forget about discussion boards and teamwork projects when I’m not actively engaged in them, freeing up valuable time for my brain to worry about other things, like global warming and how bad the G.I. Joe movie is going to be.

Lifehacking for Geeks April 9, 2008

Posted by J in Meta.
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Reading this post on Unclutterer and thinking about panel ideas for an upcoming con, it occurred to me that there are certain aspects of uncluttering that just plain need to be approached for a lot of geeks, especially the sci-fi/comic book/fantasy type (rather than those who are purely into tech). There’s lots of talk about organizing fifty different computer peripherals, but very little discussion about what to do with ten years worth of comic book longboxes, two rooms full of books, or a complete collection of vintage GI Joes.

I haven’t decided yet what a discussion like this would need to cover, but I’m thinking about it. Any ideas?

Mental Entropy April 4, 2008

Posted by Cendri in Meta.
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Not too long ago I read a very interesting book called Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience which basically brought interesting study-based insights into how I operate. Well, how a lot of people do, but I had always wondered why simply sitting and channel-surfing always left me feeling tired and other such passive activities. While reading, something else considered somewhat passive, always left me energized.

Turns out my finicky behavior in regards to my things naturally stems from finicky behavior in regards to my mental state. That is, I really don’t deal well with mental entropy.

Since it’s approaching the end of my semester and thus doom, I have found myself in a state of mental entropy more than I’d like to be in, to great detriment. Especially considering I have one class that relies on memorization heavily, something which I’ve never been good at. I find myself noticing that I’m “spacing out more” and generally having to write things down to remind myself to write things down.

All in all, it’s been an unpleasant week, to say the least.

The biggest problem with entropy is when you notice it, it only gets worse and breeds more entropy. As much as anyone would like to say that they have things under control–they don’t. At best we just have a good response to the chaos around us, little ways to assert a small bit of control over certain areas. Which is likely to turn all philosophical and next thing you know, you’re pulling out some Cartesian Doubt and you sound like a looney.

So far the only thing I’ve found that can soothe states of mental entropy is that, when I have the time, I sit and focus on one very menial task. Like dusting. Or sewing a button onto something. It’s only a temporary fix, but it sure helps me to remember that I am not simply a toy of wicked evil Fates or something.

Funny how a lot of the things stated in the Flow book are related to a lot of Eastern philosophy, only with different goals. Flow is based on achieving a form of control, while a lot of Eastern thought is about losing it.

Maybe it’s time to switch tactics and give into the universe a little? Naw.