Part 1
Efficiency is your sword. Cut that Grind
- You need to find strategies that work for you.
- Get work done quickly and minimize wasted effort.
- Spread out sessions of intense work so that you are recharged.
A little organization goes a hell of a long way.
Step 1: Five minute Day-Plan
- Collect important tasks, events, plans etc. on a piece of paper. Mince words ‘cause you’re gonna look at it soon.
- Next morning, mark future events on the Calendar and transfer tasks into Time blocks.
- As you go through the day, crossing your Time blocks, collect commitments on the back page.
- Repeat
- Tip: Things come-up, tasks take longer. Be pessimistic about time while planning.
Step 2: War on Procrastination
- Do some meta work: If you don’t feel like doing something, it just means that your plan isn’t good enough.
- Ego @ EoD: At the end of the day, if you complete all tasks, sign off with an all completed. If you don’t, write a short explanation as to why.
- Feed the machine:
- Drink water constantly (actually works. I keep a bottle with me at all time now).
- Monitor Caffeine intake.
- Eat right and don’t skip meals.
- Make an event out of it:
- Build up the task with people around you and gripe about it.
- Go to a different location, a coffee shop or so. Just to conquer this task.
- Have it on a routine
- Reward yourself with an off day: You will have difficult days, if you do try to schedule work so that you don’t have two days in a row. If you have to work during the weekend, schedule work on Saturday and take Sunday off.
Reality Check
To date, I have yet to have successfully followed any time management system without interruption for longer than two months. You hit a rough patch and you will snap back. They are normal.
Step 3: When, Where and How Long
- When: During the day. Try to fit in pockets of time before classes, after classes etc. Mind shuts down after 7-8 PM.
- Where: In isolation. Rotating spots is a good tip if you’re in a slump.
- How long: Not more than 1 hour without at least a 5 minute break. Retention drops to 30% after 2 hours of continuous work1. Recommended, 40-50 minute increments.
Part 2
Step 1: Take Smart notes
- Studying on your own takes twice as long.
- My tip: If you don’t understand the material, prepare for it before hand.
- Maintain a folder for each class where you put in respective notes, quizzes, handouts etc.
- Non Technical Classes
- Focus on the Big ideas.
- Question-Evidence-Conclusion: Apply this heuristic to deconstruct any idea.
- Use shorthand - Make them readable/concrete in the next study session.
- Clean up notes in the closing of the lecture or during pauses.
- Technical Classes
- Focus on Details.
- Record example and sample problems. Annotate steps during pauses.
- For practice problems (which tend to move quickly) record the Question, answer & solution hint.
- Form questions when something isn’t clear. Try to get clarification from Prof. More unanswered questions mean more legwork later.
- Bring recommended reading to class but don’t read them before class as they tend to get covered in lecture. (For hard subjects read them before hand)
Step 2: How to approach assignments: Demote them
- Spread out Problem sets/ recommended reading throughout the week.
- Even on busy days, carve out a few minutes reserved for this.
- Solve problems on the go:
- Familiarize the example problems from notes.
- Attempt the most straight forward method.
- If unsuccessful, move on to do something else.
- Think about it the problem on the move: in lines, on the way to campus, between classes etc.
- Schedule time for the problem sets when you have some idea to approach the problem.
- Write each solution like the final submission. Rewriting is a waste of time.
Step 3: Marshal your resources
- Define the challenge
- Learn about the type of exam.
- Logistics of the test.
- Past papers, important topics etc.
- Build a study guide (non-Technical Courses)
- Print out your notes, assignments etc.
- Organize by topic.
- Put a paper clip on each pile consisting of a top.
- Build a Mega Problem Set (Technical Courses)
- Compile questions and take a note on which lecture it belongs to.
- Add Technical Explanation
- Also add questions from practice exams.
- Prepare memorization aids
- Make Flash cards
- If an ideas is too big, split them into multiple questions
- Don’t Organize the same day you plan to review
Step 4: Conquer the material
- Trust the Quiz and Recall Method
- Trap: It’s easy to regurgitate something and get the impression that you’ve understood it.
- If you can’t teach it, you don’t know it.
- If you can’t reproduce a solution, you don’t know how to solve the problem.
- Recalling should be an external activity: Write down the answer, or recite the explanation out loud like a lecture.
- Walking is good for Quiz and Recall sessions.
- Spread out the recall sessions, there’s only so much you can memorize in one day.
- Workflow:
- Can’t recall → Idea too big
- Can’t solve a practice paper → Quizzes are weak
- Still stuck → contact a TA or classmate
Step 5: Academic Disaster Insurance
On how to avoid a poor exam.
- Each Question Mark is a ticking bomb
- Eliminate “Question marks” in the near future of when you collect them.
- Ask Profs after the lecture, make use of office hours, ask classmates, take advantage of exam prep classes.
Step 6: Provide A+ answers
- Review: Take a look at the questions, this will put your mind to ease and also activate the brain and prep it for the upcoming questions.
- Start with the easy ones: Will set you up for success. Skip the hard ones for later.
- Budget your time: Subtract 10 mins from the test and assign ETA for each question. If you don’t complete one on time, skip
- Create an Outline: For dense answers, create a few points in short hand. They can even be questions.
- Review answers: If you finish before time, augment your answers. It’s okay if you break format, exams are for answers.
Footnotes
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IPFW Center for Academic Support and Advancement ↩