Cleaven Chia’s Edublog

It has been 5 weeks into school and I’m getting the feeling of being trapped in the vicious cycle of procrastination again. Skipped blogging last week because I was really very busy finishing my research attachment report. Shall make up for it by blogging 3 entries – one in “Tips and Advice” (which is this post) where I’ll talk about some things to do in school (with The Potential Blog being my main source); in the other 2 posts I’ll recap what I blogged about exactly a year and 2 days ago – self-motivation and SC speeches.

Disclaimer: Some articles may have been truncated, or some elaborations omitted for brevity.

What can we do in boring lectures? In my post on http://icebubble.wordpress.com today, I said:

…actually I thought it through – multitasking during lectures is better than ponning them: firstly, you will be there to take down important and crucial notes (but that’s about it), and secondly people won’t arrow you. You also get to increase productivity, since you can do more work in the 70 minutes, as compared to just listening to the lecturer – honestly, who listens to the lecturer 100% of the time!? Those are the reasons why I wouldn’t ask people to pon lectures, and instead ask them to increase productivity.

Which is really what The Potential Blog suggests you can do in boring lectures:

These are five things I like to do in lectures when I just can’t pay attention. The key to doing other work in lectures is making it look like your actually paying attention (so listening to your MP3 player, reorganising your makeup bag, making phone calls/sending text messages etc. aren’t recommended). Make whatever you do involve a lot of writing and be as subtle as possible.

1. Prepare for tutorials
This can often be subtle AND related to the lecture topic. Very productive activity.

2. Engage in forward planning
Writing to-do lists, writing information in my diary etc. Can be subtle, makes you feel very organised.

3. Do reading
(Hard to do pull off, though, if you’re in a history lecture and taking notes from a giant book on your desk called “Material Chemistry for Engineers”)

4. Plan essays
The problem only occurs when you run out of essays to plan.

5. General other studies
If there’s anything else you have to get done try doing it. Got a computer and need to look up the call-numbers of library books? Do it. In fact, this one is a lot easier on a computer – the internet is a wonderful place. But you could also try writing essays or assignments or blog posts (not entirely school-related, I know).

Meanwhile, at home, do you find it hard to focus? The Potential Blog’s entry on “On the merits of a stopwatch” redirected me to Merlin Mann’s procrastination hack:

How it works
It’s called “(10+2)*5” and here’s why:

• 10 – Work for ten minutes with single-minded focus on moving toward completion on a single task. Ten minutes, and that’s all you’re allowed to do is work, work, work. No cheating, because (DING!) you actually get a break when you’re done…
• 2 – After ten minutes of sweaty, dedicated work you get a 2-minute break to do whatever you want—drink coffee, read 5ives, call your bookie, whatever. When the two minutes are up, it’s back to work on the next task on your list. This is important.
• *5 – You’re going to iterate this four more times for a total of one hour’s working/breaking

Important squirrely rules

• You do not need to finish your task or your project in ten minutes; you just need to move it forward
• If you finish a satisfying amount of work in fewer than ten minutes, STOP, and go right to your 2-minute break, than start another 10-minute dash
• Do NOT skip breaks! You are not allowed. Breaks cannot be missed. Period. Go surf the web. Now. Seriously. GO!

“(10+2)*5” can be adapted in any number of ways (change any of the three numerals to your liking), but remember: these goofy hacks only work because you’re a pathetic bastard like me whose mind can be tricked into work as easily as it can be lulled into torpor. Set your rules, follow your rules, and keep moving forward. Snap that procrastination by slipping your work through the back door.

Now go take a break. You’ve earned, you hard-working hacker, you.

And here’s a few tips on how to lighten your backpack. The Potential Blog loves the colour coding idea, and I share the same sentiments:

Lighten Up the Load

• Use a flash drive.
• Download reading assignments. Most flash drives can hold entire books in their memory. Many classic books you read as assignments are available as free downloads at sites like Project Gutenberg.
• Use your iPod as an external memory.
• Email your assignments to yourself. If you don’t have a flash drive or an iPod, you can send your assignments to your own email account.
• Color code your classes and tools. If your school work is organized, you won’t need to carry everything you own all the time. Color code your work so that you know the days of the week by “colors.” If green is the color for science class, and you have science every Tuesday and Thursday, then you will know to carry your green supplies and folders on those days.
• Throw things away each week. Yes, it’s a hassle, but it’s worth it. Make time every week to go through your book bag to discard the things you don’t need.
• Keep two sets of books. This may not be possible with all your texts, but it might work for a couple. Try to get your hands on an extra text so you can leave one at home for homework assignments.
• Take advantage of study hall. Remember you really can complete some of that work in school!
• Create a locker system. Create a system that allows you to identify exactly what you do need to carry home each night. For instance, you could start your day with all books on the top shelf of a locker. Between each class period, move the books you’ll need to take home to a lower shelf. If you come up with a system, you will be less likely to carry everything all the time.

That should be about it. Not too late to start now!

Filed under: Tips and Advice