Archive for July, 2008
How to escape the internet
We all love the internet, at least you don’t hate it because you’re using it now. But there are definately times when this multi-billion page cyber highway can get in the way. But no matter how hard we try, there always seems a reason to go back to it, is it possible to escape?
Yes, of course: as long as you can stop yourself becoming too reliant on it. This might sound like a big change to make, as though you’re going to undergo a big mentality shift but all it takes is 3 simple steps which, if continued, will help you increase your productivity and maybe help you even more.
- Collect your information: a huge mistake many people make is to do their research and their work simultaneously. This is such an easy mistake to make nowadays thanks to Google and Wikipedia and it seems like you’re saving a lot of time but be careful; this approach can lead you to misread your information and mis-copy it. Furthermore your writing can also suffer as a result of losing concentration between research and writing. Get all your research out of the way before you start. If you’re not sure exactly what you need to find out knock up a draft of your piece and then fill in the gaps as you look up the answers. Remember to re-write afterwards though.
- Organise it: you now have all your information but most of the time it’ll be in a number of locations including web pages, textbooks and in your head. It’s important to organise all this knowledge before you forget/lose it. There are so many ways to do this and the only way to find out which works best for you is to test a few techniques out. If you’re more comfortable working with a computer I would recommend Microsoft’s OneNote, this is a fantastic program which I use to gather information (particularly from the internet) every day. A similar program for Mac OS X is EverNote which is part of a broader service including a web app and iPhone app, there is also a Windows version which is a good (but not quite equal) competitor to OneNote. If however you prefer to work with paper a Moleskine is a great notebook to use [see my post on them], or just a plain piece of A4 for the ultimate in customizability.
- Turn off the internet: the most important and theoretically simplest thing to do is very often the hardest. Undoubtedly you’ll be tempted to trust yourself and leave it on but in most instances this fails and ends up wasting you even more time as you mess around on myspace. Turn off your router and computer (unless using OneNote/Evernote or typing) and try your hardest not to think about it.
Sound easy? It’s probably more difficult than you think. Just try this once and you’ll notice that your writing improves and that you remember a lot more of what you’ve just worked on.
Moleskinerie
Moleskines are these crazy little notebooks which I discovered courtesy of MacBreak Weekly and Merlin Mann. They are a must-have for Geeks but don’t let that put you off - they are way too useful for you to let them pass you by.
Here are a few of my favourite moleskine links:
- Eston Bond’s Moleskine Hack - My first Moleskine guide
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/rohdesign/152626650/ - The same layout I use
- The Monster Collection of Moleskine Tips, Tricks and Hacks - The Ultimate guide to Moleskinerie.
Try one out. This is the one I have
More to follow on Moleskines.
It’s the final Countdown
The blog has been online for just over 3 weeks now and I am coming close to finishing the final design. I like it I must confess, but do you?
What do you think of the font, the sidebar, the ad and the hover effects? Please give me your feedback.
Here is the plan for the next stage:
- Over the next week I will finalise the design and set-up of the blog. (Feel free to advise me via comments during this period).
- The Following week I will begin to concentrate on posting.
- The week after I go on holiday for a week, (great timing)
In the mean time, the best way to get in touch is to reply to me on the twitter. Pop in @xeonfunk before you tweet.
To keep up with the latest news at themodernstudent.com you can subscribe to the NEWS FEED.
Is your routine harming you?
We all have a routine. Even the greatest ‘free spirit’ has a certain point during the day when he’ll regularly be doing something, and us students are no different.
A routine provides comfort and certainty in our day-to-day lives and enables us to focus ourselves on particular tasks at certain times of the day, but can sticking to your routine too closely hinder you in your studying.
via flickr
In short, yes it can. You see by committing yourself to a routine in such a strict way you lose the flexibility to start tasks early and finish them later and often you spend less time on these tasks, leaving their quality to suffer. But it doesn’t have to be like this…
In order to complete tasks to the absolute best of your ability you need to dedicate time to them and you’d be surprised how much time you actually have.
Let’s say for example that you tend to do your tasks in the evening. During that day you may have missed an hour of two’s worth of opportunity to get started, at lunch time for example. And don’t think you need a quiet room with a deskto get started, just twenty minutes on the bus home or relaxing in the library is enough to get you thinking ahead and mentally preparing your work. Just getting some ideas flowing around your head can really focus you when you get down to the business of actually doing the thing.
This is something I have recently realised that I actually do a lot, I think I always have done. I’ve always been pretty focused in school (ever since starting) and thank goodness because without this ability to concentrate I would have done a lot worse at school. I sense that school has always been lurking at the back of my mind (it does kind of take over your life as a kid) and even when I was playing football after school I could let my mind wander and ponder my work.
This may not suit you that as well as it suits me, I am sort of a workaholic and I can cope with an overlap in my work and home lives.
If you have been at all confused by the message of this post, here it is: Don’t be afraid to loosen your routine if it allows you to commit more fully to an assignment. Good luck!
Do you need to sort your life out?
This is a question I find myself asking (myself) from time to time, usually about once or twice a year. This happens when I get myself into a right pickle and need to take a step backwards, a deep breath and tackle all the problems that are bugging me at the moment.
‘Sort out your life’ seems like a bit of an over-reaction right? Of course it is, but by applying such a dramatic title it really boosts you into action.
So here’s where I am at the moment: (my to-do list)
- Tidy my room
- Sort out my wardrobe
- Throw out all my old junk
3 simple tasks, but 3 time consuming
So…here’s how it’s done:
Take the day off: plan to do nothing. This is such a depressing thing to do and I do feel so stupid writing it down but this really has to be done. By giving yourself a free day you know that nothing can give you an excuse not to do whatever it is you need to do. When the day comes: have a lie-in. Don’t get up until about 10 and pretty much just lounge about the house all morning. Then have lunch. Fill yourself right up so that you have a lot of energy to keep you going all afternoon.
OK, that’s the preparation out the way, now to get stuck in! However you approach the task make sure that you don’t rush yourself. In fact you should take your time if you’re going to be spending a good couple of hours over this. Put on some music and then get to work.
I always tend to sort my life out on a Sunday when there are less distractions. I turn off my phone, though there tends to be less socialising on Sundays anyway, put on some music or even the radio if I want to listen to the Grand Prix. I work right through the afternoon from about 2 until 6 or 7 in the evening. Then I watch a bit of TV and get to bed early to recharge my batteries so that I can start my newly-organised life with a bang.
Anyway, off to sort out my life now, speak to you soon.
[Do you have a similar routine to mine, does it work? does mine? Leave a comment below.
What’s your Set-up?
No doubt the following topic will be familiar to many, as it should be. Your working environment is crucial in the effectiveness of your studying. I’m sure that there have been many investigations and attempts to create the perfect working environment but there will never be one that works for everyone. You need to ignore all irrelevant information and focus your mind on the things you can do to improve your own working environment. The most important thing is that it works for you.
I’m not going to give you a detailed specification of the perfect study environment, nor am I going to flaunt my own flawless set-up (because it’s not), but rather I’m going to give you all some pointers of how doing a few simple things can help tremendously improve your working environment.
The Basics
- A Clean Desk - This is simple. If you have a clean desk you are going to get through much more material. By organising your working area - you (sort of) organise your brain. You might think that’s a load of rubbish but give it a try. Tip: empty your bin before you start, you’ll need all the room in there you can get. Extra Tip: just read this. It’s more aimed at office workers than students but the same rules apply.
- A comfortable chair - again this is paramount. In fact this could arguably be the number one point because you must be comfortable when studying otherwise you’ll be twitching around, standing up and have completely forgotten to revise.
- Shut out noise - Seems an obvious one, however it can be easy to forget to do this before you start and you find yourself getting up twenty minutes in and walking over to the window to shut it. Before you know it you’re looking out and daydreaming. To stop this happening shut your windows before you even begin to think about the work you’re about to do! A quiet room is so much more relaxing, it allows your thoughts to flow so much more freely and hopefully your work will improve as a result, especially if your a writer.
- Turn on the music - This point sometimes divides people but I find listening to music very helpful. I personally like to listen with headphones and my iPod because I become totally immersed in the music and free from distractions. But just popping in some headphones may not be enough. The speed, sound and even where the music is coming from can affect your mind in different ways (don’t ask me how though). I would recommend listening to a nice relaxing bit of Jack Johnson
OK, so hopefully that’s got you settled and well into your work. But if it’s still not perfect, these bonus tips may help
- Light - When I work I really like to flood the paper with light. I normally work where there is some natural light coming in but I turn on a lamp, (like this one), and point it downwards so that my work is completely lighted even in the evenings when it gets dark.
- Computer - Do you really have to be using your computer? I used to think I needed to but have since realised that it wastes quite a lot of time and provides distractions. Certainly there are up-sides to using a computer such as back-up of notes and programs such as evernote may trick you into thinking you are saving time but it takes a very focused mind to avoid the associated distractions such as IM, web surfing, iTunes and of course Inkball on Windows Vista. Using paper has many benefits, you can be more creative and retain more information as a result and paper has a vastly quicker boot time than a PC. Don’t use the excuse that you can organise notes better electronically, a good filing system is just as good as creating a new set of sub-folders. [note: I may change my mind on this one later on]
This article is by no means a definitive list, in fact it was poorly researched and rushed, but if it has inspired you to make a change it has succeeded. Remember the most important thing to remember is that it must work for you.
Can you help?
Hello again.
My 2nd post is hopefully more two-directional because this is where I really need you to get involved, as the title suggests I need your help.
Firstly, I have several issues relating to the set-up of this blog. That is stuff to do with Wordpress such as plug-ins/widgets and design issues such as CSS. If someone could point me to a big CSS how-to for Wordpress I would be incredibly grateful.
Secondly , I would be interested to know what you want from this blog. Although I am unlitamtely in charge of what goes on here, you, the readers, can have a big say. GET YOUR IDEA IN QUICK!
Anyway, I’ll add some more requests in the comments, please reply back if you’ve any advice/answers, I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks again, Matt.
Let’s Begin!
Hello there everyone! The journey starts here!
I will first begin by introducing myself and then I’ll talk about what’s going to be going on with this blog.
So if you have read my about page I apologize because I’m going to repeat myself but hopefully this will benefit many readers.
My name is Matt, I’m 16 and I’m a student. I live in the UK and go to sixth form where I am studying Business, IT and French. I am very interested in technology and particularly the internet and through rummaging round online I discovered blogs, learnt a bit about them and now (just over 6 months later) I have started my own. Other than this though I am also interested in Tennis, Football and I don’t mind a good film now and again.
I started this blog (29.6.08) because I wanted to improve my writing, learn more about studying as I’m going to be doing quite a lot of it over the next few years and to have a bit of fun online.
I hope it will cover the following areas:
- Studying practices, learning styles etc.
- Productivity/GTD.
- Self improvement.
Anyway, I won’t be posting here for a few weeks to come as I try and tweak things here, plus I’m working full time at the moment. In the mean time though you can contact me here and of course do follow me on the twitter for even more updates.
Do stick with me for the journey because I think it will be worth it for you in the end, regardless of whether you’re a student or not.
Thank you, Matt.