Tips
Organise your Work
This is such a simple and rewarding tip you won’t believe it at first. If you organise your work it just feels much easier to go back to. There’s nothing worse than sitting down in a classroom, opening your folder and finding it’s in a complete mess. It can really get you down, so much so that you dread going back into that classroom.
This happens to me a lot – it’s a real downer.
It can happen in a number of different ways. Firstly, it can affect your folder – you have sheets all over the place, secondly, it can affect your book – even if all the information is there it can really dishearten you to see how disorganised it is, finally, it can also affect your digital work – word documents, files, folders etc.
That last one has been getting to me quite a lot lately and has really annoyed me. The first thing is that some of my work I type up is organised into a report-like structure [neat]. It looks bloody awesome and when I return to it after a few days break it’s easy to see where I’ve got to and simple to continue writing. On the other hand, I sometimes don’t get round to organising the structure – this makes it really difficult to get back to work and often I will end up wasting a lesson getting it all into shape. By this point it’s too late, I’ve infuriated myself for the rest of the day and I’m now really depressed about that subject and don’t look forward to the next lesson.
That’s all very well but how much of a problem is that really? Not that much – but if you apply the same disorganisation to your work folders you’ll be in real trouble. I’ll explain what happened to me and hopefully you’ll see my point:
The way I transfer work between home and school is using a memory stick. All my folders at home are organised and all my folders in school are organised as well, but right between that is the memory stick – the weak link in the chain. The memory stick simply has one folder – work. I finished working on a report at home, about 3,000 words, and so I saved it onto the memory stick to be taken to school and printed off. There it was, saved as Task 2.doc. While I had it plugged into my computer I noticed that there was another document called Task 2.doc (an earlier version), naturally I deleted it. The next day I plugged the memory stick into the computer in school only to discover that I had lost about 2,500 words from my report – I had deleted the wrong document.
Sure, this is a lesson in backing up documents but would this have been a problem if my memory stick had been organised. If instead of having on folder with 30 files in it I had 10 folders with 3 folders in each would I have acted so quickly or would I have checked each of the revisions of the file.
Now for God’s sake, don’t make the same mistake I did.
Making your to do list AWESOME!
[N.B. A lot of my inspiration for this post is taken from Merlin Mann's Building a Smarter To-Do List parts 1 and 2 so read them if you like]
Students are being given new assignments every day and they need somewhere to record them for future reference. Believe it or not there is a science to this and Mr Mann has made a career from writing and exploring this branch of the broader science known as GTD. But I don’t intend to delve into GTD now, what I’m going to talk about today is how you can create the perfect to-do list for you.
What is a to-do list for?
A to-do list can be as useful or as useless as you make it. At it’s best it can guide you through your saturday night of work with ease and save you half an hour of work, at it’s worst it can help you squeeze out that final piece just in time. However you use your to-do list it always helps you out as long as you remember one thing: keep it simple.
Is this the ideal to-do list?
The to-do list above is indeed ideal for it’s purpose. As you can see it’s a checklist of all the things someone needs to remember for a holiday and it works well for a number of reasons.
- Simple labels
- Not too long
- Easy check boxes
The best to-do lists are simple (making them easy to read), short (making them easy to refer to and easier to work through) and easy to mark off.
How is this acheived?
I’ll give a ‘real-world’ example. Let’s say that you work in a store and you are responsible for stocking the shelves of a particular section, you’ll need to make a list of exactly what you need, how much of it you need and how urgently you need it. Sounds like a simple task but there is a way of doing this which’ll earn you an A+ from your boss.
Work from left to right, making a simple list (like the one above) and write a straight list of each item you need which looks something like this:
- Carrots
- Onions
- Bananas
- Green Grapes
- Large Oranges
That’s pretty simple but it won’t tell you how much and how urgently you need those things. So for that you need to add some metadata. This is simply data about data and will give you an extra bit of detail which will enable you to get exactly what you need.
So the first metadata we can add can be quantity:
- Carrots (1 box)
- Onions (1 sack)
- Bananas (2 boxes)
- Green Grapes (5 bunches)
- Large Oranges (1 box)
And the second can be urgency:
- Carrots (1 box)
- Onions (1 sack)
- Bananas (2 boxes)
- \\\ Green Grapes (5 bunches) ///
- \\\ Large Oranges (1 box) ///
How necessary is that really?
Well it can make quite a difference. If you use the first list you’re going to get carrots, onions, bananas and green grapes (who knows in what quantities) and then you’ll run out of room on the trolley by the time you get to large oranges which are an urgent item. If you use list three however you’ll go straight to green grapes and large oranges because they are marked as urgent and so the most important products will be stacked up well. Furthermore, because you only got 5 bunches of green grapes and not a whole box you now have enough room on the trolley for all the items on your list.
In this way of doing things the boss is happy, you’re happy and the customer is happy. What could be better?
This is just one example of how to do things but there are many ways to customise your to-do list to get the most out of it. Here’s an example of one which could be used at Christmas:
- Jake - iPod nano @ amazon
- Sophie - DVD player @ play.com /**
- Dad - Slippers + Chocolates @ ? ****
Here we can see three different levels of importance represented by stars and also destinations shown by the @. Perhaps it was a bit confusing before I explained that but it highlights the fact that your to-do list if for you only.
it’s something for which you are the most appropriate person for the job
If you’re still uncertain, here’s how a student can use a to-do list:
First of all your to-do list will probably be ongoing. You should be checking off and adding new items to it constantly and so perhaps a Moleskine or an iPhone app such as Dobot Todos is a better and more practical solution for your to-do list. So you add an item when you’re given an assignement or when you remember anything else you need to do such as ask for an extension and you tick off an item when it’s completed. It’s a good idea to keep it on your person when you’re in school/college and at your desk when at home so you can alter it immediately (iPhone is handy for this).
So get out there and customise your to-do list to the max! But make sure you keep it simple, short and relavent to you.
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.
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.