Learning

I have been meaning to write this post for about two weeks. I kept thinking about it, and then starting but then getting sidetracked. Which is ironic, because it's a post on productivity, and about not procrastinating.  In an effort to improve my productivity I am going to spend 30 minutes writing this post, after which I will leave it and if not completed, do the same tomorrow. Right now it's 12:26. Go!

This semester I am aiming to improve my productivity and as a result (hopefully) get amazing marks (all HD's please) and live happily ever after next year whilst doing my honours project. In order to achieve this I have been trying out a few tips. The first of which is an effort to get up at 7AM every. single. morning. Even if I don't start uni till 3. My reason for this; sleeping in is so unproductive. I spend 4 hours sleeping which I could use to be getting on with my day. It is further disruptive because I can't sleep until 12 at night. This would be all well and good if I actually did something productive during this time. However, at about 7pm my brain shuts off and I watch telly and waste time in general. I'm setting my alarm now... no snoozing, but I am allowing myself hot showers aplenty.

Another tip is Timeboxing. I'm doing it right now. Timeboxing (I'm hoping) will help me manage my time better. Instead of spending hours dragging myself through complicated readings, I may allow myself one hour, and if I'm not finished I will set it aside and move onto something new. I have found this to be helpful when starting assignments as well. Steve Pavlina's post on timeboxing suggests using this technique for a large task, where completion would take hours. By giving myself an hour I can make a dent in the task, and give myself an idea of what I need to do next. I plan to use timeboxing to break up my study so I can keep myself motivated, and not get stuck on one daunting task.

Finally, and most importantly I really want to learn material the very first time it's presented. I do not wish to leave studying to the last week of semester and cram for my exams. Instead of making 100 flash cards and making my parents begrudgingly test me three times a day in the last week of study break, I want to make 10 a week and get tested every sunday evening. An exerpt from the article...

If you don't understand something you were taught in class today, treat it as a bug that must be fixed ASAP. Do not put it off. Do not pile new material on top of it. If you don't understand a word, a concept, or a lesson, then drop everything and do whatever it takes to learn it before you continue on.

During each semester ask yourself this question: Am I ready to be tested right now on everything that has been taught up to this point? If your answere is ever "no," then you know you're falling behind, and you need to catch up immediately. Ideally you should be able to answer "yes" to this question at least once a week for every subject. 

I know that putting in the effort to learn things earlier is much more effective. At the end of last semester I had 120 multiple choice questions to memorize because the 25 questions in the exam would be drawn from there. Instead of learning the material, I tried to memorize the answers, and although it did work in the end, it was extremely tedious. On those questions that I knew the answers, I could select the answer instantly. Ones I had tried to memorize took a lot longer for me to stare at the possible alternatives, willing the correct one to jump out at me.

It is now 12:49. A post which I spent at least a few hours thinking about only took 23 minutes to go (with one toilet break!). I am now going to use these techniques, and spend 10 minutes devising a rough study schedual (more about that later) with designated time for all of my tasks, including a time slot allocated to revision every week.