Category — College Productivity

I always hated group projects, mostly because it was so hard to get together with your group. And when there are five of you trying to edit a paper, crowding around the same computer, it just never works out. Co-ment is a solution to that problem. With Co-ment, you can upload your paper, track changes between authors, and each make the changes you deem necessary.

Source: Make Use Of

Another gem from Study Hacks that I totally agree with–before starting your Monday-Friday school week, it’s imperative to take some time on Sunday to organize, schedule, catch up, and prepare your mind for the upcoming week.

A good Sunday ritual consists of the following (from Follow A Sunday Ritual):

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Lifehacker has a reader-created tip on how to get remote access to your Windows computer through your email. I could have used this HUNDREDS of times; it seemed like I was always forgeting one of my papers at home! There is also another article on there on how to do the same thing on your Mac.

We begin the quarter with the best of intentions. We’re going to be on top of things this time, have regular study sessions, review our notes on a daily basis, not miss class, start writing papers in advance of 24 hours of their due date, and say “buh-bye” to the roller coaster of stress, shame and guilt that goes along with our old foe “Mr. Procrastination”.

Then, before we know it it’s 2am and we have a major paper due in 8 hours and we’re scurrying to the finish line again! Or it’s the weekend before an exam, and it’s like “What? How did this sneak up on me?”

Does this sound like a familiar scenario? Unfortunately for most of us it is . Take heart–even the most organized, productive students sometimes fall prey to the procrastination monkey jumping on our backs. Mere mortals that we are, it seems like we’re constantly in danger of falling into a downward spiral of avoiding things that we know we should be doing.

Sometimes it helps to sidestep the dreaded procrastination monkey if we understand why it’s there in the first place. JohnPlaceOnline lists the top 11 causes and cures of procrastination as being:

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Is there any other skill more necessary in Grad School or College than writing? Nadda. Writing papers, essays, and your dissertation are all inescapable aspects of academia, and there’s a heck of a lot more to serious writing than just knowing correct grammar and punctuation.

Professional writers will tell you, organizing your writing time is paramount to a successful writing project. Especially if you’re working on a huge project like your dissertation, you need to get serious about scheduling your writing time.

There’s an excellent article at Study Hacks called How to Schedule Your Writing Like a Professional Writer, and they’ve done an amazing job of collecting advice from several masters of long form non-fiction.

Apply the professional writing tips to your college or grad school writing (or any writing at all) by following these steps:

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stickK is a website that encourages you to finish what you started by having you create a committment contract, and giving yourself a time frame to do it in.  This could be useful if you are working on a big project, such as a group project or dissertation, and need an extra push to see it through by your deadline. You can also put money on yourself, and if you don’t complete the committment, it can be donated to charity. If you complete it by the deadline, you receive the money back. Sounds like a good source of motivation to me!

I was reading this great article by Steve Pavlina called What Are The Odds Of Becoming A Blackbelt?, and I was totally inspired.

Think about it–when you start your graduate studies you’re basically trying to become a black belt in your field. When you start out, you may totally feel like a white belt (a beginner), and the road ahead seems long and hard, especially if you’ve heard stories of people who tried to get their grad degrees but then dropped out.

But that is why it’s such a worthy endeavor–for any field where it’s a huge accomplishment there will be a good number of people who have tried and failed, but that doesn’t mean that your chances of succeeding are lowered.

Your mindset and your ability to think like a black belt in training can have a significant impact on your ability to do well in graduate school.

Here are Steve’s helpful tips:

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 A tool that always helps me with my work is mindmapping, whether it is making a decision about something, or trying to figure out a topic for your dissertation (click on the thumbnail for an example). Glinkr is a web-based mind mapper that can be used to share all over the web. You can add links and notes to each box, and they can be viewed by clicking on the box. It is free to try out in their Sand Box section, but you have to register to save you mind map.

Remember back in the day when we used to have to hand write our class notes? I know, what an archaic thought . The dark ages! (Or just earlier this decade.) Nowadays though we have those paper thin laptops we tote to every class making it oh so much easier and cooler looking to be studious and take notes.

Taking online notes is super easy with NoteSake, a free app that lets you take notes, save them, organize them, search them and print them in a handy dandy .pdf or .doc. One of the coolest features is that you can easily share your notes with a group (as big as ya want!) so that they’re easy sharing of info between classmates.

NoteSake makes staying organized easy even for the most absent-minded of students. This equates to less time searching for notes, allowing you to spend your time doing more important things, such as getting actual work accomplished.

Source: Lifehacker

I know–as if you needed another list of information to digest with all the other tidbits of knowledge floating around your head. But you need to perk up for this–the tips within this post may just save your life (and sanity) as you prepare to walk into the exam room.

These 6 tips come from the College Scholarships blog, with my commentary:

1) Lay off the stimulants! Red Bull, cocaine, ephedrine, and other performance enhancing or stimulant drugs can make you feel frazzled and unhealthy. (Do we really need to specify cocaine as a no-no? Eeek!) You know what we mean. If you normally drink Red Bull or Mountain Dew or your high energy drink of choice, drink what you normally drink, but don’t ingest any substance with the intention of staying awake for an entire week to study. You will not learn the info you need to learn in that state.

For optimal study performance you need to take care for yourself–eat healthy meals at regular intervals, drink lots of water, exercise, and get a full night’s sleep every night.

2) Choose your study setting carefully. Everyone has their own preference for where they concentrate the best. Some of us like to lie on our beds and sprawl out, while others prefer a desk in our dorm rooms, and still others feel the need to go to the library to cram. If you have roommates that might be noisy or keep interrupting your studies, you might want to go to the library (duh, right?). That is my preference. It’s so peaceful and quiet there, and if you find your own study carol it’s really hard to get distracted.

3) Take a chill pill. We have all freaked at one time or another when exam time rolls around. I know I did this for one history class I took–I was just terrified for some reason. I had studied and was worried about what the questions would be or if I was even studying the stuff that was important. Don’t let this happen to you! There is nothing good that comes from worrying about what will be on the test. You just need to believe in yourself, believe that you’re adequately preparing for the exam, and proceed with confidence. Talk to a friend or your mom if you need some reassurance, but try not waste too much energy freaking yourself out.

4) Get a game plan. Make a list of your studying priorities. You only have so much time and your brain is only so big, so you need a plan of attack. Make a list of which classes need your attention the most and study for them first. For each class, write down the main things you need to cover, so you don’t waste time learning stuff that is really not that important.

5) Create a studying schedule and stick to it. Yes, we’re getting kind of obsessive here, but it’s called for and will relieve a bunch of stress. You’ve developed your game plan, now plan out your day to determine when you will study, what you’ll be studying and for how long. Having a structured schedule will help you relax and stay focused on your mission.

6) Don’t study with your Crush. This is not the time to make headway in the romance department, even if that sweetie you’ve been dreaming about from your PSYCH 310 class asks you to help her cram. You gotta pass on this one–it’s hard enough to concentrate without puffs of delicate perfume wafting across your desk. Just tell her you already have studying plans, but would love to take her out to dinner after the exam. Above all, do not invite her into your sacred studying cave–RESIST!

Photo credits:
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Sweet Lips!