Study Prof

Caution: you’ll be tempted to shoot this tip down before you even try it. Resist the temptation. What will it cost you to at least try it?

Take a small sticky note–the smallest you can find–and write your immediate goal on it just as you begin a study task. Example: “Complete even problems at end of chapter 4.”

Rules:

1. The goal must be easily doable within one hour. (Forces you to focus on jobs in small, manageable chunks).

2. It must fit fully on the sticky note. (Forces you to be focus your immediate goal).

3. Post the note somewhere annoying, such as the middle of your computer screen or over your cell phone screen or on your watch face. Don’t remove the note until the task is complete. (Annoys you until it’s done).

4. Promise yourself you won’t break any of the rules. Swear by something sacred, such as your mom’s honor or the Power of Grayskull. You don’t want Grayskull gunning for you, so get it done!

Simple and effective as a fly swatter. Try it out.

Trying to study without being able to focus can be like a demonic real-life game of Whack-A-Mole. It’s frustrating, costly, and ultimately useless. Lifehack to the rescue! Take a look at their post on …

Simple Productivity: 10 Ways to Do More by Focusing on the Essentials

To become an excellent turnip you simply sit around and wait for someone to dump manure on you and water you from time to time. That makes for a great vegetable, but not a great student. So why do most students sit in class and wait for knowledge to be dumped on them?

To become an excellent hawk you roam far and wide with your eyes peeled for anything that looks tasty. When you see it, you dive on it, kill it, and take it home to the kids. That’s also–figuratively speaking–how to make a great scholar.

During a lecture or while reading a text, you are cruising, eyes peeled, (more…)

If you’re like me you probably see writing as something you are assigned by sadistic, work-happy profs, but writing is actually a powerful thinking tool. It will help you focus, recall, and understand! Whether you’re trying to get a bead on Charlemagne’s leadership genius, the weaknesses of multi-variate regressions, or the in’s and out’s of stoichiometry, writing can give you the mental boost you need.

How it works

Taking a doughy, unshaped thought and turning it into a well-constructed, logically-articulated sentence forces you to process at a higher level. You’ve got to take the info-mulch roiling around between your ears and (more…)

The New York Times recently talked to Winifred Gallagher, author of Rapt—A Guide to the Science of Attention. Here are a few of her suggestions…

• Use earplugs to decrease distractors (this will sound familiar to my GRE students)
• If possible, do your important work in the morning. Most brains are fresher then.
• Avoid interruptions. The brain can’t reboot instantly.
• Sip caffeine. It does help you attend.
• “Multi-tasking is a myth.” Concentrate on one thing at a time (turn off the TV, the iPod, the cell phone, etc. whilst studying).

One very effective way to keep yourself from giving in to temptation (whether that temptation is to eat that last piece of pecan pie or to watch that last episode of The Office) is to procrastinate–just keep putting it off. And you can do that by distracting yourself.

Check out this great article on how some 4-year-olds (yes, 4-year-olds) were able to effectively delay gratification by distracting themselves.