The Wonder of the Weekend

Why would you want to treat the weekend as the weekend?  Saturday and Sunday are boons for productivity.

photo by mcleod

The week is a great time for fun at uni and things often slow down at the weekend.  It’s not always the case, but you’re likely to find precious little happening over large chunks of that time, so it’s perfect to get on with your work and catch up on the stuff you don’t want to think about when everything else is vying for your attention during the week.

Look at Saturday and Sunday as a two-day week.  Let Monday to Friday be the weekend instead!  Okay, so there are lectures and it won’t be work-free.  But how often do you manage an entire day where it was exclusively fun, laughter, decadence and delight from start to finish?  Exactly!

Normally, the weekend is an excuse to chill, or a time to go back to the family home, or catch up on sleep and washing (if you parents have stopped letting you bring your dirty stuff home…).  However, you have the prospect of achieving a whole lot more if you’re proactive on campus.  While others go home and Saturdays are naturally quieter, you can focus on more important matters.  And for those who stay on campus at the weekend, you can get up early on a Sunday while everyone else stays in bed catching up on lost sleep or nursing hangovers.

I recently saw this quotation from ‘How to be Idle‘, by Tom Hodgkinson:

“To be truly idle, you also have to be efficient.”

The weekend is the perfect time to do most of the work you’d expect others to do in the week.  Then, when the normally busy weekdays come along, you can spend a lot more time idling and a lot less time worrying about your workload.  Good times, here we come!

Even if you have sporting events at the weekend, meet up for a weekend activity, or go to church on a Sunday morning, there should be no trouble incorporating it into a packed routine.  There should still be plenty of weekend ‘dead time’ to be proactive in.

I’m not the only one who made the most of this valuable time.  Cal Newport has long been an advocate of a ‘Sunday Ritual’.  It’s great to get up as early as possible on a Sunday (even if it had been an eventful Saturday night…) and enjoy the peace.  For me, early mornings were spent walking around the quiet campus, catching up on reading, getting a few boring chores out of the way, writing drafts of essays, going to a practically empty library and making the most of the facilities, and all sorts of other things.

photo by patkisha

While everyone else slept, I worked with ease and without distraction.  Once friends started to emerge from their beds, I’d been up and about for hours.  It was bliss.  Seriously.

Some people thought my workload was nothing compared to my friends.  It looked like I was doing much less than anyone else.  And at that precise moment in time, it was probably true.  But if they’d noticed how much I’d achieved while they weren’t looking, all would make sense and it would be clear how much effort I’d really put in.  I only made it look easy.  Doesn’t mean it was a breeze.  A relaxed effort, yes.  A half-hearted effort, no.

What does the weekend mean for you?  And how much is that time worth?

Back Away From Pointless Plagiarism

Plagiarism doesn’t always have to be intentional.  It’s unlikely, but certainly possible if you’re not careful.

Seeing double? (photo by bananabren)

Seeing double? (photo by bananabren)

Get your wits about you and give credit where it’s due.  Here are a few ways you can stay on the right side of things:

  1. Don’t take another person’s unique idea and use it unless you reference that  person’s work.
  2. Cite the source of facts, statistics, and quotations.
  3. Don’t copy from elsewhere without properly referencing and attributing, no matter how obscure it is.
  4. If it’s a close call and you feel a reference may be needed to cover all ground,  do put the reference. Don’t second guess yourself and decide against putting a  footnote.  Citing it means that you’ve done your research and it means you won’t  get into unnecessary trouble later down the line.
  5. Quote and reference in advance. When you copy quotations, photocopy pages, or  do anything with another person’s work, make sure to note down the reference, so  you can add it easily to an essay later.  A major time-waster for many students can be the bibliography and references at the end.  Even if you don’t use half the information you’ve gathered, you’ll still save time having noted the proper referencing notes in the first place, rather than working it out at the time.  I found this out pretty quickly…A quotation without a reference can be hell!
  6. Don’t blindly rely on what classmates have to say on a subject. If you take  down someone’s opinion on an essay topic, how do you know it’s an original thought?   You may find that the idea is a very specific one  that’s held by an important  academic in the field.  From taking a friend’s idea and thinking you’re onto a good  thing, you may find difficulty when you’re being asked how you came across this  information.  Stick to your own ideas and back them up.

It isn’t always as simple as copying someone else’s writing or idea word for word.  There are many different ways to get caught in the trap.  Here are some more helpful links to help you understand what plagiarism can be:

Photo by mollyjolly

Photo by mollyjolly

When “Just Do It” Doesn’t Do It

We worry too much.  All too often, we look everywhere but the blank page and our own ideas.  We obtain reams of paper and gigabytes of data, only to feel like we’re missing something crucial.

One short, hard-hitting piece of advice to bring you back on track is “Just do it”.  It’s not a bad piece of advice.

But it’s not enough.

On its own, “Just do it” makes sense, but it’s too cold a command.  For someone with a lack of inspiration, how can an obvious three word sentence set off a spark?

photo by mushi_king

photo by mushi_king

Lack of inspiration can manifest in many ways.  It may stem from a lack of confidence, a cautious attitude, no trust in your research findings, or even the opinions of your friends and study group.  But it doesn’t have to eat away at you until you realise there’s not enough time to make a half-hearted attempt at goodness.  Here are some short thoughts on getting on with it:

  • Surround yourself with positive people who can give you drive and enthusiasm in everything you do.
  • Replace caution with a “let’s see what if…” approach.  It’s similar to “Just do it”, but with more overview to change what you’re doing if it isn’t working.
  • Prepare to find your best moments in flashes of spontaneity and inspiration, rather than through lengthy research and reading processes.
  • Note down your own brief ideas and work around what’s missing that way.
  • Don’t spend too much time planning your next moves.
  • Leave doubting for later.  MUCH later.  If you question your ability, you destroy creativity in the process.  Don’t close down by questioning yourself; open up with ideas and interest.
  • Don’t listen to your Internal Editor!

Moving to a positive position helps make “Just do it” feel less commanding and more uplifting.  And when “Just do it” becomes “Done”, the world seems an even better place.  What are you going to do today?

Does teamwork win out, or a one-person mind-machine?

Even if you don’t watch University Challenge, you probably noticed the show’s growing presence over the last few days.  This year’s final was broadcast on Monday and some people went crazy.  The reason?  Gail Trimble, of Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

The whole UK (it seems!) has been awash with hype on who is possibly the best single contestant University Challenge has seen.  Ms Trimble has become the topic of conversation rather than the whole team from Corpus Christi.

Trimble has divided the public.  Is she smug or sexy?  Tremendous or troublesome?  Awesome or awful?  Arrogant or affable?  Right down to the flick of her hair when she answers correctly, it seems that people have been obsessing in a way that’s not generally expected when it comes to University Challenge.

university-challenge

As for me, I wanted Manchester to win the final, because I have admired their fantastic teamwork over the course of the series.  They nearly crushed Corpus Christi (or the Trimble Treadmill), but a late surge from Corpus Christi was just too fast-paced for Manchester.  I didn’t feel that bad about the great comeback, because I would attribute much of it on Corpus Christi’s other team members, rather than Trimble alone.  Teamwork, ftw!

University Challenge is a team game, so I’m over the moon that Manchester got to the final and convincingly held their ground, despite losing in the end.  Even Corpus Christi gave a team effort when it mattered.

Here are 11 ways they managed it:

  1. Don’t dismiss ideas out of hand. Sometimes it takes crazy thinking to get the most out of a team.  Shut them up quickly and you shut them up for good.  What’s the point in that?
  2. Listen to everyone. Manchester’s team captain (Matthew Yeo) gave everyone an equal hearing.  It’s a team, after all.
  3. Don’t have favourite members. Just because you gel with someone and appreciate the ideas they have, now is not the time to limit your focus.  If you see further value in another person and you want to engage further with them, do that independently of the team you’re working in.
  4. Enjoy what you’re doing so you relax more. Life’s too short to take it that seriously.  Manchester would confer and, at the same time, have a laugh as they did it.  And as soon as Corpus Christi won University Challenge, Manchester applauded them.  That said, they were led by Henry Pertinez who, apparently, originally studied at Corpus Christi…!
  5. Debate in a friendly tone. Don’t just argue.
  6. Recognise each member’s strong points…
  7. …but don’t allow anything but definite knowledge to shut out people’s views. Someone else’s guess could be right.  University Challenge has proved that in the recent past, including when Gail Trimble disagreed with a team member’s correct answer and gave a wrong one instead (no disrespect to her teamwork, just a recent observation).
  8. Engage positively with all members. Congratulate them on the best answers/ideas.  Give credit where it’s due.  Encourage more participation.
  9. If applicable, don’t be afraid to ask for help outside the group. Sometimes you can all be at a loss.  It’s fine to be uncertain.  See if you can work together to find the best person to enlighten you all. [Note: That doesn’t work on University Challenge, but it’s something you should remember for your own team work.]
  10. Don’t hold a grudge. In University Challenge, there’s no time to get annoyed when someone interrupts and answers incorrectly.  Okay, they’ve lost the team 5 points, but the game goes on.  They will likely redeem themselves later and may have already been worth far more than 5 points anyway.  It’s the same elsewhere.  Even a couple of minor mistakes aren’t the end of the world.  Keep it in perspective.
  11. Lead…don’t command. A true leader is encouraging rather than pushy.  Get it wrong and people may not want to pull their weight.  What’s the point if they’re not going to feel rewarded in the process?

That’s teamwork…but how intelligent are the University Challenge contestants?  Just because Trimble answered so many questions correctly, University Challenge in general doesn’t test a person’s intelligence.  Trimble is clearly intelligent, but that’s not the point.  I enjoy seeing how many questions I get right each episode, but I don’t feel clever when I get a lot correct.  It’s just a good set of questions for me.  That’s why teamwork is the best thing to look for on a show like this.