EduLinks – Study Hacks

I would normally save any links for a regular EduLinks post.  For one link today, however, I’m going to make an exception for the following three reasons:

  1. It’s a fantastic post;
  2. It opens up a lot of questions;
  3. Cal at Study Hacks recently recommended one of my posts in the same way, for which I’m grateful.

The post’s title explains all:

Sometimes we don’t want to do the most simple of things.  As Cal puts it:

“…taking a notebook out of my backpack when I sit down — should present no difficulty. What task could be more simple? All I have to do is move my arm, literally, just a few feet, from my bag to my desk. No thinking is required. No more than 3 – 5 seconds transpire. No sweat.

“Many times, however, I can’t stand the thought of it.”

There are many little actions that should be simple, but end up creating a block on our mind.  We might have experienced a problem the last time we performed a certain action.  Or maybe we’re worried that the minor task will trigger off more stressful and time-consuming events.  If a certain task triggers off some sort of response a few times – even out of chance – we might not even realise any detrimental effect it has on future decisions.

The article asks many questions and also queries our motivation levels.  We should all try to look a bit further into what all this could mean for productivity and how we can manage a successful student life.

EduLinks – Random Links of Note

Inside Higher Ed – The Academic Success Entitlement

LifeHack.org – 10 Simple Tips for Using E-mail [Despite social networking sites, e-mail is still a big deal.  Follow these tips to get the most out of your inbox.]

Scott H Young – How to keep bad habits from ruling your life [Another goodie from Mr. Young.  With consistently good posts, I suggest subscribing to the blog’s feed or e-mail updates.]

Lodewijk van den Broek – Mastering Productivity Cross-blog Series: [This is a great idea.  Lodewijk van den Broek has written four articles in a series and they have all been posted to different productivity websites on the same day.]

Prospect Magazine – In Search of British Values [50 writers and thinkers give their thoughts on a British statement of values and what should be included.]

Wired Magazine:

Do Something New Today – Do Nothing!

You know what?  I’ve come to the conclusion that the weekend might not be enough.

No, I’m not promoting bad practice with your studies.  I’m just suggesting some time aside to clear your mind.

Go on, let things go.  Take the time to feel some calm reflection.  Make it ten minutes, half an hour, even a couple of hours.  Whatever gives you an opportunity to escape from the seemingly non-stop flavour of full-on life.

Do you set aside any time each week to immerse yourself in a bubble of quiet and honest goodness?  Is a corner of your mind locked away from the busy rush of the everyday stresses and strains, ready to transport you into calm?

If not, now is the time to promise yourself a few moments of bliss.  Forget the rush and let silence pierce your mind.  Close your eyes and go to a place of nothing but peace and quiet.  Remind yourself to go back there on a regular basis.

Whether it’s meditation, spiritual relaxation, happy resting, or peaceful release and reflection, it can work wonders on your outlook.

There are no rules here.  Just an overwhelming desire to let go of everything.  Like a powernap, this is a powerrelax of sorts.  The only thing to focus on is absolutely no focus at all.

There…that’s better.

Campus Chatter & Where I’ve Been

Well, my apologies for not having posted something yesterday. I won’t bore you with the detail, but there are a lot of developments. I must set posts in advance to avoid gaps. I’m on it, so bear with me!

I happened to be on a uni campus yesterday. Campus is always a great place for hearing all sorts of strange comments. So to make up for the lack of posting (that’s a slight exaggeration I suppose!), here are the three best things I overheard:

HARSH

[on a mobile phone] “You really are blind, you blind idiot…No, you can see me from here, you’re walking right at me. I’m not even gonna wave coz you’re so blind…No I won’t coz I’d look a tit and I don’t want to look like you.”

WISH I KNEW WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT

“…I mean it didn’t even make sense. How do you steal a whole Student Union? Brick by brick?”

INSTANT AGING

“Yeah, see you in a minute. Stay cute while I’m gone!”

I wasn’t on campus for very long at all and still enjoyed these. But if you ever have an hour or so to kill on campus and the weather’s good, try sitting outside where lots of people walk past. You’re bound to hear all sorts of crazy stuff. It’s great for inspiration on creative writing, performing arts, and the like.

Then again, if my time at uni was anything to go by, you’ll be hearing bizarre comments from your mates all day, every day. That’s part of the fun. My advice would be to write down all these as quotes, because you never know when they’ll come in useful for the future.