Mindful Ink     Life, Living and Productivity

Student Productivity Week continues!  Russ at The Student Help Forum has posted part four of our six part series.

The Ten best Facebook Apps (and 3 to avoid) 

This is the third in a five part series across the blog Student Help Forum and Scholastici.us: Student Productivity Week. See Part IV tomorrow at Student Help Forum.

I have to admit something.

So far this semester, I’ve been a horrible productivity guru. Really. Just awful. This semester has been a train wreck since day one and I’m totally off the ball right now. Yes, there are reasons but that hardly matters. What matters is I am off the track and it is time to get back on. So, let’s make it a learning experience, shall we?

First… Scheduling

Kind of a core skill here. This is actually pretty under control, I’ve just not been following it well. I’m using GradeFix (a webapp I am totally in love with) and iCal which syncs with my phone nicely. Gradefix also feeds into iCal so everything is in one place.

However, since initially setting GradeFix up a lot has changed, and I need to update it desperately. So, step one. You can, of course, do this with any calendaring program. I use Gradefix because it organizes the time in very manageable blocks which I really like.

Notetaking Okay, now that I know I’m not going to lose track of what I’m going to do, it’s time to setup my study system. I tend to take notes in OmniOutliner, which is a Mac app that every Mac for the past few years has came with free. If using Windows, Onenote would be fine. Oddly enough, however, this semester I do not have a lot of classes where taking notes in class is all that practical - taking notes on books is far more so. This doesn’t really change anything though - just where I’m getting the info.An import part of notes, however, is reviewing them. I like the general setup of the Cornell method myself, but I’m not really all that anal about it. The important part is that you process these notes - you attend them. For me that means:

• noting the important terms (and defining them if necessary)
• noting the main points and possibly re-wording them
• researching the general topic loosely, as well as any attending ideas

I use Wikipedia pretty heavily here, as it generally gives me an excellent breakdown along with other useful links, etc. You can see an example of my notes in this image to the side. At the bottom of the column you can see a “Summary” where I kept keywords, etc. It was simply an embedded text file within my Curio file. Essentially, I keep a template in Curio and then paste my OmniOutliner notes into it. I use Curio (or Onenote) because it is a whiteboard setup - I can stick just about anything into it wherever I want - which appeals greatly to my learning style. The squares on the left are webarchive files, as opposed to links, because that way even without the net I have access to them. If I’m taking notes over an individual, I often find a picture helps and will usually include these in my notes as well as maps, other pictures, etc, when appropriate.

Also, as an aside, for those of you who like to take notes on paper as I often do while reading, as I find moving to a laptop and back too disruptive - you can use this dandy Cornell-esque printable template I made a while back. But afterwards, I still put them back into the computer at the end of the day.

So, now we’re at the second thing I must do. I need to go over and attend my notes. It’s best to do this immediately after class, or at least later in the day, but.. as I said, I’m behind. Still, there is value in this - reviewing notes a second time a few days later is very useful, because holes or obvious problems in your notes may be much more noticible with a bit of time on your side.

StudyingWell, lots of that to do too. I’ve got many, many, many pages to read and a lot of writing I need to get a handle on. As I mentioned earlier, reading is what I have a lot of this semester. A lot of it, unfortunately, quite boring. I mentioned, however, in my post over at Cal’s that the best way to do this is very simple - go to the library, sit down with the pen, the book, and some paper (maybe some tiny post-its) and get to it. I keep my phone handy if I need to look up a definition or need a bit more info, but I don’t let myself get bogged down in research as I’m going. I’ll read it once, see if I get it, and go from there. If I do need to look it over again (particularly problematic when going over academic papers) the second time through I will research as I go.I know, I know.. I even say on my book notes: “Do Not Stop to Look Things Up the First Time Through.” This just shows you not to take such commandments seriously. If it is something difficult like an academic paper, and you will be reading it twice - yes, do not stop to research as you go. But, most of your college reading you will not have the time nor inclination to read twice. Use your judgement here - if the subject keeps coming up and you really have no idea, take a moment to look it up. If you think you’ve a good grasp of the material, wait till afterwards.I know a lot of people suggest skimming heavily. And I’m sure for a lot of people, that’s a good idea. However, I’ve a number of plucky professors who like to drag vague details out of the text that I’d never remember in a million years and test me over it and so I’ve learned to do something else.

I do skim - first. I go over the chapter, reading first and last paragraphs here and there. I generally read the introduction and concluding paragraphs as well and then I go through, reading very carefully. I underline, mark, note and comment as I go. The upside? I can “re-read” an entire book in a few minutes when I’m done. I read the underlined bits, the comments, the notes and I’m generally pretty refreshed on everything I read. The sooner the better, obviously, but I’ve done this with books I’ve read months before quite successfully.

Quick tip - get a brightly colored pen to do this. I like a Pilot G2 - Red (.07) myself and, indeed, G2 .07’s are my pen of choice in general. The bright colors will stand out a lot more, and are easier to review with. You can also use a blue pen, if you must.

Afterwards, I use one of the aforementioned Cornell note sheets to map out what I just read. I’ll later type this up (as above.)

Depending on the class, later on I’ll make a Study Sheet generally to go along with any review they may give us, though for somethings (like languages) I’ll make one at the beginning rather than the end so I don’t have to flip around the book constantly as I work.

ConclusionSo there we have it - this is my “System.” I’m writing this on Sunday, and plan on getting up to speed today. Hopefully, by the time I’m posting this everything will be good to go.What’s your system? Should I change something? Share what you think in the comments!

Russ is on the second day of our little week of power-posts with “Books on the Web.”  This is essentially a selection of full books you can find online for free or very cheap.  
It’s part two of Student Productivity Week!

This is the first in a five part series across the blog Student Help Forum and Scholastici.us: Student Productivity Week. See Part II tomorrow at Student Help Forum.

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You may not know this, but there are actually a number of great references available to you that aren’t Wikipedia. Now, don’t get me wrong - I love Wikipedia, too. Whenever I first begin a project I almost always go and overview it through Wikipedia. It’s a great introduction to a subject, also connecting you easily to other related ideas, people and places.

But it’s not all you have. Now, put aside the enormous amount of electronic resources your school gives you access to that you never use, this is mostly resources anyone can use (with a couple of notable exceptions). Some even make use of Wikipedia, though not in the usual way. We’ll start with general resources, and then get down to the resources available to a few specific disciplines.

Bartleby - This site has far more than quotes, you can find full texts here as well - poetry in particular.Citizendium - This is supposed to be the more “professional” Wikipedia. So far it’s not really taken off, but the information here is often a bit more “elite” but usually not as detailed.Answers.com - Answers.com is a sort of “commercial” Wikipedia. It makes use of the info on Wikipedia, combined with many other reference sties, to become a one stop shop. It also has a mobile site that I tend to use a great deal.ePodunk - If you’re looking for information regarding a city or place, it doesn’t get much better than ePodunk.

Encyclopedia Britannica - I know it seems awfully “old school” but this site is an excellent source of information and much more authoritative than Wikipedia.

Scholarpedia - A step up from both Wikipedia and Citizendium in terms of scholarly respectability, it doesn’t have nearly as much information, but the articles have all been written by experts with peer review. An academic paradise!

Okay, two sources that your college probably gives you access to. If you aren’t a student, sorry… but these are too good to ignore. You’ll need to see your local school librarian to see how to access these (or you may have a library website you can access it through.)

JSTOR - You know all those stuffy journals around your professors office? And those articles in your course packets? This is pretty much that. For research it enormously useful.

Oxford English Dictionary - The definitive resource when it comes to the English language. Not just for English majors, the OED (as it’s known) is useful for almost anyone in the social sciences.

Wikiseek - When you absolutely, positively, must have the real thing - WikiSeek is Wikipedia with a better search engine. I would also suggest WikiMindMap for when you’re trying to get a better holistic grasp of a subject.

References for Specific Disciplines

Online Education Database - This is a strange site, and I’m not quite sure what to make of it - but this link lists over 100 specific search and research tools, often relevant to specific subjects.

MathWorld - if you have the great misfortune of having to take math, then this site can be of great help. Everything mathematics from Geometry to Calculus is covered by this site in great detail.

GeoHive and Fedstats - These are both statistics sites, so if you need to know how many people. Fedstats allows public access to public agency statistics. Geohive is a bit cooler, primarily providing global statistics (gender populations, coal reserves, etc). I know, it’s so exciting I can’t stand it.

Theoi and Encyclopedia of Mythology - Both excellent resources on the subject of mythology and ancient religions. This is useful information all across the humanities.

Glossary of Poetic Forms - This will help you get through that English Literature class. You too can know the difference between a Canto and a Cento.

Now, if you’re in my fields - these next three are excellent resources.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Foldop - Both of these are excellent sources on just about anything philosophy related. I use the Stanford site all the time.

Religion Online - If you are a scholar of religion this is an excellent, excellent resource filled with many primary texts.

So there we have it. Twenty excellent reference sites that aren’t Wikipedia. And guess what? This is just the tip of the iceberg. You can find excellent resource sites for almost any field or subject imaginable.

Image courtesy of Steve Woods