Learning. Life.

It’s the first week of classes here, and the campus is buzzing. It’s also the start of the paperwork pile: course outlines, assignment details, campus information … More will be coming as the term goes on: handouts, notes, research   etc etc. So here’s a simple system to keep you from drowning in paperwork: 1. Vet: [...]

Forgetting appointments and due dates? Have reminder notes everywhere? Spend your time firefighting? Need to get things sorted, quick? This post will show you how to use a diary to get stuff done on time. There’s more complex methods, but this is an excellent base for all of them – so get started now, and [...]

In part one I talked about doing what’s important, not what’s urgent. We’re now going to use the Urgency/Importance matrix to do that, starting with the easiest quadrant. Here’s the Urgency/Importance matrix again: Let’s start with Quadrant 4 – Not Urgent and Not Important Quadrant 4 tasks are timewasters. They are not important to us, [...]

The problem with having a goal is that somehow you have to find time to do what has to be done to achieve it. Getting fitter means finding time to exercise. Getting organised means finding time to create and mange a system. Getting straight A’s means finding time to study. But where? It’s not as [...]

The semester’s just starting, and exams are almost 6 months away. Before you forget about them – stop. Please. There are some things you can do now to improve your exam performance exponentially, and they’re pretty easy, too. 1. Go to the first class. D’oh. Here you learn about what you have to do, what [...]

Want to get things done this year but don’t know where to start? The best place is to figure out your goals, so that you know what you’re working towards. Here’s how to set awesome goals for this week, month, or year. 1. Brainstorm. Think about what you’d like to do this week, month, year or decade, [...]

This simple prioritising method comes from What Color Is Your Parachute. You can use it to prioritise goals, tasks, purchases, desert choices … any list which you can’t prioritse just by looking at it. Let’s say you have four goals this year: to exercise more, to eat better, to get organised, and to write every [...]

I love the start of a new school year. Shiny new textbooks; clean, blank notebooks, and lovely pens to fill them with. The anticipation of new things to learn, new people to meet. A whole year ahead with no mistakes in it yet. I also find a new school year a good time to set [...]