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I don't think I'm a very high achiever--I'm taking 4 classes this semester and I'll probably get a 3.3 or something. But here's what works for me: * Cramming/

I don't think I'm a very high achiever--I'm taking 4 classes this semester and I'll probably get a 3.3 or something. But here's what works for me: * Cramming/putting stuff off to the last minute helps with motivation. I did it too much and burned out. Find the right balance. * Oftentimes I find that lectures are a really inefficient way to learn stuff. For example, in one class I can get through the slides of a 90-minute lecture in 45 minutes on my own, have more fun, and understand better. The key is actually getting myself to do this. Also, it's important to have a timer and glance at it frequently to make sure I'm keeping a 45-minute pace. * Use triggers and condition yourself to concentrate on the triggers. For me it's original-flavor Trident gum + rainymood.com + somafm.com/play/groovesalad. * I generally work in cycles: 50 minutes of work followed by a 10-minute break where I change my scenery and daydream. I rarely try to make myself work when I'm seriously not in the mood, as I don't get much done and I create a negative association. I don't hesitate to take much longer breaks if my morale or energy are really low. * Every evening, I plan out the next day and have a rough idea of what I'm going to be doing at any given time. I generally don't follow my plan very well, but having a specific thing that I'm supposed to be doing seems to lower my activation energy for tuning out distraction. I use cron to open a tab in my browser reminding myself to make a plan, and I stick my tongue out until it's done. * I'm pretty good at sleeping 8 hours a night. I think this helps me because it increases the portion of my days on which I feel energetic. * Studying with other students always helps with motivation. Why are you taking so many classes? At my university you need special permission to take more than 5 or so. This site is probably good for more advice: http://calnewport.com/blog/ http://calnewport.com/blog/

experimental 16y ago
"* Use triggers and condition yourself to concentrate on the triggers. For me it's original-flavor Trident gum + rainymood.com + somafm.com/play/groovesalad." Can you elaborate on this/reword?
- astrofinch 16y ago
  Yes. Whenever I want to concentrate, I choose something to work on, set a 50-minute timer, pop in some gum, and turn on the rain noises and ambient music. Then I focus like hell for 50 minutes until the timer rings, take a 10-minute-break where I walk to another room and daydream, and repeat. The idea here is to leverage classical conditioning. Just like Pavlov conditioned his dogs to drool on the bell, you want to condition yourself to focus when you're chewing original-flavor Trident gum and listening to rain noises and ambient music. This means that if at any time during the 50 minutes you feel your concentration starting to slip significantly, take out the gum and turn off the sounds. This is so you can avoid ruining your trigger. You want the association between gum + rain + ambient music and Getting Stuff Done to be as strong as possible. I didn't choose these triggers at random, by the way. See the following links: For chewing gum: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/redefining-stress/200902/retraining-the-adhd-brain http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/redefining-stress/200902... For ambient music: http://www.reddit.com/comments/6l9t9/best_background_music_for_programming http://www.reddit.com/comments/6l9t9/best_background_music_f... For rainymood.com: http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/805cp/need_some_space_and_quiet_for_your_coding_but/c07vsae http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/805cp/need_some... But you can certainly choose your own set of triggers if you like. Just one might be enough.
movingtohawaii 16y ago
"* Oftentimes I find that lectures are a really inefficient way to learn stuff. For example, in one class I can get through the slides of a 90-minute lecture in 45 minutes on my own, have more fun, and understand better. The key is actually getting myself to do this. Also, it's important to have a timer and glance at it frequently to make sure I'm keeping a 45-minute pace." Couldn't agree with you more on this point. Over the course of this semester I've weaned myself down to only going to class on Wednesdays (today), mostly because thats when my labs are. Whenever I have a test I study a little each day for the week leading up, and I've generally been doing well. So now I spend about 6 hours a week in class, maybe 10 hours on homework, and then the rest of my time I'm working on personal programming projects or having a good time with friends! My grades will probably dip slightly this semester but I know that next semester I will have this system mastered, I will try to do the lectures the same day of the class, even if I don't attend.

experimental 16y ago

"* Use triggers and condition yourself to concentrate on the triggers. For me it's original-flavor Trident gum + rainymood.com + somafm.com/play/groovesalad." Can you elaborate on this/reword?

astrofinch 16y ago
Yes. Whenever I want to concentrate, I choose something to work on, set a 50-minute timer, pop in some gum, and turn on the rain noises and ambient music. Then I focus like hell for 50 minutes until the timer rings, take a 10-minute-break where I walk to another room and daydream, and repeat. The idea here is to leverage classical conditioning. Just like Pavlov conditioned his dogs to drool on the bell, you want to condition yourself to focus when you're chewing original-flavor Trident gum and listening to rain noises and ambient music. This means that if at any time during the 50 minutes you feel your concentration starting to slip significantly, take out the gum and turn off the sounds. This is so you can avoid ruining your trigger. You want the association between gum + rain + ambient music and Getting Stuff Done to be as strong as possible. I didn't choose these triggers at random, by the way. See the following links: For chewing gum: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/redefining-stress/200902/retraining-the-adhd-brain http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/redefining-stress/200902... For ambient music: http://www.reddit.com/comments/6l9t9/best_background_music_for_programming http://www.reddit.com/comments/6l9t9/best_background_music_f... For rainymood.com: http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/805cp/need_some_space_and_quiet_for_your_coding_but/c07vsae http://www.reddit.com/r/programming/comments/805cp/need_some... But you can certainly choose your own set of triggers if you like. Just one might be enough.

movingtohawaii 16y ago

"* Oftentimes I find that lectures are a really inefficient way to learn stuff. For example, in one class I can get through the slides of a 90-minute lecture in 45 minutes on my own, have more fun, and understand better. The key is actually getting myself to do this. Also, it's important to have a timer and glance at it frequently to make sure I'm keeping a 45-minute pace." Couldn't agree with you more on this point. Over the course of this semester I've weaned myself down to only going to class on Wednesdays (today), mostly because thats when my labs are. Whenever I have a test I study a little each day for the week leading up, and I've generally been doing well. So now I spend about 6 hours a week in class, maybe 10 hours on homework, and then the rest of my time I'm working on personal programming projects or having a good time with friends! My grades will probably dip slightly this semester but I know that next semester I will have this system mastered, I will try to do the lectures the same day of the class, even if I don't attend.