Many students find it helpful—even essential—to build regular 5 minute breaks into long study sessions. For every 25 minutes or so studying, 5 minutes away from studying can make an enormous difference in our ability to concentrate and absorb new material. But some students complain that (while breaks are great in theory) they get into [...]
You’ll still have to study but if you want to optimize your brain function include exercise as a regular part of your study plan. Research shows that exercise hour away from your desk will more than pay off when you return rested, alert and calm. Exercise decreases your stress levels, improves your sleep, and improves [...]
For my last birthday, my son (a U of T student) gave me a copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It is, as he assured me it would be, full of insightful observations that apply to, well, many things, but that seem to have particular relevance to the work that we do [...]
Getting ready to write that paper? Why not start with a 5 minute warm-up exercise? Surely Joannie Rochette and Sidney Crosby stretch before hitting the ice… So, before you settle into writing your paper, take 5 minutes to Freewrite: Write for 5 minutes without stopping, whatever comes to mind. Don’t edit or cross out or [...]
Last week, we ran a workshop on perfectionism at the Academic Success Centre. The number of students who showed up was relatively small, but the issue is…HUGE and very, very complicated. University in general—and U of T in particular—does seem to endorse the notion of perfection: the object of all our labours is the exquisitely [...]
If you’re a Mac user, why not try iflash? This nifty program lets you make flashcards for studying. Or, why not make flashcards the old fashioned way? All you need are index cards (you choose the size) and something to write with. There’s an argument to be made for making flashcards by hand: for some [...]
Read For the Gist For the juice, for the words that grab you and if they don’t—grab them. But not too frantically. Read as though you were walking down Queen Street and curious look at the stores, the signs, the skirts and smell the roasted coffee beans. Let your eye be taken to the things [...]
In the comments on the UpbeaT blog, you’ll find a long response from a student blogger on ways to deal with studying for first-year organic chemistry. CG
At this time of the year, our vision of success can start to narrow significantly. Our idea of success starts off big – a great year with a 4.0 GPA, leading to a great career and much happiness. When late November rolls around, it becomes focused on finishing the next assignment on time, getting all [...]
How often have you had an opportunity, or seen a different way of doing things, and responded, oh, that’s just not me. We don’t believe we’re capable of something or we don’t see how it’s possible for anyone to be capable. This post reminds us that these limiting beliefs can do more than hold us [...]
