Here we are at the start of a new lunar year. It’s nice, I think, that living in such a multicultural city affords us so many opportunities for fresh starts: if you haven’t managed to stick with the resolutions you made for January 1st, well, here’s a second chance. Why not turn over a new [...]
I find it particularly challenging to manage my time on the Internet. I plan to “work” for an hour and next thing I know, I’ve spent two hours just surfing around. (There are a variety of reasons — individual, social, technological — and there is even a technical term for it [PIU, Problematic Internet Use] [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
…and a new beginning or two. As I prepare for our annual “Summer Mini-Course”, I’ve been thinking about this post and wondering if anything has changed for me personally. And I think it has. Herewith, my top 5 favourite timewasters, Summer 2009 edition (links not provided in case people begin wasting time by clicking through!): [...]
At a recent meeting of the Women’s Writing Support Group, participants spoke of how helpful it’s been to write for a short block of time each week during the workshop. Each week, we spend 20 minutes working alone on our academic writing projects. There is something about this structure—regular, predictable, and brief (just 20 minutes!)—that [...]
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 [...]
Some writing humour for Halloween (warning – coarse language): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DDdM66_nSI&NR=1
Write. That’s what I didn’t do. Or what I haven’t done so far. Every summer I promise myself that I’ll get back to one scrap of text or another that I somehow—how?—managed to trick myself into jotting down…the previous summer?…or, no, could it really have been three or even four summers ago?… If others are [...]
I suppose it might be a good idea, one of these days, to look at some other issues that can get in the way of achieving academic success. Exam anxiety is certainly one of the more troubling ones. Putting that off for another day, though (ah, it was ever so!), for those of you who [...]
