{"id":21334,"date":"2014-09-18T15:53:01","date_gmt":"2014-09-18T19:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=21334"},"modified":"2014-09-18T15:53:01","modified_gmt":"2014-09-18T19:53:01","slug":"getting-back-into-the-swing-of-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2014\/09\/18\/getting-back-into-the-swing-of-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting [back] into the swing of things"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello UofT! My name is Charles, and I\u2019m the student blogger for the Centre for Teaching Support and Innovation<\/a> (or the \u201cCTSI\u201d, to save a mouthful). That means I\u2019ll be mostly blogging about things that relate to my experiences with student-faculty engagement, both inside and outside the classroom. But we can talk more about that later. Let\u2019s start with a proper introduction. This is me:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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\"Whatcha thinking about?\" \"Oh, just bear stuffs<\/a>\"<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Some things about me: I am a nerd about\u00a0many things. Thankfully, I\u2019ve managed to \u201cfocus\u201d my nerdery down to degree\u00a0interests in\u00a0philosophy, psychology, and bioethics. This is my fifth and final year here at UofT, and it\u2019s starting off\u00a0a little different than the rest: this is the first year where I\u2019ve taken the\u00a0summer off from studies. By the end of my fourth year, I had spent nearly forty-five consecutive months in school. I deserved a break, and I enjoyed it. But summer's gone, and now\u00a0I\u00a0must\u00a0deal with something entirely new: learning how to get back into the swing of things.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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This lesser-known A.A. Milne book has really helped me out.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

Whether from summer vacation\u00a0or from life events, I think everyone faces a moment where they've fallen out of step and need help to get back to their studious peak. But, how do we go about doing that?<\/p>\r\n

Others will tell you it's all about time management<\/a>. About getting time to sleep and time to relax. It's about visiting your professor's office hours, and getting help at the math aid centres<\/a> or the many writing clinics<\/a>. And absolutely<\/em> those are things that you should be doing. But, maybe you want to try something a little... different.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

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Well, at least not umbrella-convulsively 'different'. [source]<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

In the past few years, I've collected\u00a0a few weird \"brain hacks\" to help me stay productive and get the most out of my studies. These aren't just habits I picked off the street: they're supported by\u00a0science<\/em>.\u00a0I'll even link to some articles; that way, if anyone asks why you're biting the pen they just loaned you, you can confidently say: \"Science told me to<\/em>\". (Just don't blame me). Here are some of the \"hacks\" I use:<\/p>\r\n\r\n