{"id":36069,"date":"2018-10-22T08:12:13","date_gmt":"2018-10-22T12:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/?p=36069"},"modified":"2018-10-22T08:12:13","modified_gmt":"2018-10-22T12:12:13","slug":"how-to-actually-be-productive-at-the-library","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/2018\/10\/22\/how-to-actually-be-productive-at-the-library\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Actually Be Productive At the Library"},"content":{"rendered":"With midterms and essays piling up, I\u2019ve had two major realizations thus far.\r\n\r\n1) Taking 6 half-year courses, while starting a whole new program and working 3 jobs might kill me, but also I can sleep when I\u2019m dead?\r\n\r\n2) Now that I have a minimum of 3 evaluations\/papers due each week I need to be productive when I sit down to study and use my break times effectively.\r\n\r\nEver since high school I\u2019ve been the type to find a cubicle and make it my home for the day until my assignment is done\u2014only leaving for the occasional bathroom break or Starbucks Venti. But University\u2019s a whole new ball game. U of T\u2019s 40-some libraries each offer different amenities such as private study rooms, beautiful readings spaces and academic content on a variety of subjects. Coming into third year, the library has also become a social time, which has its advantages, though also has presented some obstacles.\r\n\r\nFrom someone who\u2019s so detail oriented that she works slowly and gets distracted easily (why are you listening to me again?), here\u2019s what I\u2019ve learned so far about staying on task at the library.\r\n
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  1. Choose your library wisely.<\/strong><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\nIf I\u2019m really looking to buckle down and need to finish an assignment within the day (just me? OK ANYWAYS), I\u2019ll head to Graham Library and cozy up in one of the knooks. It\u2019s always warm and smells of cedar pine. This choice depends heavily on your study habits and personal preferences, but as long as I'm comfortable in a place, I'm one step closer to being productive.\r\n\r\n\"\"<\/a>\r\n\r\n2) \u00a0Have a clear head space.\u00a0<\/strong>This leads me to my second point. I need to ensure I am mentality\u00a0in a space to get work done. I know this sounds a little spiritual, but if something\u2019s bothering me outside of the classroom, it\u2019ll most likely deter from my academic performance. If you\u2019re one of those people that can block everything out then, hats off to you! Though the majority of my friends deal with the same problem. We\u2019ve all had those days where we stay at the library and don\u2019t have anything to show for it. I try to sort out whatever\u2019s going on and then hit the books.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n3) \u00a0Remove all distractions.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThis is a step I\u2019m still working on (thought I\u2019d include it as a sign of growth?). If I\u2019m writing an essay, I\u2019ll load all the scholarly texts needed, then I\u2019ll turn the wifi off on my laptop. This isn\u2019t foolproof, but at least I stop the outside world for a little bit and am able to zero-in on academia. Limiting phone usage also works and if I'm studying with chatty friends, I just let them know I'm stressed with work. Everyone understands the need for quiet studying.\r\n\r\n\"\"<\/a>\r\n\r\n4) \u00a0Come with Snacks.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThis needs no further explanation, except to say I'm not that person with a 4-course Indian meal that smells up the entire floor.\r\n\r\n5) \u00a0Stay Positive.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe biggest thing I\u2019ve learned is to not be too hard on myself if putting pen to paper just isn\u2019t happening one day. Studying takes practice and adjusting to new environments isn\u2019t always simple. Sometimes I just have to take a break and regroup!\r\n\r\nHopefully hearing my library expertise (or lack thereof) inspires you to take on one of these wonderful establishments.\r\n\r\nSee you in the stacks! Until next week-R","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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    \nWith midterms and essays piling up, I\u2019ve had two major realizations thus far. 1) Taking 6 half-year courses, while starting a whole new program and working 3 jobs might kill me, but also I can sleep when I\u2019m dead? 2)…\n<\/div>
    Continue reading “How To Actually Be Productive At the Library”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>
    Continue reading “How To Actually Be Productive At the Library”<\/span>…<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"author":354,"featured_media":36070,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7204,6669,1,58,82,67,68],"tags":[176,103,13,25507],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36069"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/354"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36069"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36069\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36124,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36069\/revisions\/36124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36069"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36069"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.studentlife.utoronto.ca\/lifeatuoft\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36069"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}