It’s a tradition here at Study Hacks to greet the New Year with ambitious resolutions. In 2008 I listed five habits students should resolve to avoid, including skipping classes and studying without a plan. By 2009 I could trust that my readers were beyond such basic mistakes, so I presented instead three advanced habits students should resolve to adopt: commit to full capture, use assignment folders, and finish major assignments early.

Now that 2010 looms, I want to continue the evolution of my New Year’s advice. This year, I want to throw caution to the wind and try to convince you to transform your student lifestyle. (Though this advice is college-specific, elements of it should resonate for a variety of situations, so it’s a worth a read for anyone who is feeling overworked or under-inspired.)

Specifically, I want you to make 2010 the year that you seriously consider radical simplicity…

Radical Simplicity

I first introduced the concept of Radical Simplicity in March of 2008. At its core was a simple idea: schedule (much) less than you have time to complete.  A student who embraces radical simplicity has abundant free time — he rarely feels rushed to get work done, and often luxuriates by immersing himself in assignments or serious recreation.

This concept became the foundation of my Zen Valedictorian philosophy and I later made it the first part of Study Hack’s three-part college student mantra: do less; do better; know why.

The advantages of Radical Simplicity are numerous, and include…

• Time affluence is a like a wonder drug. It eliminates stress. It increases happiness. It helps you engage the world and increases the chances that you’ll stumble into something interesting.
• Having the ability to immerse yourself (and therefore excel) in a small number of classes and activities will make you incredibly attractive to both grad schools and potential employers. In fact, it will make you more attractive than the overworked grind who juggles a double major and ten different clubs.
• Busy students rarely accomplish interesting and meaningful things.
• If you adopt the mindset that you’re suffering now for benefits later, it’s likely that you’ll live most of your life continuing to work toward a payoff that’s always just around the corner.
• And finally, keep in mind that as a student you have few responsibilities and no boss looking over your shoulder. It’s as good a time as any to experiment with lifestyle design.

What Does Radically Simplicity Look Like?

The following are case studies of real students who embraced this philosophy:

• Alice escaped a self-described “academic hell” by dropping her econ/business double major, quitting two time-consuming extracurriculars, and adopting a light course schedule.
• Tyler turned around his life as a burnt out grind by switching to a major that interested him, cutting out all but one of his extracurricular activities, and choosing balanced course loads.
• Scott discovered that his laundry list of activities wouldn’t help him get into law school, so he decided to adopt the focused lifestyle, and soon became a stand out on his way to an impressive career.
• Amy was about to lose her scholarship and was barely sleeping when she decided to adopt fixed-schedule productivity, deep-six pseudo-work, streamline her schedule, and commit to doing a few things really well.

How Can You Introduce Radical Simplicity into Your Life?

There’s no single right answer to realize this philosophy, but any or all of the following will certainly help:

• Adopt the rule of one.
• Take an activity vacation.
• Become a proponent of adventure studying.
• Slash your course schedule to the bare minimum that still allows you to graduate in four years (use AP credits if you got ‘em), then focus on becoming an A* student.
• Use your new found free time to explore your world.

Life is short. 2010 is as good a time as any to take back control of your life.

E-mail Wizard

I don’t waste much time with e-mail. I typically check my inboxes two, maybe three times a day, and always process them back to empty.

(An exception to this rule are the copious e-mails from blog readers, which are shunted to their own inbox and which I work on once a day, in a pre-scheduled 30 minute slot that keeps my fixed-schedule intact.)

It’s a well-oiled, efficient machine, that keeps me connected to the world but also maximizes the hours I can spend in a state of hard focus.

There are three important points about this system that I want to draw your attention toward:

1. It’s simple to understand and provides obvious benefits.
2. Many people would love to do something similar.
3. Few of them actually do.

It’s the contradiction of point 3 that motivates today’s post…

The Hidden Art of Practice

If you know how to do something, it’s easy to do, and it would make your life better, why wouldn’t you? This paradox confronts me every day when reviewing reader e-mails: Students know that certain advice — be it following an autopilot schedule or stopping pseudowork — would improve their life, but they just can’t stick with it.

Why does this paradox exist?

When I told you above about my experience with e-mail, I left out an important piece of the story: it took years of practice to get to this efficient state.

Today, I’m good at ignoring my inbox in the same way that your roommate can play Tears in Heaven on his guitar. It’s not that we’re special — we simply practiced.

Unfortunately, this omission plagues this blog. In almost every piece of advice I’ve described, I’ve failed to tack on the crucial caveat that regardless of how simple my suggestion, it’s still going to take practice to make it a reliable part of your life.

I want you to keep this idea in mind when you grapple with the Study Hacks canon. Don’t decide to adopt a strategy. Instead, decide to practice adopting the strategy until it sticks.

I know this is less exciting than the idea that an afternoon in my archives can make tomorrow’s midterm a breeze. But I hope that in the long run, this mindset significantly improves your success.

(Photo by jonicdao)

It’s almost June. For high school seniors, this means two important milestones have passed: college admission decisions and graduation. You know where you’re headed next year and have nothing to do until you get there.

In this post, I want to offer you some friendly advice for how to best use this final summer to prepare for the new world you’ll soon face. If you want my general thoughts on how you should tackle college, read last year’s open letter to students awaiting their admissions decisions. Today, by contrast, I want to get more specific.

Below I’ve listed three suggestions for how to prepare for college …

Suggestion #1: Refuse to choose a major.

I know, your instinct is to immediately nail down the path you’ll follow at college. Did you like math class? Declare your intention to become a math major! Were you good in science? Then become a bio major with the the plan of going to grad school! Are you smart and ambitious, but can’t identify a specific academic interest? Go pre-med!

And so on…

I’m letting you off the hook. I want you to refuse to even consider your major until after your freshman year of college. When your aunts and uncles and family friends ask you this summer what you will study, proudly reveal your pledge of refusal.

Here’s the thing, before you arrive on campus and take some classes and learn about the college world, you’ll have no idea what options you actually have. Therefore, a choice at this point is essentially random. This has a big chance of coming back to haunt to you when you realize, down the line, that it was essentially arbitrary — a reality which can propel you into burnout.

Suggestion #2: Read about big ideas.

Dedicate significant portions of this summer to exposing yourself to smart people proposing, arguing, and defending big, intellectual ideas. Subscribe to the Arts & Letters Daily feed. Read Harpers and The Atlantic. Haunt the non-fiction tables at Barnes & Nobles, then pick up what looks interesting and spend serious time reading your selections at the in-store Starbucks.

Students that arrive at college fired up by the power of big ideas tend to thrive. This provides the filter through which they encounter their academic training. Reading assignments stop becoming chores and turn, instead, into sources of inspiration. Papers turn from dreaded foe into opportunities to express something new. These students seek out interesting speakers on campus and get involved with interesting activities. They also tend to produce A* work which generates huge advantages.

If you start a big idea addiction this summer, you can set the tone for your entire college career to follow.

Suggestion #3: Learn to drink like a normal person.

My drinking advice always seems to upset some portion of my audience, but I have to remain honest. If you arrive at college completely obsessed with the novelty of unrestricted alcohol consumption, you’ll likely make a fool of yourself — and perhaps something even worse.

Unless you plan to go dry your entire college career, sneak outside of your parents watchful gaze this summer and acquaint yourself with booze. Kill the novelty factor. Learn how to drink enough that you’re having fun, but no so much that you’re booting like a fountain. Wield this experience to blunt that edginess, possessed by so many 17-year-olds, that makes access to beer feel like the world’s most important possible endeavor.

If you’re already a drinker, learn how to stop doing it like an idiot. Again, I’m going to get yelled at for this, but if you look old, try to sneak into a bar — there’s no better way to learn some adult decorum surrounding your consumption.

Trust me, 22-year-old you will thank 18-year-old you for figuring out how to handle alcohol with some grace before your arrival at your first, packed frat party. The frat brothers at that party, by contrast, are probably hoping you’ll ignore this advice, as it eliminates their preferred entertainment — drunken freshmen fools.

(Photo by Joe Shlabotnik)

Welcome to Week 4

This is the fourth and final post in our four-part series 4 Weeks to a 4.0.  Let’s do our review. In week one you gained some control over your schedule. In week two you mastered taking notes in class. And in week three you streamlined your assignments. In other words, we’ve covered all regularly occurring academic work. This leaves us only to tackle the big infrequent stuff. I’m talking about studying for exams and writing papers.

Week 4 Assignment: Create Project Folders

Your assignment for this week to adopt the project folder method, which I describe below. This simple method streamlines the process of studying for exams and writing major papers. I used it throughout my time at Dartmouth, and swear by its effectiveness. You can also see aspects of it in action in our ongoing finals diaries series.

The Project Folder Method

Buy a box of plain manila file folders. Set aside one folder for each exam and paper you having coming up in your semester. Label the folders with the corresponding subject and exam/due date.

For the exam folders, do the following:

• Print the relevant class notes and assignment notes. Label each clearly. Add to the folder. If you took notes in a notebook, either make photocopies, or just rip the pages out of your notebook.
• If the exam is for a technical course, include problem set solutions, past exams (if the upcoming exam is cumulative), and any sample tests made available by the professor.
• On the front cover of the folder write out a study plan using the date/action list method. A date/action list is a collection of specific review actions labeled with the date when you will do the work. The key word is “specific.” Don’t put down: “4/23 – study.” Instead, put down something like: “4/23 – meet with TA to discuss how to solve the problems I got wrong on the last four problem sets.”
• Mark each of these dates on your calendar to remind yourself you scheduled work. If you end up needing to change the plan, mark the new plan on your folder and change the relevant dates on your calendar.

For the paper folders, do the following:

• At first the folder will be empty. As you gather research materials, however, this is the place where they all go. This will keep you organized.
• On the front of the folder, use the date/action list method from above to construct a plan for researching and writing your paper. Follow the same rules as with the study plans. That is, record pairs consisting of a date and a specific action. This plan will probably change more than a study plan as you get going, so make sure you record all changes on your folder and your calendar.

Once you’ve created the folders, follow their corresponding plans. If you’re having a hard time fitting in time for all of your exams and papers, then you may need to do some emergency schedule clearing, setup a visual panic schedule, or perhaps even declare a temporary activity vacation. But don’t hide from what has to be done. The project folder approach makes the work you face explicit and unavoidable — allowing you to better spread out the work and streamline the steps.

Summing Up…

Once you finish this week’s assignment you’ll be done with the program! These lessons aren’t a miracle cure. For example, it’s possible that your schedule is so overcrowded that no amount of smart habits can save you. It’s also possible that you’re suffering from deep procrastination, which thwarts attempts to follow even the most basic advice.

But if you stuck with the program for all four weeks, your technical study habits will be better than 99% of all students, which should put you on track to better grades and less stress.

For those of you who followed the program, let us know how it has been working for you. 

Welcome to Week 3

This is the third post in our four-part series 4 Weeks to a 4.0. In week one, I asked you to take control of your schedule, and in week two we overhauled your classroom notetaking. This week we advance to a crucial topic: your assignments. Nothing requires more time for an undergraduate than suffering through long readings or tackling impossible problem sets. Let’s learn how to dispatch them with maximum effectiveness.

Week 3 Assignment: Efficient Assignments

There are two major types of assignments: readings and problem sets. Below I’ve described a streamlined strategy for dealing with each. Your task this week is to adopt these approaches for dispatching your regular work.

(1) Master Reading Assignments

Let’s start with two simple ground rules:

1. Always work on your reading assignments in a quiet and isolated location — preferably far from your dorm. (Perhaps really far, when possible.)
2. Take notes on your laptop. It’s faster and the notes are neater.

For reading assignments, I want you to use the same Question/Evidence/Conclusion format we discussed in week 2. That is, for every reading, start by taking the time to identify what question is being asked and the author’s ultimate conclusion about this question.

Do this before you read the entire assignment.

Next, you need to capture some evidence to connect the question with its conclusion. How much time you spend here depends on how well you’re expected to understand the reading. If you’re going to be asked detailed questions about it on a test or in a paper, then read carefully, marking the sentences that contain relevant evidence. Once you’ve completed the entire assignment, go back and add the marked evidence to your notes — rewriting in your own words.

On the other hand, if you’re only expected to understand the basics of the article — for discussion in class, or to follow the professor better during lecture — skim much faster, marking just a few pieces of evidence that jump out. Don’t waste time trying to master every nuance.

For more information, see step 2 of part 2 of the red book.

(2) Master Problem Sets

Acing a problem set is a three step process:

1. Set aside 2 – 3 hours to solve the easy problems and attempt to solve the hard problems. The latter step is crucial. When you get stuck on a hard problem, identify exactly why you are stuck — actually spend time trying to solve it, even though it hurts your brain and is frustrating. This will make it easier to crack later.
2. Meet with your problem set group (assuming this is allowed). Try to choose a group of students who are a similar skill-level and are willing to work in advance. Avoid those goons who take pride in starting at 2 am the night before the deadline. From my experience, finding a single well-matched partner is better than a large group. Discuss the hard problems, why you’re stuck, then explore together different paths for becoming unstuck. Once again, you have to concentrate hard on the sticky problems. I know it’s difficult. But brain pain is part of becoming better at math.
3. Attend office hours. At this point, there should just be a few problems that thwart you. Furthermore, you’ve spent time with these problems alone and with your group, so you’re familar with their details. Ask your TA specific questions about these problems. Explain what you tried, where you’re stuck, and what you think you need to learn in order to get unstuck. Definitely don’t just say: “I don’t get it,” and then wait for an answer. Work with your group and your TA during office hours until you have solves all the problems. Take advantage of this momentum to finishing writing up the formal version of your problem set right there.

Notice, this technique requires that you start the first step two or three days before office hours, which are typically the night before the deadline. In other words, you have to start early. Sorry. Technical courses are hard.

For more information read this article.

Coming Up…

That’s all for week 3. If you have questions or want to report on your progress, please leave a comment on this post so the other students can learn from your experience. Next week is our final week. We’ll attack the biggest academic beast of them all: studying. So stay tuned…

Welcome to Week 2

This is the second post in our four-part series 4 Weeks to a 4.0. Last week, I asked you to start an autopilot schedule and adopt a Sunday ritual. If you’re like me, you’re probably having some trouble making this schedule work. That’s okay! Just keep adjusting; it takes some practice to work out the kinks. This week I want to move from the big picture issue of scheduling to something more tactical: notetaking in class.

Week 2 Assignment: Smart Notes

This week we’re focusing on taking notes in class. To better target my advice, I’ve identified three major types of classes: non-technical (history, english, etc.); technical without math (biology, psychology, etc.); and technical with math (calculus, macroeconomics, etc.). Below, I’ve provided a specific notetaking strategy for each of these three types. This week, I want you to adopt the appropriate strategy for each of your courses.

(1) Streamline Your Notes in Non-Technical Classes

Adopt the Question/Evidence/Conclusion format first presented in part 2 of the red book. The concept is simple: instead of transcribing exactly what the professor says, capture the big ideas. To do so, reduce your notes to a series of questions paired with conclusions. Between each question and conclusion should be a collection of evidence that connects the two.

In this scheme, the question is the setup for the big idea being presented by the professor, the conclusion is his conclusion to the question (it’s probably not a definitive answer), and the evidence are the arguments he used to get from the question to the conclusion. This takes practice. It also helps to spend 5-10 minutes after class cleaning up your thoughts.

To study using these notes: proceed from question to question. For each, try to recreate, without peeking, the conclusion and a sampling of the connecting evidence. Say your answers out loud, as if lecturing a class. If you can do this without major errors, you’ve mastered the big idea. If you can’t, review your notes and try again later. (This is what I call the quiz and recall method.)

For more information on this strategy read this article or see the example in the first step of part 1 of the red book.

(2) Streamline Your Notes in Technical Classes Without Math

The key here are focused question clusters. This approach works as follows:

1. Take notes in the form of short questions followed by short answers.
2. Group together the questions that cover the same topic into a cluster.
3. Add a few general background questions regarding the topic at the end of the cluster (e.g., asking you to overview the topic or explain how it differs from other similar topics).
4. If the professor is using powerpoint slides — for example, to show graphs or diagrams — reference the slide number in the questions that refer to it (e.g., “What does the red line in the graph on slide 19 indicate?”)

To study using these notes: print each cluster onto its own page. Format the answers so that they’re not on the same line as their question. Proceed through the cluster, trying to answer each question out loud without peeking at the answer. (I use a sheet of blank paper to block the answer.) If you get more than one answer wrong, then treat the entire cluster as unlearned and return to it later.

For more information read this article.

(3) Streamline Your Notes for Technical Classes With Math

The key here is to record as many sample problems as possible with as many intermediate steps as possible. When you don’t understand a step made by the professor, either raise your hand to ask about it or make a note to ask after class. When the professor makes a particularly difficult leap in the proof, annotate it in your notes with an explanation so you’ll remember the insight later.

To study from these notes: create a practice test that includes at least one sample problem from every major topic covered. If you can solve a problem from scratch, replicating the intermediate steps, and truly understanding the insight behind these steps, then you’re done with that problem. Otherwise, review your notes, review your textbook, and, if needed, meet with the TA, to bolster your understanding. Then return later and try to solve the problem from scratch again.

Coming Up…

That’s all for week 2. If you have questions or want to report on your progress, please leave a comment on this post so the other students can learn from your experience. Next week we’re moving on to the biggest time sink of all: your assignments!

Stay tuned…

Welcome to Week 1

This is the first post in a new four-part series I’m calling 4 Weeks to a 4.0. Each Monday, for the next month, I’ll be posting a new weekly assignment. I can’t guarantee that you’ll immediately earn a 4.0 if you finish all four assignments, but your grades will definitely improve and your stress will definitely plummet. If you want to overhaul your study habits, but feel overwhelmed by all the changes this requires, then this series is for you. Your first assignment, presented below, covers some scheduling basics.

Week 1 Assignment: Autopilots and Rituals

The goal of this first week’s assignment is to help you reclaim your schedule. I don’t want to overwhelm you, so we’ll start small with two easy ideas: starting an autopilot schedule and initiating a Sunday ritual. Your assignment for this week is to adopt these strategies, which I detail below.

(1) Create an Autopilot Schedule

Identify all of the regular work generated by your classes — reading assignments, problem sets, lab reports, etc. For each such piece of regular work, set aside a specific day and time when you’ll tackle this work every week. For example, you might decide that the two hours after lunch on Mondays is when you do the reading assignments for your history class.

I want you to follow this schedule for completing all of your regular work. At first, you’ll violate this schedule…a lot. Sometimes work will take longer than you thought. Sometimes you’ll procrastinate and miss a scheduled block. That’s okay. After each such violation just return to your schedule, tweaking as needed.

For more information on autopilot schedules read this article.

(2) Adopt a Sunday Ritual

This simple idea was first described in the yellow book — where it generated enormous amounts of positive feedback. It works as follows: Every Sunday morning, right after you eat breakfast, go somewhere quiet to clear your head. Have a cup of coffee and read a newspaper or a non-fiction book that interests you. Then go for a long walk (in the woods if possible) and think big thoughts. The goal here is to renew the flame of intellectual curiosity.

Once this rejuvenation is complete, retire to a quiet corner of the library and review your week ahead. Remind yourself what’s due and what little things you need to get done. Perhaps take an hour to knock off some of the urgent small tasks that might get lost in the chaos of the week (e.g., booking plane tickets home for an upcoming holiday or requesting recommendations for an internship application.) The key is to refresh and prepare for the new week.

For more information on the Sunday ritual read this article or chapter 2 of the yellow book.

Coming Up…

That’s all for week 1. If you have questions or want to report on your progress, please leave a comment on this post so the other students can learn from your experience. Next week we’re tackling notetaking habits.

Stay tuned…

It occured to me recently that I should write a short post that explains what Study Hacks is all about — something I can point people to when they stumble, for the first time, into our quirky little world of note-taking strategies and rants about focus. So here we go…

The purpose of Study Hacks is clear: to help students succeed without stress.

My philosophy for achieving this goal can be reduced to three simple rules:

• Do fewer things.
• Do them better.
• Know why you’re doing them.

All of the important advice on this site circles back to these same three themes. Folks, I’ve been obsessing over this stuff for years. Trust me, this is what works.

Some Notes… 

If you stick around here long enough, you’ll learn that I have an obsession with simplicity. I hate the warped understanding of impressiveness that leads students to try to do many, many things.

I think the happiest, most successful students know why they are at college, and they believe this answer. They also tend to do very little, but the small amount of things they do, they do exceptionally well. They recognize that in the end, the world rewards those who are so good they can’t be ignored. By contrast, we forget about the burnt out triple-major who joined 10 clubs to show leadership and managed to earn a 3.9 without ever once impressing a professor.

I applaud the student who adopts a balanced and reasonable courseload, and leaves enough free time in his schedule that he can saturate himself in the material – letting it get inside his head and stew for a while; the type of student who tolerates a little boredom as the price you pay for doing stuff well.

I think studying is an art and should be taken seriously. (I even wrote a whole book about this.) Most students are terrible at studying. The best students, however, are like scholastic maestros: their methods for note-taking, reviewing, and paperwriting are magical in their efficiency.

I have a weird obsession with reducing e-mail (even though I don’t get much).

I harbor an inexplicable hostility towards business majors.

And I have an extremely low threshold for labelling something a “method.”

These are the ideas that drive Study Hacks. It’s not for everyone. But for some of us, it just seems to make a hell of a lot of sense. 

As my final year as a PhD student continues its unnerving hurtle forward, I thought it would be nice to reflect on my grad school experience. Below are a collection of ideas, warnings, regrets, and assorted lessons I’ve accrued over my time so far at MIT.

Some of this advice I follow. Some I only wish I followed. All of it, I hope, is more or less true.

Thought #1: Research Trumps All

This is the master thought that most of the other thoughts support. The job of a graduate student is to learn how to do professional-quality research. At the end of your grad school experience you will be judged by the quality and quantity of the research. And that’s basically it. Remind yourself of this truth often. If you’re not making progress on your research, then radically rethink your scheduling priorities.

Thought #1.5: Don’t Let Courses and Quals Distract You From Thought #1

Don’t get too caught up in your courses or qualification exams. Study smart. Do good work. But remember, this isn’t college, and doing well academically is merely a prerequisite for being a successful graduate student — it’s far from the ultimate goal. Keep coming back to your research as priority #1.

Thought #2: Don’t Be a Firefighter

A simple truth: you’ll have more urgent things on your plate than you’ll have time to complete. If you spend your days only putting out one fire after the next as they arrive in your inbox — paper review requests, articles to read, extra experiments to conduct for your advisor — you’ll get very little original research done. This violates thought #1.

This syndrome, fortunately, is easy to avoid. Spend the first 2 -3 hours of the morning doing original work. Only then should you check your e-mail for the first time that day (and let the firefighting begin).

Thought #3: Stick to a Fixed Work Day

The nature of graduate student work is paradoxical. You’ll always feel like you should be working more hours. However, if you add these extra hours, your work output doesn’t increase much. With this in mind, you might as well fix a regular work day (I do 9 to 5:30) and refuse to work beyond these hours (with the obvious exceptions: the night before deadlines, etc.)

Do this, and four things will happen: First, you’ll focus more and get work done faster. Two, you’ll start work earlier which increases its quality. Three, you’ll start turning down time-consuming requests that add little to your career (and be pleased to discover that you’re allowed to say “no”). And four, your stress and guilt will plummet.

Thought #4: Three Projects is Optimal…

Working on one research project at a time is not enough. If you get stuck you can go many weeks beating your head against the wall and getting nothing done. This sucks. More than three projects are too many; quality will suffer and you’ll feel overwhelmed. This also sucks. Juggling three at time seems to be just about right.

Thought #5: …But Don’t Work on More than One Per Day

Within the context of a single day, focus your attention on a single project.

Thought #6: Listen to the Married Graduate Students and Ignore the Unmarried Students Who Live in the Dorms

Students with families have perspective on life and friends outside of the university. They tend to be happy and productive and think sleeping on the futon in your office is childish. They also bathe every day. Which is a nice bonus. The students who are unmarried and living in the dorm have probably escaped, thus far, exposure to the real world in any meaningful form, and because of this they are likely to have a warped sense of personal worth and work habits, and suffer from weird guilt issues. Ignore them.

Thought #7: Promise People Deadlines Then Follow Through

The easiest way to avoid being hassled is to respond to requests with the specific day on which you will complete the work, and then actually follow through. Do this, and people will leave you alone to accomplish things on your own schedule.

Thought #8: Challenge Yourself Once a Month

It’s so damn easy for your research to fall into a rut grooved by short-term decisions based on the question: “What’s the shortest path between here and a new publication?”. Many a graduate student, faced with crafting a job talk after 5 years of work, realizes, with horror, that his “research direction” is weak, jumbled, and uninspiring.

Once a month take yourself out for breakfast and ask: “What is my research mission as a graduate student? And how do I get back there from here?” I imagine this is how lasting careers are founded. (I wish I did this more.)

Thought #9: Don’t Mistake Experience for Smarts

Undergraduates think their graduate student TA’s are smarter than them. Junior graduate students think the senior graduate students are smarter than them. Senior graduate students think their advisors are smarter than them. Sense a pattern? It all comes down to experience. The more time you spend working in a field, the better you get at it, and the smarter you seem to those with less experience. Therefore, when you’re young, don’t get freaked out, and when you’re older, don’t get too impressed with yourself.

Thought #10: Take Days Off

The wonderful thing about being a graduate student is that you don’t have a real job. Your responsibilities are long-term (produce good research) not short-term (answer the phones from 9 to 5). Embrace this fact. Take days off to reward work well done and to unwind. See a movie in the afternoon at least once a month. No one is secretly punching a time clock for you.

For my graduate student readers, what thoughts do you have about your academic experience?

(photo by Lupton Library)

The Straight-A Method

The Straight-A Method is supported by four pillars: capture, control, plan, and evolve. Each pillar is associated with a high-level goal you should strive to achieve as a student. Here’s the promise: If you can satisfy these four goals — regardless of what specific strategies or systems you use — you will ace your courses. All of the study advice presented on this blog (i.e., any article in one of the tips categories) and in the red book support one or more of these four pillars.

Below I describe each pillar, and provide some sample advice to get you started on the road toward satisfying their goals.

Pillar #1: Capture

You must capture, organize, and regularly review all of your obligations as a student. This includes both the academic (e.g., test dates and assignment schedules) and the administrative (e.g., application deadlines and demands from extracurricular involvements).

Taking stock of everything that’s on your plate can be scary, but it’s also crucial for maintaining control over your life. It provides the foundation needed to build intelligent plans and it eliminates the toxic stress generated by disorganization.

Sample advice for accomplishing this goal:

• Getting Things Done for College Students…Made Easy
• Follow a Sunday Ritual
• A Time Management System for Students Who Are Terrible at Time Management…
• How to Stave Off Stress with a Mid-Semester Dash
  

Pillar #2: Control

Control your work schedule. In the short-term: plan each day what hours you’ll dedicate to work and what you will accomplish in these hours. In the long-term: break up large projects into smaller pieces and identify on what days you will work on each. Do not allow any work to exist outside of a carefully considered schedule.

There are two types of college students. Those who are battered around by their workload, always jumping from one looming deadline to the next, and those who manhandle their work into smart schedules that allow them to get things done on their own terms. For the sake of your sanity, strive to be one of the latter.

Sample advice for accomplishing this goal:

• Don’t Use a Daily To-Do List
• How to Reduce Stress and Get More Done By Building an Autopilot Schedule
• Pulverize Large Assignments with the ESS Method
• The Retreating Deadline Method
• Choose Your Hard Days
• Fixed Schedule Productivity: How I Accomplish a Large Amount of Work in a Small Number of Work Hours
• How to Use Time Arbitrage to Maximize Your Productivity Profit

Pillar #3: Plan

Never “study.” The word is ambiguous and tied up with too many emotional connotations driven by guilt and what you think school work should feel like (e.g., tiring, boring, painful). While you’re at it, never “write a paper” or “do a problem set” or “read an assignment.” These phrases are all too vague!

Instead, always follow a concrete plan built around specific actions. When you complete the actions according to the plan you’re done. No more late nights reading and re-reading your notes until you feel like you’ve paid your academic dues. Get specific. Then get it done.

Reducing your academic work to a concrete plan made up of concrete actions allows you to streamline and gain efficiency, while avoiding pseudowork and guilt.

Sample advice for accomplishing this goal:

• My World Famous Mechanical Exam Prep Process
• Drizzle Test Preparation Over Many Days
• Use Technical Explanation Questions When Studying for Technical Classes
• Use Focused Question Clustes to Study for Multiple Choice Tests
• Stealth Studying: How to Earn a 4.0 With Only 1.0 Hours of Work
• How to Ace Calculus
• How to Solve Hard Problem Sets Without Staying Up All Night
• Rapid Note-Taking with the Morse Code Method
• How to Use a Flat Outline to Write Outstanding Papers, Fast
• The Paperback Writer Method

Pillar #4: Evolve

No one gets it right the first time. Even the most carefully calibrated set of study habits can quickly strain under the unexpected reality of student life. Embrace this. Constantly reevaluate and tweak your strategies. Keep what works. Throw out what doesn’t. Try something new where an answer is still lacking. After every test, every paper, every major problem set, ask yourself: what worked and what could I do to be better (and faster) the next time around?

This Darwinian approach is the structure that makes it all work. In a surprisingly small amount of time you’ll evolve your habits to a place that fits the particular demands of your situation and your personality. This process of evaluation and repair is the only way to arrive at your perfect system.

Sample advice for accomplishing this goal:

• How to Perform a Post-Exam Post-Mortem
• Case Study: How Tyler Aced a Difficult Course
• Ignore Your G.P.A.