Study Hacks - Decoding Patterns of Success

Start Your Semester Off Right By Quitting Something

January 26, 2023January 13, 2009

Ben’s Year Trash

In a recent blog post, Ben Casnocha summarized his adventures during 2008. Here are some excerpts:

I traveled to Quito and the Ecuadorean Amazon jungle, Zurich, Prague, all over Costa Rica, Alaska, and rural Tennessee… Gave a dozen paid speeches in various U.S. locales. Read 60 books. … Wrote a hundred thousand words on my blog…Won an essay contest. Made new friends. Tried to become closer still to old friends…Fished for halibut off a boat…Met one-on-one with David Foster Wallace and then mourned his death. Philosophized. Watched too many Seinfeld episodes….Plotted world domination.

This seems like a lot. And it is. But in this post I draw an unexpected conclusion: the long length and indisputable awesomeness of this list should inspire you during this upcoming semester to do much, much less.

We begin with a simple question…

The Difference Between “Unusual” and “Impressive”

January 26, 2023January 12, 2009

Think Different Our friend Ben Casnocha recently launched a new web venture called Think Different TV. Inspired by Bloggingheads.tv, it features split-screen videos of two … Read more

Three Student Resolutions Worth Making

January 26, 2023January 5, 2009

A New Year

Making New Year resolutions proves a tricky business. We all know that setting too many goals is a recipe for disappointment, so it’s important to choose a small number of changes that will have the maximum impact.

In this post I describe three simple resolutions that I’ve learned from experience to be incredibly effective. If you’re unsure where to direct your resolve in 2009, forget the cliched crap about going to the gym more or “studying harder.” Give these three habits a try — they’ll completely transform your entire student experience.

Resolution #1: Commit to Full Capture

It’s the oldest trick in the proverbial productivity book, but it’s also the most essential. Without it, you simply cannot eliminate copious stress from your life. I’m talking, of course, about capturing every task, date, and deadline in a trusted system that you review regularly.

Case Study: How Tyler Aced a Difficult Course

January 26, 2023December 31, 2008

Tyler Gets Nervous

Our friend Tyler, whose quest for student simplicity I profiled last April, recently sent me a message. He was nervous about a course he was taking for his linguistics minor. The grade was based on bluebook essay exams. As he recalled: “The last time I took a bluebook course I almost failed it.”

We traded some e-mails. I gave him some advice and he sent back some updates. The final result: he aced the course.

In this post, I explain how…

Let’s Teach Ramit That Study Hacks Readers Rock!

January 26, 2023December 29, 2008

An Innovative Scholarship Earlier in December, my friend Ramit, who runs the wildly popular I Will Teach You to Be Rich blog, announced the I … Read more

How to Avoid Fighting With Your Parents While Home for Christmas Break

January 26, 2023December 26, 2008

A Christmas Tradition…

It’s a tradition as deeply ingrained as overdosing on eggnog or decorating the tree: college students home for the holidays getting into fights with their parents about school. There are uncountably many different ways for these fights to be kindled, but once raging they fall into one of two predictable paths: the always popular “you don’t understand how hard I study” theme and the well-worn classic “I know everything and you’re hopelessly naive.”

This post, in the spirit of the season, teaches you how to avoid such brawls. Below are three simple pieces of advice. Give them a read now and the vacation days ahead might just remain merry.

Announcing the HP Magic Contest Winner

January 26, 2023December 19, 2008

The Envelope Please…

I’m thrilled to announce the winner of the HP Magic Giveaway:

Sebastian from Rutgers

I chose entries at random and stopped at the first proposal that really caught my attention. Sebastian’s was the fourth entry I read and I loved it.

Q & A: How Much Does Intelligence Matter at College?

January 26, 2023December 17, 2008

Contest Update: You have until midnight tonight (EST) to send in your entry for the HP Magic Giveaway. Remember, I’m giving away $6000 worth of computers, printers, and software to one lucky winner. Click here for the rules and information on how to enter. (Note: the contest is now closed. I’ll announce the winner on Friday.)

An Interesting Question… Doogie!

A student recently sent me an interesting question. It’s a topic I’ve thought a lot about, so I thought I would share my answer with you.

Here’s the original question:

To what extent does intelligence matter in college success? I have a group of friends that try very hard at school, yet fail to score the grades a select group of people I know are able to do. This question captures my concern about grad school admissions: no matter how hard I try, there will always be hundreds of other “geniuses” out there.

I responded: I don’t believe that intrinsic intelligence plays any significant role at the college level.

Let me explain why…

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