Everyone makes them – we spend precious time each day making a nice, long list of things we want to accomplish. Lofty goals, such as “Review last week’s physics lecture notes” and “Volunteer at Shelter”. Then, just to be realistic, we add “Take shower” and “make breakfast” so we can feel good crossing something off the list.
What a way to set yourself up to fail, huh?
Your to-do list is rubbish. We’re going to use it today to get you started on a better path, but eventually you’re tossing that baby out the window. Good riddance!
Now, your list will look something like this:
Calculus homework – 2 hours Laundry – 4 hours Dinner – 2 hours Save the world – 10 minutes
Now you can grab your lovely, hour-segmented calendar and fill in your unshakeables (classes and work schedule). Once that’s done, go back to your to-do list and start grabbing the important things and filling them into your schedule. When you’re done, if you’re half as busy as me it’ll look like this:
That’s all you need to get started – come back later in the week for our next step.
For the rest of March and into April I’m going to provide you with tricks and tools on how to get organized, get on top of your mountain of schoolwork and survive the last half of the semester.
It won’t be easy – you’re going to have to cut down on partying, start studying smarter (not harder) and learn how to learn. Yes, I said learn how to learn.
If you can tough it out through the semester and use these tools, then you can turn a failing E into a passing C, or better.
Two weeks of folding bike bliss have gone by. Overall, the Dahon is a great investment and a serious time saver, especially during my longer days or when I have weird situations that require getting across campus in short time spans. There are a couple annoying issues, but nothing’s perfect.
THE PROS:
Dahon gets a grade of B-, but I wouldn’t trade mine for anything less than a jet-pack.
THE CONS:
CONCLUSION…
I’ve made accomadations to overcome the Dahon’s issues. First, I practiced using the seatpost latch until it was second-nature to do it right and avoid the seat-drop problem. To handle the rocking, I resorted to laying the Dahon on it’s side, but that same metal joint mentioned above somehow tore into the rear-side of the seat pad. So I keep a full size flannel sheet in the car, which keeps muck from the wheels from getting all over the back, and place a folded corner between the seat and the metal joint to prevent further damage.
I wouldn’t ride this bike for excercise or pleasure purposes. The seat is not comfortable for more than 10 minutes of riding, for one thing. However, as a means of transportation on campus, it’s saved me tons of time. On a short day I save 10-15 minutes per trip, giving me 30 minutes to have lunch when I get back to the office. On my longer days it’s a blessing to have a little bit more time to be still and study, then trudging across the campus.
Wednesday I spent the hour before my physics lecture in the math tutor center on campus. It’s a class-sized room with round tables that have different signs on them, such as MAT171, and you can go in for free and share the tutor at your class’s table with any other students in the same course. Sometimes, however, there isn’t a tutor schedule for that time period, or they’re out sick. Yesterday that was the case, and the two students already at my course’s table were having a discussion that shocked me.
One was teaching the other how to store notes in the program section of their TI-83 calculator, in order to cheat on the upcoming exam.
They discussed strategies for avoiding notice by the testing center proctors, as well as ways to represent mathematical ideas and saving the data for easy retrieval. I was appalled.
Today, I walked from the tutor center to my class with two other students, and mentioned the incident. Not only were they both totally unconcerned by it, both had done the same thing on their calculators! One intends to be a dentist, the other a psychologist. And they are oblivious to the ethical failure of their actions. When pushed, both said “Everyone on campus does it” and told me I should, too.
I chose not to do so. Instead, I studied twice more today before going into the testing center and taking my exam. It felt easy – and I am NOT a math person. In fact, I had to drop the class last semester because my courseload was so difficult that I’d fallen about 3 weeks behind the coursework. Yet I got a near-perfect score on the first midterm for this course, and expect another great score on this one.
So… should we worry that these future dentists and therapists suffer from a lack of morality or ethical understanding?
The past few weeks have been pretty tough – being sick and trekking back & forth across campus five days a week, on top of regular stress, had really worn me down. Most days aren’t too bad, but Tuesday and Thursday are the days I have a class which is about a 30 minute walk from where I can park. If I walk briskly (slash run like a lamed animal) I can make it in twenty minutes, but then I’m winded and sweaty, and just feel rubbish. In addition, Thursday’s also the day I have only 15 minutes between two classes that are almost on opposite sides of the campus, and end the day at 6:30 with a half-hour walk back to the car. Ugh.
So, in the spirit of not being beat down and getting back some time every day, I picked up a Dahon Boardwalk yesterday. It’s a bike that can be folded down and easily stowed in your car, which my lovely Cruiser cannot. I gave it a five minute test-ride at the bike store yesterday, and I’m looking forward to putting it through it’s paces this week.
Expect a more detailed review after a full week of folding, unfolding and riding!
