#2//A Good Test (Nicole)

The past week touched my nerves for a bit, and I’m embarrassed to say my limbic reptilian senses mildly emerged as the assessments rolled in.

It’s interesting how one’s mental landscape can be quite the petri-dish no one wants it to be, and a simple introspective moment can be quite the antibiotic to start afresh on an (ideally) new dish.

But it’s not a new dish, nor do I want a new dish, because I want some of those pathogens to stay behind, to remind me what I did wrong, how I defeated it, and let it be a punching-bag for me to exercise my confidence and problem-solving skills. Asking for a new dish is just an easy way out.

No one likes to get stressed out, but for me, it’s important that I remain uncomfortable all the time. One of my favourite quotes comes from the fantastic Hungarian-American Andy Grove:

“Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive”.

So, dearest University, give me all you’ve got.

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I’ve also taken some time to explore new ways to manage my tasks in a more effective manner. I love task lists and apps, but none of them quite hit the mark, especially when some features only come from monthly subscriptions. I often find myself switching between several sites and apps, and that is absolutely wasteful of my time. So, three key things that I’ve incorporated for this week:

1. Graphical weekly task planner on a word document

• I’m a spatially cognizant person, and none of the free to-do-list apps offer a way for me to see my tasks in a good calendar view
• MS Word, because it’s clutter free, transfers better to paper, and I can access and edit online (via Google Drive), natively on my computer, and on my phone (via GDrive as well)

2. App on computer (OSX) to keep me on a current task

• I’ve landed on FocusList
• It’s great so far. It follows the pomodoro timing technique, gives me stats on what I’ve done, and has a nice, simple task list
• Yes, it’s paid ($7.99), but it’s cheaper than most and gives me what I want
• Why not just stick to a task list manager? Well, I wanted a no-frills task list that I use for the day, and simply listing out everything that I need to do for the whole month doesn’t keep things in immediate perspective
• You can also give DoOneThing a go; it’s free, and just shows your task on the menu bar
• Sorry windows/ubuntu people! There are plenty of free options out there for you though

3. Figure out some radio station appropriate for study

• Haven’t found a verbal show conducive to concentrating yet; the American ones I stay tuned to—WNYC and WBEZ—are far too interesting to pass as “study radio”
• Still sticking to NPR 24/7 All Songs Considered circa IB studying in high school

 

Alright, gotta study.