Most people are eligible for the ETR because they receive Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A. However, there are some payments that prevent you from receiving FTB Part A, but which still entitle you to receive the refund. You can also claim the refund if you are an independent student. For more information, see Am I eligible?

You can claim the ETR each financial year for children in primary and/or secondary school, or if you are an independent student. You will be able to claim the refund from 1 July 2009 for the 2008/09 financial year. This means you can claim for items purchased from 1 July 2008. Remember to keep your receipts as they will help you calculate your entitlement and you may be required to produce them as proof of purchase.

You can claim the ETR even if you are not required to lodge a tax return. For more information, see How do I claim?

Here’s an exponential tip for you – try to learn ONE NEW WORD EVERY DAY… That will help replace the one you’re FORGETTING every day!

A great site you can bookmark is Visual Thesaurus. It’s also a great resource when you’re writing term papers and need to find just the right word!

Dear Marc Dussault:
I recently purchased your book. It has now been a week and while I agree with a lot of the suggestions in your book, I have yet to start implementing them yet.

I was a procrastinator in high school. Somehow though I managed to succeed enough to well and still get into the Engineering degree of my choice.
However the same methods don’t work anymore in university. University is so different from high school!

Yet for almost the past 5-6 years this is all I have done in order to complete my studies. I understand everything your book says and I appreciate the e-mail tips; I do the exercises and I try to eat well as well as sleep, but still… I just can’t seem to start.

What’s wrong with me? I’ve researched on the net, and apparently there are not only procrastinators but also chronic procrastinators as well. I think I may be one for sure, for I’ve been procrastinating so long I don’t really know what the meaning of “study” is anymore…

I make lists and lists of what I want to achieve. Each time changing and changing the detail or format, and hoping that I will implement it (I tried to start with this technique from your book first). But somehow I just become tired by the large amount of uni work covered in the day or even if I’m not tired I just would rather have fun things to do.

I really want to succeed and do well… that should be enough motivation… but I still can’t keep it up. I did the 8-minute technique and it seemed to work well, that I actually kept going. But the next day, I looked at the same piece of math homework and I could not bring myself to continue doing it. I literally was having a mental argument inside my head for the pros and cons of not doing the homework, that I physically felt like I was actually getting stressed.

Where do I start? And why can’t I stay motivated?

In saying all of this, I have a mathematics exam this Friday…

Sincerely requiring help………….!

Ann

First of all, Ann, you’re “owning” the label of procrastinator just a little too seriously – what that means is that you SEE YOURSELF and THINK YOU’RE a procrastinator, which means you’re going to continue to procrastinate. Let’s face it – the label of regular every day LOSER is not enough, you need an even WORSE label… “Chronic Procrastinator!” which is a TOTAL LOSER!

How does that make you feel? Because it’s true – procrastinators, especially chronic ones never achieve anything because they never get anything finished – many don’t even start – LIKE YOU!

How do you feel about being branded a LOSER?

Procrastinator sounds better doesn’t it?!?!

You’re still a LOSER…

UNLESS you are just “doing procrastination”… That means you just slipped and got into a bad habit and are in fact a winner who just slipped up…

Is that it? Are you really a WINNER who just had a lapse of judgment and discipline?

Or are you really a LOSER? If you are a LOSER, good riddance, I have no time for you – seriously.

If however you are a WINNER who just lost her way – watch this YouTube video for the cure to procrastination – it works even better for CHRONIC PROCRASTINATION!

Now seriously, how do you “Stop It!” ???

You’re stuck in what’s called Analysis Paralysis. All people with great analytical and technical skills are susceptible to this. The key is to USE your skills to START the process – ONE STEP AT A TIME right away and NOT keep analysing.

Use your sequential mindset to START whatever process IMMEDIATELY and then analyse each NEXT STEP after you do it – retrospectively, after-the-fact.

AFTER you’ve done it instead of BEFORE. That way it’s DONE and you can improve the NEXT step, which you take…

Engineers are notorious with this affliction – but it’s not incurable.

Here’s another question to ponder…

Why do people procrastinate doing their taxes?

And why do they do them at the LAST minute?

Simple reason – they HATE to do their taxes and then the PAIN of NOT doing them (penalties, hassles and interest charges are MORE PAINFUL) so they do their taxes.

So what does that mean for you as a student?

You obviously don’t like what you’re studying, otherwise you wouldn’t be procrastinating. What is it you don’t like? The material? Your professors? Fellow students? If you don’t like it – you blame procrastination which is an EXCUSE.

The real root of the cause is that you don’t like what you’re studying – or something associated with it.

You need to fall back in love with what you’re studying or PICK SOMETHING ELSE TO STUDY.

If you hate studying engineering in your case – guess what? You’re whole career is going to be “engineering” = something you hate….!

So the question really is “Do you like what you’re studying (engineering in your case) or not??!?!?”

If you do like what you’re studying and you’re not a LOSER and are still procrastinating – they you’re basically LAZY.

Yes, LAZY.

If you’re achieving good enough grades, you’re still LAZY and need a bigger, more ambitious goal to MOTIVATE you.

Aim to be on the Dean’s List or Valedictorian.

But you might not be up to that, or smart enough.

How does THAT make you feel?

If you want to prove me wrong, you’ve got the spirit of a WINNER, but you’re still a LOSER.

You’re only a WINNER when you WIN something.

If this has motivated you – tell me what you’re going to try to win and then send me proof you achieved it. I am sure the HUNDREDS of readers of this blog would love to know if you’re a WINNER or a LOSER.

There you have it – the challenge.

It’s all you need to STOP procrastinating. If you keep procrastinating, we’ll know it and so will you.

There’s nothing worse than thinking you were a WINNER when in fact you’re a LOSER.

The INSTANT you adopt a WINNER’S MINDSET and STOP PROCRASTINATING – you are NO LONGER A LOSER… On your way to WINNING!

How does that sound?

How does that feel?

How do you see yourself now?

A WINNER gets stuff done.

A WINNER uses positive vocabulary.

A WINNER sees setbacks as opportunities to learn and improve.

A WINNER seeks improvement NOT perfection.

A WINNER never uses negative labels.

A WINNER does not focus on the problem, instead on the SOLUTION.

A WINNER asks for help (as you did) and TAKES the advice.

A WINNER holds him/herself accountable to a higher standard.

A WINNER keeps raising the bar.

A WINNER shares his/her wisdom with others.

A WINNER realises that a lapse is nothing more than that – we’re all human and we move onward and upward!

A WINNER is what you are.

A WINNER is who you are.

That’s when the two little guys below came to mind…

Ace Your Next Exam With Troll Power!

Here’s the thing that’s really important, as I explain in my video…

These little guys are just an ANCHOR to use WHILE you are studying to associate your NEURAL SYSTEM to something tangible. You should get a ‘lucky charm’ of some kind and make sure you keep it with you WHILE you study and bring it with you WHILE you write your exam.

My sister gave me these as a joke – for luck when I was doing my MBA. I actually brought them into ALL my exams and other students would come by my desk before the exam started to brush their fingers on their hair for good luck. It was a fun ritual we all did and it worked – I graduated with honors!

I know this sounds childish and immature, but I don’t care AS LONG AS IT WORKS. It’s fun and doesn’t hurt anyone. Now I am not advocating creating superstitions and psychological crutches that you end up being a slave to, just highlighting one of the many strategies that work so you can become a speed learner and get more studying done in less time.

My bonus video explains it in much more detail than I can manage in a blog post…

How To Ace Tomorrow’s Exam in 5 Minutes

Get Better Grades With The Least Amount Of Effort

Hi, Dr. Dussault.

I found your website by accident.  I belong to IAAP (International Association of Administrative Professionals) and I have been an admin/executive assistant for 35+ years.

Here I am… I’m going to be 60 in April and the IAAP Chapter that I belong to here in Omaha, Nebraska talked me into becoming certified.  I’m currently thinking … “What did I get myself into.”  There are four large books I will be studying:

1)  Office Systems and Technology
2)  Office Administration
3)  Management
4)  Advanced Management

I have an electronic version of these books (which is better than the books themselves).  The actual books are too wordy.  Loses the reader.  On the electronic version there was a link to “Ask Jeeves” and I typed in How to study.  Voila!!!  There was your website.  I purchased your book “Get The Best Grades With The Least Amount Of Effort” as well as your Speed Reading Video Program.

Right now I’m feeling overwhelmed and haven’t studied since high school.  I’m hoping your materials will help me.  I plan to apply them.  The big 6-hour test will take place this November and the other two hour test (for the last book) will take place in May 2011.

The Good Lord gave me a brain and people like you to bring it to fruition.

I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

ONWARD AND UPWARD!!!

Sue Wickliffe (I hope to have CPS and CAP initials after my name soon)

Study Tips For A Mature Student Going Back To School.

One of our affiliate referral sites, www.mature-student-tips.com has quite a bit of useful content for a mature student going back to school.

Go there and have a look. I’m sure you’ll find some great ideas. We like to support people who endorse our products and programs!

Scholar Ladies

The other suggestion I have for Ad is to get my Speed Reading Video Program. Rapid Reader is FANTASTIC for WORD, PDF and Website reading, but when it comes to reading your textbooks, you need to know how to speed read.

Hi Dr Dussault,

I came to know about your book and your strategies recently.Your strategies, you say, help get the best grades with the least amount of effort, but I wonder if they are going to help me since , I have 3 and a half weeks until my exam and I feel not quite prepared.

What I need are strategies to get the most done with the least amount of time, not the least effort. I am willing to give in a great deal of effort , but I am anxious and afraid that I won’t be able to complete all the courses to my satisfaction (especially chemistry, which I hate and have neglected greatly until now).

So, I ask whether your book will help me get the best grades with the least amount of TIME?

Thank You.
Ad

How To Get Better Grades By MindMapping

MindMapping is one of the key speed learning skills I teach my business and professional clients who pay me tens of thousands of dollars per year to improve their results. If you want to access one of the most powerful skills – you can get my Exponential MasterMind Program by clicking on the hyperlink.

But I have to warn you – it’s potent and powerful. If you want to get the best grades possible without becoming a nerd or a geek, this is the fastest and easiest way to do it.

When You Should Highlight When Speed Reading

I always advise students who learn to do speed reading NOT to highlight while speed reading.

The simple reason I advise NOT to highlight while speed reading the first time is because the FIRST time you read anything, it’s hard for you to know what’s important and what’s not.

By the time you finish the chapter, the beginning will become obvious to you and the specific details to need to remember will be different than when you started reading.

Chances are if you highlight WHILE you are speed reading, your reading speed will be a LOT LESS plus you will highlight two or three times more – which means you’ll waste a lot more time reviewing. Think about it. If you KNOW you only highlighted the specific details you need to remember, there is a lot less stress preparing for an exam, but if you highlight almost every line, then you’re in fact re-reading it all again, which is a massive waste of time.

When CHOOSING to highlight something, you need to trust your instincts – to highlight LESS than you THINK… So that the highlights are ONLY those items you feel you’re not going to remember automatically. Yes, I know this takes judgment on your part. You have to trust yourself. Start with MORE highlights and REDUCE them as you get better at CHOOSING what to highlight.

Trust yourself – you’ll soon know what you MUST highlight versus what you WANT to highlight. These are not the same thing.

The strategies I teach take time to implement. The key is to TRUST them as you apply them. You can TEST what I suggest – sometimes highlight WHILE you are speed reading and then AFTER… You determine what works best for you.

I can just tell you what works best for me and thousands of other students.

IF you are the EXCEPTION, that’s OK – DO what works for you, but DO IT because it works, not because you THINK it works.

To KNOW IT WORKS, you have to track your time and comprehension BOTH ways, otherwise it’s a value judgment and chances are you will be biased and wrong in your self-assessment.

For more speed learning tips, check out my Speed Learning Video by clicking on the hyperlink.

Of course if you haven’t yet purchased my Speed Reading Video, click on the hyperlink to get started today. It’s guaranteed to double your reading speed in one hour.

Hello Marc

I have been reading your study ebook and have only once listened to your speed reading video once.

The extra emails you send after I bought your study book are great as they keep me on track, otherwise I would wonder a bit.

I am working on a better format for my notes with more drawings and mindmaps as this is a better form of learning for me and audio tapes. (Now that I know
this thanks to your book!)

Exams start end of the month so the next stage is to compile my class notes into A3 mindmap layouts (any extra tips on this technique) would be good and then
the exams.

I am now in a study room not the office which had too many distractions and getting into the mind zone more quickly – it’s the little suggestions like this that make all the difference.

I don’t cold read my study guide and text anymore so I pre-read first to get a general understanding then highlight and compose the notes and now I
comprehend and remember a lot more. I can afford to do this because I can do speed reading, even though I still need to improve and increase my reading speed.

My assignment grades have increased from about 60-80% to the last one which I got 88%!!! This was my highest grade.

My studies are extramural so no lecturers only Webct, study guide and textbooks.

I am practicing my speed reading and using on my first read but need to work on this more. When you speed read a page when do you highlight the text? I read the paragraph then go back and highlight?

So lots more to learn!

Thanking you very much for you help.

David Fisher

Stay tuned for the answers to David’s questions about MindMapping and highlighting while or after Speed Reading…

Dear Dr. Marc Dussault,

I want to thank u 4 ur help with studyin and reading fasta… It is actually something dat has really bothered me cuz I know I’m smart but findin da right study type dat fits me has been my challenge. It’s like u said something is trying to bust out of me, that genius in me. I just left secondary school and u know b4 dat my teachers were tellin me dat I could do it cuz dey knew what I waz capable of but as one teacher likened me to the Ntherlands football team “exellent team (players) but low performance”. I know I can do it.

I can be that GENIUS that I was made to be. Thanks 4 ur help sir and I hope to know u physically in the nearest future, I even see myself talking about u and ur work, how it tranformed me on TV, u know interviewing me… . I am in the sciences (aeronautical engineering) like all science, robotics, rc stuffs. C u soon

Onward and Upward YEAH!

Moboluwarin Maku

Isn’t that amazing? You too can learn speed reading and get better grades… Many graduates are not native English Speakers, which means if you are English speaking, you have an adavantage… But y’know what? Speed Reading works in ALL languages!

Students And Media (Over) Use

The number of media options available to kids today is having an impact on their grades – but not in a good way. If study material was as addictive as Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, straight A’s would never be rampant – but they’re not.

Ohio University conducted a study in which researchers determined college students who use Facebook spend less time studying and score lower grades than those who don’t waste time ‘poking’ their friends.

It’s not called social NOTworking for nothing…

Perhaps even more disturbing was a study done by the Straits Times that found those who were addicted to online games generally did worse in school than those who were not addicted. In fact, 14 percent of addicts reported scoring Cs  or worse, while only 6 percent of their non-addicted counterparts scored just as low. [1]

While it would be easy to quickly blame the social networking craze and even Facebook for the students’ performance, distractions from school work are nothing new. Students bent on ignoring their responsibilities don’t need Facebook or Twitter to produce poor performance; these platforms simply provide an easy excuse.

Multitask your way to Bs, Cs and Ds.

One Fox News report suggests this problem could be related to continuous partial attention, which is the state in which you multitask, but continue to be motivated by the desire to not miss anything. Studies continue to show that those who multitask do each of their tasks worse. If multitasking for students includes interacting via Facebook while studying, it’s safe to assume rote memory and concentration will be noticeably affected. [2]

Just in case you might think I’m anti social networking, I’m not. In fact, in the UK, some are taking a different approach to these latest media sensations. School curricula have been altered to include instruction for Twitter and Wikipedia. While some traditional focus will remain, students will be expected to know how to use and manipulate different sources of information and forms of communication. [3] Let’s face it, if you’re going to do it, you might as well do it efficiently and effectively!

I wonder if a university was to implement a Facebook 101 class, what would the homework actually be? How could you get an A+ if you’re on Facebook 24/7?!?!

That’s a conundrum and dilemma wrapped up in a paradox isn’t it?

Hmmmmm…. Something to tweet about!

[2] http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/fox_news_says_facebook_will_ruin_your_grades.php

[3] http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/mar/25/primary-schools-twitter-curriculum

One student turned in the following book report, with the proposition that they were nearly identical stories!

His cool professor gave him an A+ for this report.
Titanic:…. Cost – $29.99
Clinton :….. Cost – $29.99

Titanic:….. Over 3 hours to read
Clinton :… Over 3 hours to read

Titanic:….. The story of Jack and Rose, their forbidden love, and subsequent catastrophe.
Clinton :… The story of Bill and Monica, their forbidden love, and subsequent catastrophe.

Titanic:…. Jack is a starving artist.
Clinton :…… Bill is a bullshit artist.

Titanic:…. In one scene, Jack enjoys a good cigar.
Clinton :…. Ditto for Bill.

Titanic:….. During the ordeal, Rose’s dress gets ruined.
Clinton :…… Ditto for Monica.

Titanic:….. Jack teaches Rose to spit.
Clinton :… Let’s not go there.

Titanic:….. Rose gets to keep her jewelry.
Clinton :…. Monica’ s forced to return her gifts.

Titanic:….. Rose remembers Jack for the rest of her life.
Clinton :….. Clinton doesn’t remember Jack.

Titanic:….. Rose goes down on a vessel full of seamen.
Clinton :….. Monica.. Ooh, let’s not go there, either.

Titanic:….. Jack surrenders to an icy death.
Clinton :….. Bill goes home to Hillary – basically the same thing

— The End —

Hello Marc

I have been reading your e book and have only once listened to your speed reading video. The extra emails are great as it keeps me on track otherwise I could wander a bit and lose focus on what I should be doing rather than just go through the motions.

I am working on a better format for my class notes with more drawings/mind maps as this is a better form of learning for me and audio recordings. (Now that I know this from your book that explained how to determine my own learning style).

Exams start end of the month so the next stage is to compile the notes into A3 mind maps layouts.

I am now in a study room not the office which had too many distractions that prevented me from getting into the right mind ‘zone’.

I don’t cold read my study guide and text any more so I pre-read first to get a general understanding then highlight and compose the notes and now I comprehend more. (I can’t believe the difference this makes!)

My assignment grades have increased from about 60-80% to the last one 88% and this was the highest grade.

My studies are extramural so no lecturers only Webct and study guide/text books.

I am practicing your speed reading techniques and using it the first time I read something but need to work on this more.

Thanking you very much for you help.

David Fisher