Straight into the EduLinks. Happy reading.

Apostrophe.me

It’s easy to get confused with apostrophes.  Help is at hand with this visual aid.  I don’t notice the “your” and “you’re” issue, so here’s my take on that one.  Whenever you want to say your/you’re and aren’t sure which to use, just take the sentence in context and replace your/you’re with the words “you are”.  If “you are” doesn’t make sense in the sentence, you need to use “your”. If “you are” is exactly what you wanted to convey, you should use “you’re”.  In short, “you are” is your friend and you’re better off knowing it!

University of Leicester – Essay Writing Diagnostic

This is a quality link you’ll want to bookmark.  The guide lets you choose how you approach essays and examine what problems you have, rather than just giving general advice.  Once you highlight your experience, the guide helps you improve in the areas you need to focus on most.  Simply set out and tailored to you!

Think Simple Now – 7 Keys to Reading Faster

I love speed reading.  It’s worth investing the time to improve your reading speed.  Scott Young heads you in the right direction.  And it’s not just about the ’speed’.  You need to know when to slow down too.  Scott explains:

“Many people I’ve talked to after introducing them to speed reading brag about how quickly they dashed through a book. But, these same people later confess that they remember little about what they read.”

How to Get More From Life – free EBook from Scott Young

If you like Scott’s post on reading faster, be sure to check out his new EBook.  It gives a broad introduction to all sorts of ideas and advice on learning, productivity, confidence, fitness, and even the meaning of life.  Scott says, “I write at least as much to articulate my own thoughts as I do to provide advice”.  We should all take a journey of discovery through our own thoughts.  Writing helps solidify those thoughts. Who knows, perhaps this EBook will spur you into writing down what’s on your mind too.

Eye Movement that boosts your creativity (Scientific American / BPS Research Digest)

“Sixty-two subjects performed a creativity task, where they had to come up with as many alternate uses for common objects like, a paper clip, pencil, shoe, etc. as they could in one minute.

“After this initial task researchers asked subjects to move their eyes to follow a target as it moved horizontally left to right for 30 seconds. This exercise is thought to increase the cross-talk between the hemispheres.

“Then the subjects completed the creative task again. Results were surprising. Subjects came up with significantly more unique uses for the everyday items, than the control group who stared straight ahead.” [Scientific American]

Cognitive Daily – What’s the best way to take a study break?

Time to get closer to nature.  A better break means for better study.

From Josh Blacker – HE funding and ‘value for money’

“If anything, tuition fees are a misnomer. We pay to join a community of learning. (At least in the current funding regime; previously, there was no ‘joining fee’, and as one alumni told me the other day, he came out of university with a cash surplus!) That’s what the arguments should be about – not whether a particular university course is ‘value for money’ or if students get ‘enough’ time with lecturers (bearing in mind, lots of us in the Arts and Humanities skip lectures because we might view particular lectures irrelevant to our own interests!).

“The question we should be asking – of ourselves, of universities, and of the public – is, ‘Should we have to pay to join a learning community?’”

Six Minutes – How to Deliver Group Presentations: The Unified Team Approach

The introduction to this extensive piece says it all: “A group presentation is only as strong as its weakest presenter.”

Introduce clarity, control and commitment to your presentation preparation with this guide.  It’s not squarely aimed at students, but there’s plenty of relevant detail to take on board.  You may not want to separate into ‘project manager’, ‘gap analyst’, and ‘chief researcher’, but don’t let that take away from the good advice given here.

And if you really want student-facing advice on presentations, TheUniversityBlog covers it in these posts:

• Create a good impression in a presentation
• Turning a ‘Group’ Into a Grade Winning ‘Team’

Tommy Gilchrist – RUSU 1 – Reading 0

It’s the Reading Town Takeover later this week.  I’m pleased to hear how Reading Students’ Union (RUSU) is already out in full force to fight for fairer funding in HE.  RUSU started their Town Takeover events on Saturday, taking things very seriously.  But fighting a serious cause can still be a lot of fun, which Tommy (VP Education at RUSU) describes in his latest blog post.  Bring it on!

This week is Nightline Awareness Week (16-23 November).

Now, before you start shouting that there’s a week for just about anything these days, I think it’s important to mention Nightline.

Nightline is a support service, run by students, helping other students.  In times of difficulty, whatever the problem, however they feel, students can ring up and talk to other students on the end of the line who are happy to listen.  They don’t have the answers, but they are there to provide you with emotional support and a willingness to listen…no matter what it’s about.

Sometimes all a person needs is the chance to let out their emotions.  Being at university, you’re surrounded by so many other people, but you may still feel alone.  Nightline provides an anonymous service that gives you the chance to connect with someone, no matter what you want to talk about.  Don’t worry, you won’t be judged.

There are currently 33 participating Nightline members up and down the country, with more coming to the service soon.  If you want to find your Nightline, check their website for details.

How does it help to talk about problems and feelings? Student Mental Health Practitioner and Counsellor, Mark Goulborne, explains why here.  And he says something that every one of us should bear in mind as we go about our daily life:

Remember we are born with no expectations on us other than survival….every single additional thing we achieve is remarkable – not expected. You are remarkable.

That’s why it’s important to mention Nightline.  Universities are getting into the swing of things.  Nottingham is giving out free hugs, York has a quiz and is giving away freebies (like cake…always good!), and Sheffield is doing some Speed Dating!  It’s all good fun and worth celebrating the wonderful service that Nightline provides.

If you aren’t feeling remarkable and you want to speak, in confidence, about whatever you want to get off your chest, get in touch with your Nightline.

I hope you enjoyed my recent six-part series on Time.  However, the path to success in your studies – and beyond – goes further than effective time management.

Life is unpredictable.  Whether or not you plan into the future, you still want to exercise control over that future.  However, an unexpected event can dramatically alter the course of your life, whether you like it or not.  A change in popular trends, a personal tragedy, an oversight with timely consequences…anything can reshape what’s going on and thrust you in a different place to where you’d expected.  And where you’d calculated.  And which you saw with total certainty until now.

So what’s the point in being so rigid?  Yes, planning is necessary for success…

But so is accepting change.

You may even change yourself.  Scott Young mentions on his site that he’s stopped setting long-term goals, because everyone changes so much so quickly.  If you read what he says, you’ll understand why one of the craziest job interview questions is, “Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?”

Manage time effectively by initially narrowing your scope, not widening it. Long-term goals are one thing, but they should be based on general ideas.  To achieve those goals, you need to see in smaller chunks of time.

University is definitely a time of massive change to you.  Even a long-term childhood passion can fade away, in place of an even bigger passion.  If you don’t have a passion, it may start developing while you’re an undergraduate.  It’s all to play for.

The best way to focus on the need for change is to review on a regular basis. Review your short-term plans, long-term goals (if you have any right now), and all your personal passions.  Without noticing, you may find that what you held dear last year now leaves you cold.

Once you accept change with open arms, the next thing to do is to *take action*.

You could have the best idea in the world since the dawn of time.  But if you don’t take action to process that idea until it becomes reality, you might as well have not come up with the idea in the first place.

Ideas are funny things.  When you accept change and take action, you still need to go further.  Harvard Business posted an interesting piece a few days back, about structuring experiments for success.  One striking piece of advice is:

“Executives and university administrators should stop trying to predict the success of very early ideas, instead they need to be sure they have enough of them and that their pool of ideas is diverse.”

The suggestion shouldn’t be limited to executives and administrators; I think it’s sound advice, whoever you are.

It’s like when I write.  If I only had a single idea, I wouldn’t last long before running out of steam.  I have a wide range of post ideas on the go at all times.  I write all sorts of notes and even full drafts of posts that, in the end, don’t go anywhere.  I’ll keep them for when it makes sense to bring them out again, but that’s why ideas are so great.  The more you feel for ideas, map out your thoughts and write about all your little lightbulb moments, the better.  Be aware of your ideas at all times to give yourself the best chance of developing.

So far, so positive.  Yet even with a huge list of amazing ideas, you still can’t control everything about your future.  Luckily, you are the very person who can drive it.

That’s the next step.  You’re willing to change, you want to take action, you have ideas.  Now drive!

The poet, Philip Larkin, wrote these words:

“And once you have walked the length of your mind, what
You command is clear as a lading-list.
Anything else must not, for you, be thought
To exist.”

[From Continuing to Live (1954)]

There is so much calling out for your attention, but it’s up to you to filter until you’re left with what you need to succeed.  This is where the big picture really comes into play.  Your life doesn’t roll down a single track and you’re bound to have loads of responsibilities, interests, mates, and so on that you want to make a big part of your existence.

Armed with the want to change, a readiness for action, ideas and drive, your priorities should be crystal clear.  With such clarity, you’ll have more time to enjoy.

So if you ever find yourself at a loss, without a structure, lacking a goal, or lacking control, it’s time to let go of some of the junk cluttering your life.  It may have seemed important a while back, but when you focus on too many things to cope, you might as well not focus on anything at all.

Welcome to the final part of the “Make Time For Time” series of posts.

It’s not always possible to get a lot of help from study advice.  There’s no magic answer, because everyone works differently.  Making time for time involves finding your way.  That, in itself, does take some time.  Allow yourself different trials in your quest to find the perfect study setup, otherwise you may never find what works for you.

photo by m00by

Some trials to consider:

• Place of study – Are you better off at your personal desk, at the library, in an outside space?  Location is an important factor in effective work.  Everything else may be right, but if the space doesn’t feel right, it’s hard to work well.
• Belongings – This is an extension of your study space.  If you’re working in a field in the middle of nowhere, you won’t have much to think about.  A desk in your own room, however, is a different matter. You’ll have loads of distractions in front of you and there may be a messy desk cramping your style.  You may work wonderfully in your current location, but the stuff around you can get in the way instead, without you realising.  If you have an ‘off’ day, check the junk and distractions putting you off and get them out of your sight.
• Time of day – Night owl or morning lark?  The time of day you do your work makes a huge difference. What works best for you?
• Your general health – Do you have a 30 minute study session planned just before you eat dinner?  If you’re already hungry, it’s probably a bad time to start working.  Get the food out of the way before you start working the brain.  And what about exercising physically before you exercise mentally?  A quick walk can do wonders for the mind.  Just a 10 minute walk about campus, or around your local area can be enough to give you a jolt in the right direction.  You may even get some ideas on the walk.  Carry a notepad and pen…just in case!
• Headbanger, or silent wonder? – Music helps some of us and hinders others.  Even the type of music can make a difference.  I’ve known some people who don’t like classical music who swear by it when they study.  They don’t even notice the music, but it helps them zone out.  So think about the sounds around you and use music wisely to work effectively.  Try listening to different random white/pink/brown noise if you like, or choose a soundscape with birds and rainfall, or just listen to your favourite song.  There’s bound to be something out there to get you in the mood, even if it’s total silence. Earplugs, here we come!

photo by svenwerk

–

From this series of articles, I hope it’s clear that time is something you have a lot of control over.  It may not feel that way much of the time, but there really is a lot we can do to manage time more effectively.

Even the most brilliant planners don’t have a perfect time-management technique.  Lives change, as do priorities.  I called this series ‘Make Time For Time’, because we should never stop thinking about the time available to us.  The moment you drop your guard and think you can’t manage your time any better is the moment you’ll slip up.

In my early teens I was awful at time-management.  It was only after my A-Levels, just before I went to uni, that I realised how much better I could do.

I went from being rubbish at time-management to being okay.  Yes, just okay.  Because it’s hard to be better than okay.  I’m happy to call my time-management a strength, just so long as I’m clear to myself that the real strength is to have a constant awareness that my time can always be managed better and that I will always strive to improve.

If that sounds like your attitude towards time-management, you should be happy to call it a strength too.

Peter Mandelson has announced a new Higher Education blueprint, Higher Ambitions.

Among many measures, one thing Mandelson wants is greater funding and more priority given to science and technology subjects.

So…is it worth studying subjects in Arts and Humanities any more?

The Chronicle says “Just Don’t Go”.

Savvy Student says it “Isn’t Such a Bad Idea”.

What say you?

Planning time takes a while if you’re not used to the process.  No single time-management technique suits all.  You have to feel around for what works best for you.

photo by BURИBLUE

Some of us cope with the bare minimum on paper.  Just a few reminders about the coming days will do.

Some of us prefer to plan rigorously to the last minute, as far in advance as possible.

However you plan, if it works for you, it’s the right way to go.

If it’s not working, move on to a different planning technique fast!

There are all sorts of diaries on the market.  Pocket diaries, desk diaries, day to a page, week to a page, appointments diaries, blank format, lined format…the list goes on.  The choice is yours.  It doesn’t take long to work out whether a particular way of managing your time works for you.  Sure, it’s annoying when you’ve tried several different things that all result in a big fat FAIL, but the satisfaction comes further down the line.  Once you find the solution, your plans will click into place and your life will be a lot easier to manage.  The sense of relief at that eureka moment is fantastic.

What if you have nothing planned?  Some of us are lucky enough to have very little to worry about in any given week.  A couple of lectures, a seminar, a meet up, a couple of outings, but nothing you need to work around.  Plenty of free time abounds.

Free time doesn’t equal leisure time.  Free time is time not yet allocated in your schedule.  Free time is positive because it’s more time you can fill up with whatever suits you.  Even if you fill it with leisure activities and hardcore relaxation, the key is to knowingly use the time.

It’s a mistake to randomly use up free time, because it’s a waste.  You don’t automatically know how well you’re using that time.  The time disappears and you can’t even account for what you did in that time.

If you’re lucky enough to have a lot of time on your hands, start by using some of that time to fill gaps in the future.  Even if you choose to play World of Warcraft, sit down the pub on your own, or listen to music in a trance, it doesn’t matter.  Anything goes. So long as you’ve chosen to do that with your time.

The more you’re in touch with the hours available to you each day, the more you’ll fit the most important tasks into those hours. Everything is manageable.  If another important job crops up, you can change your plans without sacrificing free time as if it is ‘leisure time’.  Instead, you’ll have the detail right in front of you, ready to re-jig.  You’ll be sacrificing something, but at least you can put a proper value to it.

Busy isn’t bad.  It just gets a bad name when your time isn’t planned properly.

As promised, it’s EduLinks time.  Tuck in!

From NUS Westminster Update:

“53% of all English domiciled full-time undergraduate students undertook paid work at some time during the academic year-either during term-time, during the short vacations or both. For those undertaking such work, earnings over the academic year were on average £4 005 (after tax).”

World Affairs – The Universality of English

Around 6,000 languages are in use around the world today.  It has been suggested that only 600 languages will remain in use in a hundred years’ time.  The author asks whether that matters.

Procrastination

Found this video via Academic Productivity.  Hurrah!  Another way of using up more time working out how to stop procrastinating. 

MakeUseOf – How To Easily Make An Attractive Cover Page In MS Word 2007

Sometimes you need to provide a front page for a piece of work.  If you have some creative freedom over the front page, but don’t want to go beyond Word, this tutorial has got it…covered!  Get it?  Covered?  …I’ll get my coat.

From The Battlefield of Ideas (New Statesman)

“Politicians, perhaps anachronistically, still look to the universities for ideas. The universities brood on why it is that they are so unloved. Government and the universities are like a warring couple locked together in a loveless marriage. The answer lies in divorce. The more the universities are left alone, the more creative they will become, the better able to resume the role they once had as powerhouses of ideas. Paradoxically, if the universities wish to become more influential in government, they must first become more independent of it.”

Wise Bread – Bioavailability: How to Get More Nutrients From Your Food

You want the most out of your food, don’t you?  Taste may play a huge part in our enjoyment, but nutrition is something you probably think about.  Even if you don’t act on it much, you’ll know it’s best to eat healthily.  Don’t miss a trick; you could eek out more precious nutrients just by drinking orange juice or grinding black pepper on your food.  Wise Bread explains all.

From NUS calls for student loans chief to resign (Guardian)

“You’ve got the appalling situation which has left hundreds of thousands affected by this crisis, tens of thousands without their support, a miserable start to term and on top of that one of the most shameful spin operations from a public body I have ever seen. They have failed to communicate with the public, made broken promise after broken promise. In that context how anyone can expect us to have confidence is beyond me. It’s time for Ralph Seymour-Jackson to do honourable thing and resign – or for ministers to step in and sack him.”

RealSimple – 9 Things You Can Do to Be Happy in the Next 30 Minutes

Simple ideas, designed to give you a boost when you need it.  That is all.

BBC – Road map for universities awaited

The government has been pretty quiet on their plans for Higher Education and fees.  Mike Baker investigates what’s taking them so long.

BPS Research Digest – A warm room makes people feel socially closer

Studies have suggested that when people are warm, they bond more easily.  They actually do get a ‘warm’ feeling.  So next time you want to get cosy with friends, turn up the heat.  You never know, it may be worth remembering when you have a presentation and want the lecturer on your side…

Harvard Business – Forwarding Is the New Networking

Just don’t forward *too* much.  And don’t worry so much about sending over the funnies.

PickTheBrain – 10 Very Common Stupid Tricks That Wreck A Good Life

In a similar vein to my recent post on mistakes to beat before they beat you, here are more issues to nip in the bud.  They may well be ‘common traps’, but that’s no reason to let them cause you grief.

You know what?  I made a mistake.

With all these posts on the subject of ‘Time’, I decided to look at how I use my blogging time to help you, my readers, best.

One big deal arose.  So I’m putting my hands up to the mistake, ready to bring things back to order.

Long-term readers of TheUniversityBlog will remember that I used to post regular EduLinks to the site.  Then I posted EduLinks less regularly.  Then I stopped entirely, in favour of a separate TumbleLog site.  Putting choice links and quotes there, I felt, would be a good thing.

Well it wasn’t. It hasn’t really worked on any level, so I believe that everyone benefits if I put EduLinks back where they belong…right here!  My apologies for messing you about.

I have learned a good thing from using the TumbleLog.  As well as occasional bumper posts of links here, I intend to post up single link posts and quotes of note.  It should be the best way to provide the right amount of goodness here on TheUniversityBlog, and bring everything together in a (hopefully) satisfying mix of woo!

If you’re a recent follower to the site, I hope your experience is about to get that little bit better.  If you’ve been following the highs and lows on here for a while now, I hope you’ll be happy to welcome back an old friend in the EduLinks.  Thank you for your support!