It's finally here. Reading week is upon us. How do we deal with it? How can we actually make this week more productive than last semester? How do we avoid the hectic life of cramming for one final after another? And how do we keep our sanity while doing so? Personally, I know my problem has always been two-fold: keeping to a schedule and making one in the first place.
Throughout this past semester I have been reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey. (I call it my mussar sefer that I can bring into the bathroom. The great thing about it is that it is 100% Jewish ideas put into a secular context. Can you think of a better book for representing Torah U'Maddah?! I think not!) Being that I have only read through the third habit it is that habit which I will discuss.
Habit number 1 is to be proactive. Be a decision maker. Don't act as if anything is out of your control because it isn't. You may be put into situations, but how you react to them is completely within your control. That is what separates man from animal. Habit 2 says to begin with the end in mind. Before you can act, you must realize the direction in which you are heading. You can't choose correctly if you don't know the goal. ("One day, Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. 'Which road do I take?' she asked. 'Where do you want to go?' was his response. 'I don't know,' Alice answered. 'Then,' said the cat, 'it doesn't matter.'")
Habit number 3 says to put first things first. You must prioritize in your life and realize the difference between urgency and importance. Finals are both urgent and important, however they are not as important as many make them seem. More important is keeping your sanity while going through finals week and being able to maintain a level of a ben torah that you can still be proud of, however you would define that for yourself.
This year I have decided to set up a schedule from the get-go. By tomorrow I plan on having a schedule detailing the next three weeks. Step 1 is laying out my coursework for my various finals and estimating the time it will take to complete each subject. Step 2 is breaking up that study time into sections to be dispersed throughout the days before each individual final. Studying one subject at a time has not worked well in the past no matter how spread out the finals are. I feel that doing a little of each subject a day will help me retain the information for each class.
Of course, while making the schedule I plan on making time for learning, hanging out with friends (shoutout Wylie), relaxing, exercising,... These are not necessarily urgent, but they are far more important in the long run. Hopefully this schedule will help in both studying and maintaining sanity through the crazy times that are finals.
As a final note on the subject, I remember something I was told in the name of one of my Rabbeim from Sha'alvim: If you fail to plan, plan to fail. Hopefully, we won't fail.
Throughout this past semester I have been reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey. (I call it my mussar sefer that I can bring into the bathroom. The great thing about it is that it is 100% Jewish ideas put into a secular context. Can you think of a better book for representing Torah U'Maddah?! I think not!) Being that I have only read through the third habit it is that habit which I will discuss.
Habit number 1 is to be proactive. Be a decision maker. Don't act as if anything is out of your control because it isn't. You may be put into situations, but how you react to them is completely within your control. That is what separates man from animal. Habit 2 says to begin with the end in mind. Before you can act, you must realize the direction in which you are heading. You can't choose correctly if you don't know the goal. ("One day, Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. 'Which road do I take?' she asked. 'Where do you want to go?' was his response. 'I don't know,' Alice answered. 'Then,' said the cat, 'it doesn't matter.'")
Habit number 3 says to put first things first. You must prioritize in your life and realize the difference between urgency and importance. Finals are both urgent and important, however they are not as important as many make them seem. More important is keeping your sanity while going through finals week and being able to maintain a level of a ben torah that you can still be proud of, however you would define that for yourself.
This year I have decided to set up a schedule from the get-go. By tomorrow I plan on having a schedule detailing the next three weeks. Step 1 is laying out my coursework for my various finals and estimating the time it will take to complete each subject. Step 2 is breaking up that study time into sections to be dispersed throughout the days before each individual final. Studying one subject at a time has not worked well in the past no matter how spread out the finals are. I feel that doing a little of each subject a day will help me retain the information for each class.
Of course, while making the schedule I plan on making time for learning, hanging out with friends (shoutout Wylie), relaxing, exercising,... These are not necessarily urgent, but they are far more important in the long run. Hopefully this schedule will help in both studying and maintaining sanity through the crazy times that are finals.
As a final note on the subject, I remember something I was told in the name of one of my Rabbeim from Sha'alvim: If you fail to plan, plan to fail. Hopefully, we won't fail.
Managing your time is really so important, and making a schedule is probably the best solution. I usually just work out my plan in my head and tell myself that i'll stick to it. I don't think I ever stuck to it. Hanukkah also helps us with time management in that everyday at the same time we have to light the Hanukia. Because this is set in our schedules it helps us create the rest of our schedule. What I mean is that people are likely to say, "I'm going to finish what i'm doing and right when I finish I'll light the Hanukia, and after that I'll start the other thing I need to do." Although we aren't lighting during finals it would be smart to establish a time which everyday during that time you will do something specific (eat dinner, read a book, or anything). This way since you know that once that time comes you will have to stop studying and go eat dinner or whatever your more likely not to waste time.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try it, hopefully it works, it would be great if it worked for you too!