Appendix for Effective Learning Skills (in Chem 108)

A BONUS-APPENDIX
to supplement Learning Skills for Chem 108:
Learning and Problem Solving
Memory Activities (notes, sheets, cards)
Active Reading

Three Ways to Learn, and
Problem Solving in Design & Science

Learning by Exploring
One way to learn about nature is to explore it yourself. You can do this in many ways, using all of your senses. You can explore near and far, by studying plants in your yard, birds in the park, and clouds in the sky, by looking out your car window and letting what you see inspire questions about the geology and biology, about the land and what's growing on it. Exploring is fun at any age. It is interesting and motivating for children, and also for adults who (as non-scientists, amateur scientists, or professional scientists) are continuing their explorations of nature.

Learning from Others
When you explore, you learn from your own experience. But you can also learn from the experience of others, by letting them help you learn. This happens when you read, listen, or watch what they have written, spoken, or filmed. Learning from others is an easy way to learn a lot in a little time.

Learning is an Active Process
Learning is an active process that requires thinking. When you learn by reading, for example, your thinking converts symbols on the page into ideas in your mind. Every time you learn a new idea, you are actively constructing your own mental representations of the idea in a personally meaningful form. And your new idea interacts with your old ideas, as you try to combine the new and old into a coherent system of ideas.
The process of active reading is the theme when Virginia Voeks, in her book On Becoming an Educated Person, explains how to learn more and enjoy more while reading: "Start with an intent to make the very most you can from whatever you read. Treat the author as you do your friends. When talking with a friend, you listen attentively and eagerly. You watch for contributions of value and are sensitive to them. You actively respond to his ideas with ones of your own. Together you build new syntheses." When you're an active reader, eagerly searching for new ideas, you will find them, and reading becomes a stimulating adventure.
You can read passively or you can make it an active adventure. Some of the most effective teaching methods are designed to stimulate thinking, to replace boring passivity with exciting activity. For example, members of a class can have a pro-and-con debate about the ideas in a book they are reading. This activity encourages the mentally active reading that is recommended by Voeks. But if you "internalize the action" you can always read with an active mind, whether or not your reading will be followed by an external debate. You control the quality of your learning.
We hope you'll read the rest of our website actively. If you're eager to learn and you "listen attentively and eagerly" it can be a stimulating adventure for you, and you will be richly rewarded with understanding and enjoyment.

Problem Solving in Life
We're made for thinking, and it's exciting to use our minds skillfully. We'll explore two ways to think: in design and science.
Design is a way to solve problems. In common language, a "problem" is usually bad. But in design, a problem is an opportunity to make a difference, to make things better. Whenever you are thinking about ways to increase the quality of life (or avoid a decrease in quality), you are actively involved in problem solving.
In every area of life, creative thinking (to generate ideas) and critical thinking (to evaluate ideas) are essential. These mutually supportive skills are combined in the problem-solving methods used in a wide range of design fields — such as engineering, architecture, medicine, music, art, literature, philosophy, history, law, business, athletics, and science — where the goal is to design a product, strategy, or theory. In fact, design includes almost everything in life.
If we define design as the process of designing products or strategies, and science as the designing of theories about nature, the main objective of design is to improve what humans construct in our societies, while the main objective of science is to understand what humans observe in nature.

Design includes almost everything in life, so you can find many ways to enjoy the excitement of design thinking, to experience the satisfaction of solving a problem and achieving a practical goal. Since the beginning of human history, people have been designing strategies for better living, and designing products to carry out these strategies more effectively. For example, strategies for getting food (by hunting and farming) were more effective when using products (spears and plows). Design continues to be useful in the modern world.
Science is also useful, in two ways. First, the understanding gained by science is often used by designers when they develop new products or strategies. The technological results of "applied science" are familiar. Second, science can help us fulfill a deep human need, because it is one way to search for answers when, inspired by our curiosity, we ask questions about what, how, and why. Most of us want to know the truth, so an intrinsically appealing goal is the design of scientific theories that are true, that correctly describe what is happening now and what has happened in the past.
Creativity and Logic: How do scientists combine these thinking skills in their efforts to understand? The simplicity of using "reality checks" in scientific method is summarized in an introduction to the logic of science.
Curiosity and Delight: In our search for truth in nature, we are motivated by curiosity and a desire to solve mysteries. Two scientists who played key roles in solving an important scientific mystery, in 25 years of shared work, exchange letters to express their shared delight: One writes, "I am reading your paper in the way a curious child eagerly listens to the solution of a riddle with which he has struggled for a long time, and I rejoice over the beauties that my eye discovers." The other responds by agreeing that "everything resolves itself with unbelievable simplicity and unbelievable beauty, everything turns out exactly as one would wish, in a perfectly straightforward manner, all by itself and without forcing." They struggled with a problem, solved it, and were thrilled. It's fun to think and learn!
Why would a scientist — while reading about a new idea (*) — "rejoice over the beauties that his eye discovers"? Find out in the joy of science.
* Scientists enjoy the fascinating world of ideas, and they also enjoy the magnificent beauty of our world in the sky and sea, rivers and mountains, forests and meadows, plants and animals.

You can also learn about the joy of design — WHY it includes almost everything you do (because when you make a decision in any area of life, you're designing a strategy to help you achieve your goals for life), HOW you can find a variety of ways to enjoy the excitement of design thinking, WHAT are the similarities and differences between design and science, and WHY we should teach design before science (because design makes a connection with the past and future of students) — in other pages, beginning with An Introduction to Design.

Memory Activities
This section continues the "strategies for remembering" that began in Effective Learning Skills for Chemistry 108.

SUMMARY NOTES
One powerful organizing technique is SUMMARY NOTES. To make them, choose the most important ideas from your textbook, lecture notes and problem-solving practice, then organize these ideas into a unified summary. Be creative.
If you're writing with a computer, use its advantages: it's easier for you to revise-and-supplement your notes, and you can make tables (to show relationships horizontally & vertically), plus other benefits. Or if you want to make some summaries by hand-writing, you can divide information into idea-clusters, spread these all over the page, and use spatial cues to show their relationships; use flowcharts, hierarchy structure, outlines, tables, or free-form chaos.
Experiment with different kinds of organization. Personalize your summary. For example, an author may use several pages to explain a new concept, but you can use a small phrase (that wouldn't make sense to anyone else) that will quickly remind you about the main concepts. Invent and use your own system of symbols ( + - vs ! ? / * x arrows linklines ... ), underlining and circling (of various types), brackets { [ ( , differing print size, and (one of my favorites) colors.

You can make your summary "from scratch." Or use a chapter summary in this book [originally I wrote this section as part of "Physics: Power Tools for Problem Solving"] as your starting point, and then change it in any way you want. Make photocopies of my summary and you'll feel more free to experiment creatively; if you don't like the changes you've made, just try it again on another copy by keeping the changes you like, discarding those you don't, and revising in other ways.
Make a "rough draft summary" early. Then as you use these notes for problem-solving, think about how you can change them to make a new improved version. You may find it freeing to use a pencil for the rough draft. This encourages creativity because you'll feel more spontaneous if you know it will be easy to revise the summary later.
In your early summary, include everything you think might be useful. Then notice which tools are used most often when you solve problems, and edit the summary accordingly. Eventually, you'll want to travel lightly so your summary includes only the tools you really need: no more and no less. When you eliminate "excess clutter" the important ideas stand out more clearly.

You'll learn a lot during the "choose and organize" process of making summary notes. And when you study it, a summary is useful in many ways. It will help you to:
1) memorize. When information is condensed in a small area you can literally see the visual and logical interconnections, and it is easier to understand relationships. Because the information is organized on paper, it is easier to organize in your mind, which makes it easier to remember! And summary notes are short, so you can do many quick yet thorough reviews.
2) develop problem-solving strategies. Most of the tools you need are available in clear view, so you can focus your attention on how to use them.
3) acquire more knowledge. New information is easier to understand when it is related to what you already know, if it is a variation on a familiar theme, or is a logical consequence of a principle you understand. Summary notes organize the essential ideas into a framework, providing a structure where you can insert details and new ideas.
4) review later. In an important practical application for students, good summary notes will help you quickly re-learn ideas for a final exam that is cumulative, so you need to know the ideas you learned earlier in the semester.

REVIEW PAGES (with 2 columns, or...)
This is a "hybrid" offering some benefits of Summary Notes (above) and Flash Cards (below).
Instead of making individual flash cards for each idea, sometimes it's more effective (if you have limited time to invest in studying) to gather-and-organize related information together on one piece of paper, in a way that allows easy review. For example, some information might be easy to review when it's organized in a two-column format:
Put cues in one column, answers in the other, as in my end-of-chapter "flashcard" sections. Then use the flash card method: cover the answer column, look at the cue and predict the answer, then check by sliding the cover down one line at a time. This format is good for some purposes, like memorizing language vocabulary in both directions. And one page is more compact than many cards. But flash cards are adaptable to a wider variety of situations, and cards can be shuffled to avoid using one card as a cue for the next -- as occurs, for example, when you've heard a CD often, and the end of one song reminds you about the beginning of the next song.

FLASH CARDS
If you mix problem-solving practice with reviews of the flashcards and summary at the end of each chapter in this [physics] book, it will do wonders for your "tool memory" and problem solving skill.
MAKING AND USING FLASH CARDS: Put a CUE on one side of a 3x5 index card, and its corresponding "ANSWER" on the other side. Then use the card for self-testing: look at the cue, predict the answer, turn the card over to see if it's correct. / Use cards for anything you want to memorize. { For example, information from summary notes,... Every chapter of Physics: Tools for Problem Solving has suggestions for specific cue-answer pairs. }
The CUE is important; choose it carefully. Try to use the same kind of cue that real problems will provide. And "minimize" it; the less cue you need during flash card practice, the more likely it is that information within a problem will be enough to trigger the correct response. Here is a minimum-cue example. [note: For the following example, ignore the technical "physics-math details" that aren't important for Chem 108, so you can focus on the "minimal cue" principle that will be useful no matter what subject you're studying.] The 4 basic right-triangle relationships {definitions of sine, cosine & tangent, plus the formula "aa + bb = cc"} are often used in physics to split a diagonal line, / , into its horizontal and vertical components. For review, should you use a cue like "What are the 4 right- triangle formulas?" or "How can I split a diagonal into components?" or " / " ? The last cue is best. Why? Because a problem won't jab you in the ribs and shout in your ear "Hey Sam! Why don't you use one of the 4 trigonometry formulas?" Instead, there will be a diagonal vector, / , that needs to be split, and the sight of this must be enough to trigger your recall of the trig-formula tools. Do you see why memorizing with a minimal "/" cue (instead of a long "give-away" cue) is better preparation for real problem-solving situations? Almost always, the less cue you need for retrieval, the better.
MULTIPLE CUES: One fact may have several cues. This makes it more likely that the cues within a problem will let you retrieve the fact from memory. [similar to funneling]
The ANSWER can be practiced in different ways. You can WRITE it (and also SEE), or SAY it (and also HEAR), or REHEARSE it mentally (along with "VISUALIZING" of sight, sound, meaning,...). Try each method and choose your favorite, or alternate them to store the knowledge in your memory using several sense-modes, thus making it easier to retrieve.
MULTIPLE ANSWERS: One thing can remind you of several associated items. This is useful for real life problem-solving and creative thinking, because it gives you different "options" to choose from. [similar to fanning]
EDITING FLASH-CARDS: After you've used the cards awhile, you can change the cues to make them more appropriate and minimal. Or sort cards into piles, like well known pairs vs. those needing review, essentials vs. optionals, according to topic,... Use paper clips or rubber bands to keep each group together.
REVERSIBLE CARDS are useful in some situations. For example, in learning a language you'll probably want to translate in both directions. To learn English -> Spanish translation, use the English side of the card as cue; for Spanish -> English translation, just flip the cards over. / Or to learn a chemical reaction like "A + B -> C" in both directions, put "A + B -> __" on one side and "__ -> C" on the other; then alternate which side you use as cue.
In any form, flashcards force you to actively search your memory to find a response to the cue, and this activity will help you remember.

REALISTIC PRACTICE
RELEVANCE. When you seek out and solve problems similar to those you expect to encounter later, on an exam or in real-life situations, this realistic practice makes it more likely that in the future the information within a problem will trigger your memory of useful problem-solving strategies. <snip .....>
Here is some excellent advice (for musicians or test takers) paraphrased from The Art of Trombone Playing by Edward Kleinhammer: When you practice at home, pretend you're in the concert hall, and when you're in the concert hall, pretend you're at home. <snip .....> note: If you want to read more, this is from the full-length page for Effective Learning Skills.

Active Reading

FLEXIBILITY: Decide what your purpose is, and adjust your reading accordingly. You may want to aim for maximum understanding, to get out of a book everything the author put into it. Often, however, your goal is more specific: to learn the book's main ideas, to look for a specific fact, to gather ideas for a term paper, or...
Each goal requires a different approach, but here is a basic principle: unless you really need "total comprehension", you should resist the compulsion to read every word in a chapter or every page in a book. <snip .....>

STOP-AND-GO READING: A good way to understand and remember ideas is to read for awhile, stop and think, read more, stop and think, read, stop, and so on. What should you do when you stop? Think, recite, write.
Think: Read for awhile, then do one or more of the thought-activities described earlier. Try to comprehend what the book is saying, do critical thinking, and let the author's ideas inspire your own ideas.
Recite: When you find something worth remembering, look away from the book and say the idea to yourself, either mentally or aloud. This activity helps move the idea from temporary short-term memory where, like the "vanished name-introduction" of Section 20.3, it can be easily lost, into permanent long-term memory. Recitation provides original awareness with intention to remember and makes you practice the active recall you'll need for answering questions and solving problems on exams. Timing is important, because you must capture ideas while they're still in your short-term memory. Don't wait until the end of the chapter to do reviews; recite often, during stop-and-go breaks, while you're reading.
Kenneth Higbee, Ph.D., author of the excellent book "Your Memory -- How It Works and How to Improve It", summarizes the scientific research on recitation: "The effectiveness of recitation does not depend on whether the learners are dull or bright, whether the material is long or short, whether the material is meaningful or not -- in virtually every case it is more efficient to read and recite than to just read. A recent introductory psychology textbook discussing learning strategies concluded that 'recitation is the most powerful tool in all learning'."
Write: Use a pencil to underline, circle or bracket the most important parts [as shown in these three paragraphs], or highlight them with a translucent marker. You can also write your own notes (comments or summaries) in the book's margin or on a separate piece of paper. If you have good book-marking or notes, it preserves much of the thinking you've done while reading; this will help when you review or re-read the chapter.
Will stop-and-go reading slow you down? Yes, but that can be good. If original awareness is minimal and you don't understand-and-remember what you read, it would be more appropriate to call it "wasting time" than "reading". Activity breaks may help you understand and remember; because of increased learning efficiency, frequent brief stops will save you time in the long run.

RE-READING: Use "successive approximations" to get an increasingly accurate and complete understanding. It is often useful to do three readings: a quick survey, careful reading, and re-reading. Depending on your time, purpose and motivation, re-reading can be done carefully, or a quick review of the important points (use your notes and book-marking as a guide), or just read what you need for doing problems.

Use the welder's "search for insight" strategy to develop an effective way to combine your reading (survey, careful, re-reads) with other important activities: listening to lectures, making a summary, problem solving practice, and reviewing.

20.7 Using Your Time Effectively

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of. { Benjamin Franklin, 1746 }
Three ways to use your time more effectively are wise planning, good timing, and increased efficiency.

Planning
The foundation of planning is knowing yourself and what you want to do with your abilities and opportunities. { This doesn't necessarily mean having a specific career goal. As a student, your immediate goal may be to earn grades (and skills) that give you good options to choose from later. } Wise planning is choosing daily activities that help you make progress toward your long-term goals. In his excellent book “How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life,” Alan Lakein describes the relationship between goals and activities:
“When you have planned well on both long-term and short-term levels, then goals and activities fit together like well-meshed gears. Most if not all of the activities specified in short-term plans will contribute to the realization of the goals specified in long-term plans."

When should you plan? In the evening (so you can review the previous day and plan for the next) or morning (when you're well rested and ready to go), or at any time during the day when you ask Lakein's Question, “What is the best use of my time right now?"
A useful time-management tool is a daily To-Do List. First think of all the things you might want to do, then set priorities -- it is very important that you do certain activities today (so be sure you do them), others would be nice to do but they aren't “necessary", while some probably shouldn't be done at all (cross them off your list). Then use this prioritized list to plan your activities for the day.
You can use a time schedule, or just “improvise as you go." The ideal amount of scheduling structure depends on your personal preference and the situation. For example, when I tutor students a schedule is essential, but during work on this book I just wake up and start writing, then take breaks (for a nap, walk, prayer, eating...) whenever I'm in the mood for it. Try different mixes of structure and spontaneity, and find out what works best for you in different situations.
BALANCE. Your daily plan can include studying, rest and recreation, work and play, solitude and socializing. Leave some flexibility for “surprises."
A portable to-do list (like a 3 x 5 card in your pocket) increases the probability of getting activities done, and decreases your memory load -- you don't have to think about “what to do today” so your mind is free for creative thinking. I use a cheap alarm watch to remind me that it's time to go to class, or catch a bus, or...
The purpose of planning is to use time effectively. It's all right if you don't finish all of the activities on a to-do list. If a list gets you to use your time for high priority activities, it has served its purpose.

A little time invested in planning (it can be done quickly!) is a great investment. If you ever feel “too busy to plan", consider it a reminder about the importance of planning -- you don't have enough time to do everything you want, so it is essential that you decide how to use your limited time wisely.
When you set priorities, consider urgency and long-term importance. To find out if something is urgent, ask "What will happen if I don't do this today?”; Urgency tends to demand action, but non-urgent activities can be just as important because their effects are “cumulative” -- for example, brushing teeth, nutrition & physical fitness, and preparing for an end-of-semester term paper or final exam. Be sure to do non-urgent yet important activities on a regular basis.
Occasionally, to keep things in perspective, stop for introspection, orientation and long-term planning. Re-think your present situation (Where am I now?), values and goals (Where do I want to go?), and time use (Are my activities effective in bringing me closer to my goals?). Use orientation times to make a master list of activities. Write your goals on the left side of a page, and activities that will help you reach each goal on the right side. Then use this master list to help you make daily to-do lists.

A whole-semester schedule of “things to do” will help you plan ahead, so you can skillfully coordinate your daily and long-term activities. On this schedule, put the due-dates for everything that must be done (homework, exams, papers,... ) for each of your classes, and also “advance warnings” to remind you that (for example) you should begin writing your term paper at least a week ahead of time, plus extra events (sports, concerts, special lectures,...). If you want, you can make a schedule that is more complex, with more rows, so you'll have one for each of your classes plus another for events.

	M	T	W	R	F	A	U
Sep 7
Sep 14
etc

Timing
Good timing lets you take advantage of opportunities while they're still available.
Timing is an important part of planning; you are deciding what to do and also when to do it. But planning doesn't always lead to doing. A valuable time-use tool (Lakein devotes 1/3 of his book to it) is the ability to convert planning into action at the proper time.
If you avoid an activity that you know is “high priority,” you are procrastinating. You are especially likely to avoid a task you feel is unpleasant or overwhelming, or if you have doubts about whether you should do it.
If you have doubts, re-think the situation and ask “Is this something I should do? Is it a top-priority project?”; If you answer NO, decide what you should do instead. If you answer YES, then you can move into action with increased confidence that you are doing what you should be doing.

It may help to think about why you are avoiding a project. Does the project involve work you find unpleasant? Is it in any way unethical? Could it be dangerous (physically, socially, financially,...)? Are you afraid of failure, or the changes in life that success might bring? Ask yourself, “Is there any way I can decrease the project's unpleasant aspects, or change my attitudes toward them?”;
The “unknown” is a common reason for fear. If a project requires doing things you've never done before, it may be wise to get advice from someone with experience. { Talk with an expert, or ask a librarian to help you find useful books or magazine articles.}

Alan Lakein suggests turning an overwhelming project into “Swiss Cheese” by poking holes in it with small tasks that are quick and easy to do. You can gather information, do brainstorming (as described in Section 20.8), make a plan of action, or begin work on some aspect of the project. After you've poked a few holes in it, the project may not look so overwhelming.
Hopefully, your first small steps will lead to full scale action. If your initial involvement leads to interest-and-enthusiasm, which leads to more involvement and more interest, you'll want to continue working on the project.
But if your first steps don't lead to eager involvement, you have to use willpower. This is easier when you give yourself logical reasons for “doing what you don't want to do." Ask yourself, “What are the consequences of delay, and what are the benefits of doing the project now?”; Convince yourself that since you have to do the project anyway, sometime, you might as well choose the best time to do it.

Let's look at a common victim of student procrastination, a term paper that must be written. If you wait until the last minute there may be unexpected interruptions or opportunities, you may be uninspired or have “writer's block", pressure-plus-fatigue can decrease your writing quality and speed. If writing the paper takes longer than expected (it usually does) you face a difficult choice. You can submit a late paper, or one that is poor quality compared with what you could produce with more time.
If you begin early, you can take advantage of your moods and write when you want to, not when you have to. You can make an almost-final draft, ignore it for a few days (or give it to a friend for constructive criticism), then look at it with “fresh eyes” and revise it into a paper you'll be proud to submit. Perhaps the biggest benefit of good planning is the sigh of relief and night of contented sleep before the paper is due, the satisfaction of knowing that you conquered indecision, laziness and fear, that you acted responsibly and did your best.
What are the benefits of studying physics regularly instead of only cramming before exams? You can do repeated reviews that help you remember, make a summary and revise it, take advantage of “creative incubation,” prepare for lectures, and use the time just before an exam for realistic practice and effective cramming. If you get behind in your classes, you may have to leap from one cramming crisis to the next as every crisis puts you further behind in all classes except the one you're cramming for. This game of catch-up, which is inefficient because you don't get the benefits listed above, can be avoided if you study regularly for each class.

Ask yourself, “Do I work well under pressure? In what ways does my thinking quality depend on the type of pressure? on the type of project?”; If you don't work well with pressure, try to find out why and what you can do about it. { Some possibilities are discussed in the “Exam Performance” part of Section 20.6. } If you work best with pressure, try to analyze this high-intensity concentration and then figure out how you can do it all of the time. Maybe you can pretend it's the night before the deadline, to fool yourself into thinking like you do when the pressure is on. If you can do high-intensity thinking in low-pressure situations, the flexibility of your time planning increases and so does your freedom and sense of control.
As much as possible, try to “use your moods” and study what you want to study, when you want to do it. Then monitor your progress in each class, for each phase of studying (reading, lectures, making a summary, solving problems, review). If you are neglecting a class (or part of the learning process) that you don't especially like, you can use willpower to get yourself to do it.
You may find it useful to keep a record of the time spent studying each subject. I keep three lists: a simple checklist for activities (exercise, ...) and two “time lists” for writing. One list is a record of writing time; I make a game of trying to reach my total-hours-per-week goal, and this helps me to be more disciplined. The other list, which records the hours-per-chapter, reminds me to use piecework motivation, to think quickly so I can get this book finished -- with a satisfactory level of quality -- in a reasonable amount of time.
If necessary, use the “no choice” weapon against procrastination. Instead of giving yourself a choice between doing a high priority project and a desirable but lower priority activity, make it a choice between doing the project or doing absolutely nothing -- just stare at a blank wall. This confronts you with your procrastination, eliminates rationalization, and soon gets you moving into action.
If your studying is often interrupted by thoughts like “I'd rather be doing ___", there is a conflict of interest. Physics will do better in this competition if you enjoy it. I find physics fascinating and hope that you also feel a genuine enthusiasm for it. But even if you aren't convinced that physics is fun, you can use willpower to do what you know is good for you. An effective strategy is to link physics (or any subject you're studying) with a future goal and think about delayed gratification. Say to yourself, “I'm doing physics now so I can do ___ later."

Cooperation and Teamwork
For many students, in many situations, studying with other students is an effective strategy. If you don't know something, your study partners can help you learn. And vice versa, which (because teaching is a good way to master ideas-and-skills) will help you learn. And study groups can help you form valuable friendships.
But for some students, in some situations, studying alone will be more effective.
Probably you'll want to do some of each. Based on experience you can try to know yourself, and your situations, well enough to know which blend of approaches (by studying with others and also on your own) will be most useful for you, in each of your classes.
And you can develop strategies for making your study groups more effective, for keeping all of you on-task, but in ways that are not too overbearing so you also promote good social relationships.

Efficiency
To get more done, you can 1) waste less time, and 2) work more efficiently.
There may be more time than you realize. Do the following hours-per-week seem reasonable? Sleep (50), classes (17), study (21) and meals (10), for a total of 98 hours. There are 168 hours in a week: where did the other 70 hours go? / Some time is used for getting dressed, commuting, work (if you have a job) and play, but not 70 hours. Do you think you could find more studying time by using small blocks of time (like “transition times” between major activities) that are usually wasted, and by taking large blocks of non-study time and cutting them down to medium size blocks?
To minimize your transition time, be decisive and avoid procrastination.
A good way to use small time blocks is to have 5-minute fillers, things you can do immediately with no “warmup": review flashcards, read a textbook you carry with you (and mark it to preserve your thoughts), review and mark lecture notes,...
Since “total time = sum of parts", one way to reduce big blocks of study time is to think more quickly and use better tools. When you study, if your attitude is analogous to “working for piecework wages” you will be highly motivated to “learn more per hour” and you probably will.
Be aware of your biological rhythms. Find the times of day when clear thinking is easiest, and use these “prime times” for important creative thinking and for the most challenging parts of your studying.
A writer never finishes a book. Instead, at some point they decide it's “good enough” and they abandon it. Similarly, you must decide on an acceptable level of perfectionism. Is it a wise use of your time to “polish” a project, or should you abandon it and move on to another activity? Try to answer without being influenced too much by laziness, impatience or frustration (these can make you give up too soon) or by excessive pride (that keeps you working past the point where it is worthwhile).
Section 20.1's “Rapid Progress” and 20.4's “factors that contribute to success” explain how the interdependence of physics tools can let you make rapid progress. Analyze your tools and find the places where more time and effort will bring the greatest improvement per hour invested.
You can also be efficient in non-study activities. For example, try to combine the tasks on a weekly to-do list into efficient “errand runs” that reduce the number of trips you make. Sometimes you can do two things at once, like listening to educational tapes while you commute, jog, exercise, do dishes or clean your room.
To organize your school-related or general paperwork, thus making it easier to find things quickly, use hanging files. Ask about them at your college bookstore.
About 1/3 of life is used for sleeping. But the time you invest in sleep isn't wasted; it helps you stay healthy, and makes your waking time more efficient and enjoyable. When you are tempted to “gain time” by sleeping less, consider this: 16 high-quality hours may be worth more than 19 lower-quality hours.
If you feel overworked during semesters, you may want to try “spreading your vacations out." Study a little during the semester break (try to find something that is relatively fun and will reduce next semester's workload), then treat yourself to mini-vacations during the semester when you really need them. { Or you may prefer to make your semester break a complete no-study vacation and avoid a feeling of “taking your work home with you.” }
BALANCE: Education can be an exciting part of life. But a full life is more than maximizing study-productivity. The “Fully Alive” part of Section 20.4 examines attitudes toward work and play. It encourages you to work hard, play joyfully, relax with a free mind, and avoid the extremes of workaholic or lazy bum.