Mentally preparing to study both smarter AND harder!

I've been spending the past couple of hours mentally preparing for Q3. Namely, I dug out the 'Study Smarter, Not Harder' book by Kevin Paul that I purchased in the summer. In Q1/Q2, I did a great job of sudying hard, but maybe not as smart as I could have.

The 13 Study Skills outlined in the book:
1. Believe in yourself
2. Prepare
3. Organize yourself and your work
4. Spend time on what matters
5. Discipline yourself
6. Be persistent
7. Divide and conquer
8. Become an information filter
9. Practice output as well as input
10. Do not fear mistakes
11. Use all your intelligence to create study tools
12. Be active
13. Take control of your own learning.

I think I could use more help in all of the above, but #1 will be the key.

I look forward to yet another successful semester of learning - one that translates on exams!

And now, off to a Scouts Canada meeting. In amongst all of the school activities, I still actively volunteer. :)

Swine Flew

Thank you Porter Air. There's nothing like studying economics with a complimentary glass of wine in hand while being soothed by the gentle sway of the aircraft. I swear I get my best studying done in transit.

I was relieved that there was no apparent coughing or sneezing on board - the pig was not on the plane.

I been so paranoid of getting sick. Ridiculous considering in the past 5 years of working, I took a grand total of 1.5 sick days. There is so much at stake with classes, but as our Econ prof said on day 1, if there really is a flu epidemic, we really shouldn't worry about classes.

We'll be worried about getting enough canned food.

Leaving, on a prop plane...

I'm mentally preparing for 2 guilt filled days away from Rotman.

I'm sitting in the Porter lounge waiting for my flight to Ottawa for the Scouts Canada Leadership Summit. This is an exciting time for Scouts nation wide as we are in a great position to grow youth membership.

What being in business school means is trying to BALANCE everything because time and life marches on. All of the responsibilities pre-MBA still exist. For me this means occasionally flying to Ottawa for the weekend to meet with my committee. For others it might mean putting the books down to spend time with the family. Whatever it is, you have to make a serious effort for personal time.

I'm in the airport right now awaiting my boarding call. Thankfully the Porter lounge not only offers free, delicious coffee, but free wireless as well. This is some much needed time spent working on my MPO paper. I can't believe how quickly this term is coming to an end. It literally feels like I just started yesterday.

Good news for the weekend - I feel REALLY good about the stats test. Hopefully this means that my brain has finally awoken and it'll be downhill from here. (Wishful thinking???)