Category Archives: Manage your Time

Most people would tell you to turn off your social networking sites when you’re trying to study. I’m not going to. With the holidays approaching, this may seem like bad advice. There are already plenty of distractions to be had: office parties; family dinners; shopping, another rerun of Love Actually. But if you’re a social person, this time of year is probably particularly tough for your motivation: who wouldn’t prefer to sit in front of a fire with some friends, eggnog in hand, over the company of a textbook? I was sitting at my own computer the other day, procrastinating … Continue reading →

I rarely experience epiphany in the liquor store. I don’t often get upset at the state of the world there, either. But both happened last year when I wandered in one evening and saw a large display of Canadian Club Whisky blocking my route to the Chilean wine. There were a few single bottles for sale alongside a few dozen packaged in a large rectangular box. On closer inspection, I saw the box was selling for $24.99, and it included a subscription to Esquire magazine. Since it costs Canadians about $40 to subscribe, this was a steal, even if, like … Continue reading →

I was on our Facebook page recently and I came across a comment from a student about flagging motivation that made me recall a study technique I still use today. It was passed on by one of my writing professors, who knew a thing or two about time management: she taught full-time and still turned out full-length non-fiction and novels. I probably shouldn’t say that she “passed on” this technique. It was more like forcing this technique by way of a class assignment. The course was a study of the short story and it was full of aspiring writers. Given … Continue reading →

One fast way to improve your GPA: sleep on it. In honour of the upcoming Multidisciplinary Sleep Science Conference at TRU, I thought it would be appropriate to talk about what every student wants more of: sleep. Sleep is strange. Everyone feels lousy when they don’t get enough of it, but will often brag about it, like being exhausted is a sign of how hard you work. But if Les Matthews had his way, people would look at sleep differently: as a public health issue that they should know more about, much as they once needed to know more about … Continue reading →