SLCC - Learning Handouts. Skip navigation links ugs : life and learning in sync Sanger Learning Center is UT Austin’s main resource for academic support. Each year, we help more than 20,000 students achieve their academic potential. We are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Come in for one-on-one or drop-in tutoringImprove your study skills with a learning specialistMeet weekly with a peer academic coachAttend free classes and workshops Learn how self-testing can better prepare you for your next exam. How to Accomplish More by Doing Less - Tony Schwartz. By Tony Schwartz | 7:40 AM December 13, 2011 Two people of equal skill work in the same office.
For the sake of comparison, let’s say both arrive at work at 9 am each day, and leave at 7 pm. Bill works essentially without stopping, juggling tasks at his desk and running between meetings all day long. He even eats lunch at his desk. Sound familiar? Nick, by contrast, works intensely for approximately 90 minutes at a stretch, and then takes a 15 minute break before resuming work. At 12:15, he goes out for lunch for 45 minutes, or works out in a nearby gym. Bill spends 10 hours on the job. By 1 pm, Bill is feeling some fatigue. It’s called the law of diminishing returns. Nick puts in the same 10 hours. Nick takes off a total of two hours during his 10 at work, so he only puts in 8 hours. Because Nick is more focused and alert than Bill, he also makes fewer mistakes, and when he returns home at night, he has more energy left for his family.
During my 30s and 40s, I wrote three books. 77 Brain Hacks to Learn Faster, Deeper, and Better. Source: Online Education Database If someone granted you one wish, what do you imagine you would want out of life that you haven't gotten yet? For many people, it would be self-improvement and knowledge. New knowledge is the backbone of society's progress. Great thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and others' quests for knowledge have led society to many of the marvels we enjoy today. Your quest for knowledge doesn't have to be as Earth-changing as Einstein's, but it can be an important part of your life, leading to a new job, better pay, a new hobby, or simply knowledge for knowledge's sake — whatever is important to you as an end goal.
Life-changing knowledge does typically require advanced learning techniques. In fact, it's been said that the average adult only uses 10% of his/her brain. Here are 77 tips related to knowledge and learning to help you on your quest. 1. 2. 4. 5. Balance 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Recall Techniques 15. 8 Things Everybody Ought to Know About Concentrating. “Music helps me concentrate,” Mike said to me glancing briefly over his shoulder.
Mike was in his room writing a paper for his U.S. History class. On his desk next to his computer sat crunched Red Bulls, empty Gatorade bottles, some extra pocket change and scattered pieces of paper. In the pocket of his sweat pants rested a blaring iPod with a chord that dangled near the floor, almost touching against his Adidas sandals. On his computer sat even more stray objects than his surrounding environment. There must have been twenty browser tabs open. The tabs included political blog news, random Wikipedia entries, Facebook profiles and a Myspace page blasting more music at him. Mike made a shift about every thirty seconds between all of the above.
Do you know a person like this? The Science Behind Concentration In the above account, Mike’s obviously stuck in a routine that many of us may have found ourselves in, yet in the moment we feel it’s almost an impossible routine to get out of. 1. 2. The Science of Getting People to Say ‘Yes’ In both the business environment and in personal life it is essential to know how to get what you want — and get people to say "Yes" to your requests. But, how do you approach people so that they are more likely to agree to your proposal, sales pitch or ideas?
Two researchers, Jonathan Freedman and Scott Fraser, conducted an experiment to find out how to get people to do something they would not normally do. The researchers went door to door in a small neighborhood asking people to put signs outside of their home to “Drive Carefully.” Only 20% of people said "Yes" when asked to put up a large sign.
However, researchers found that they could get 76% of the residents to say "Yes" if they asked them to first put up a smaller three-inch sign. This study is the perfect example of how starting with a small request will help you get a "Yes" to bigger request later. No. 1: What is your big ask? No. 2: Work backward. No. 3: Plan your first yes approach. No. 4: Encourage trust. Citations: Is fear of failure a major obstacle? SALT LAKE CITY -- The fear of failure is one of the most common obstacles holding people back from reaching their potential in life. This fear prevents people from trying new things, taking risks and moving ahead financially. A fear of failure also incorporates a fear of looking bad, being embarrassed or being rejected.
It stops people from being unique, as it encourages them to conform to win the approval of others. Many give up their identity for this fleeting validation. Is this fear a factor for you? How many of the following describe you? Do you avoid people and prefer to spend time alone? If you said yes to any of these, you may be suffering from a fear of failure. This fear often stems from a traumatic experience some people may have had as a child, which is now hindering your progress as an adult. Here are six ways to eliminate the fear of failure from one's life: Identify the worst case scenario. There are no mistakes, only lessons.
You are here to learn and grow. Five work-at-home challenges (and how to handle them) — Simple Mom. 29 Semi-Productive Things I Do Online When I’m Trying to Avoid Real Work. You don’t always have to work hard to be productive. Productivity can simply be the side effect of doing the right things. So here’s a list of 29 semi-productive things I do online when my mind is set on avoiding ‘real work.’ Check delicious popular tags like ‘useful,’ ‘tutorials,’ ‘tips,’ ‘howto,’ ‘advice,’ ‘entrepreneurship,’ etc. for interesting, educational articles to read.Watch one of the thousands of educational videos streaming at TED.com, Academic Earth and Teacher Tube.Read an online book list and find a new book to grab next time I’m at the library. Here’s another list. And another. Oh, and ever since I bought my new (super sexy) Apple iPad , I’ve been enjoying all of these sites on the go and catching looks from almost everyone who passes me while I browse.
So what kind of semi-productive things do you do online in your off-time? Photo by: Colorblind Picaso Party Casino Related 30 Life-Enhancing Things You Can Do in 30 Minutes or Less April 19, 2012 In "Happiness" October 4, 2010. 7 Not So Obvious Habits To Maximize Your Productivity. I was a big fan of productivity, and, in some respects, I still am.
I’ve been a very early adopter of GTD, and, for years, I did my weekly reviews with the discipline of a zen monk. But, eventually, I hit a roadblock. GTD is about getting things “done”, but in life we have much more to experience than “doing”. We feel. So, I confess I fell out from the GTD wagon. But enough with all this shameless self-promotion intro. So, instead of doing a presentation of the Assess – Decide – Do framework, I chose to isolate only 7 simple tips for today’s post. As a matter of fact, they’re even organized as such. 1.
I firmly believe that the art of ignorance should be taught in schools. Especially on Mondays, when all the previous week unprocessed stuff seems to crash on us, try to apply this. Slash out Twitter, Facebook, email. 2. Each tiny task that you finish is an achievement. Tuesdays are great for this habit, because they’re the first link after the week hast started. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 10 Laws of Productivity. You might think that creatives as diverse as Internet entrepreneur Jack Dorsey, industrial design firm Studio 7.5, and bestselling Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami would have little in common. In fact, the tenets that guide how they – and exceptionally productive creatives across the board – make ideas happen are incredibly similar. Here are 10 laws of productivity we’ve consistently observed among serial idea executors: 1. Break the seal of hesitation. A bias toward action is the most common trait we’ve found across the hundreds of creative professionals and entrepreneurs we’ve interviewed.
While preparing properly as you start a new project is certainly valuable, it’s also easy to lose yourself in planning (and dreaming) indefinitely. We must challenge ourselves to take action sooner rather than later. 2. When our ideas are still in our head, we tend to think big, blue sky concepts. 3. Trial and error is an essential part of any creative’s life. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Changing minds and persuasion -- How we change what others think, believe, feel and do. Keeping Yourself Motivated. Nine Things Successful People Do Differently - Heidi Grant Halvorson. Learn more about the science of success with Heidi Grant Halvorson’s HBR Single, based on this blog post.
Why have you been so successful in reaching some of your goals, but not others? If you aren’t sure, you are far from alone in your confusion. It turns out that even brilliant, highly accomplished people are pretty lousy when it comes to understanding why they succeed or fail. The intuitive answer — that you are born predisposed to certain talents and lacking in others — is really just one small piece of the puzzle. 1.
To seize the moment, decide when and where you will take each action you want to take, in advance. 3. Fortunately, decades of research suggest that the belief in fixed ability is completely wrong — abilities of all kinds are profoundly malleable. The good news is, if you aren’t particularly gritty now, there is something you can do about it. 7. To build willpower, take on a challenge that requires you to do something you’d honestly rather not do. 8. 9. Is getting revenge at work at good thing? Or career suicide? Productivity Commission - Productivity Commission. Are Fast Talkers More Persuasive? Psychological research tries to solve the riddle of the fast talker.
Beware the fast-talker, the person with the gift of the gab—the friendly salesman, the oily politician—running through the ‘facts’ faster than you can keep up. Rat-a-tat-tat. What does all that fast talking do to us? Are we more persuaded by their apparent confidence and grasp of the subject? Boost persuasion When psychologists first began examining the effect of speech rate on persuasion, they thought the answer was cut-and-dried. At 195 words per minute, about the fastest that people speak in normal conversation, the message became more credible to those listening, and therefore more persuasive.
These results, along with a couple of other studies, lead some researchers to think that speaking quickly was a potential ‘magic bullet’ of persuasion. Reverse effect By the 1980s, though, other researchers had begun to wonder if these results could really be correct. Beware the silver tongued Image credit: Torley. Psychology of Persuasion. Do you want to be an agent of change? Psychological research reveals how to tip the balance in your favour. All human societies are alive with the battle for influence. Every single day each of us is subject to innumerable persuasion attempts from corporations, interest groups, political parties and other organisations.
Each trying to persuade us that their product, idea or innovation is what we should buy, believe in or vote for. In our personal lives the same struggle is played out for the supremacy of viewpoints, ideals and actions. Whether it’s friends and family, work colleagues, potential employers or strangers, each of us has to work out how to bring others around to our own point of view. We all play the influence game, to greater or lesser degrees. Psychologists have been studying how we try to influence each other for many years.
. • The Persuasive Power of Swearing – Show your passion and people have one more emotional reason to come around to your point of view. 11 Goal Hacks: How to Achieve Anything. Goal-setting research on fantasising, visualisation, goal commitment, procrastination, the dark side of goal-setting and more… We’re all familiar with the nuts and bolts of goal-setting. We should set specific, challenging goals, use rewards, record progress and make public commitments (if you’re not familiar with these then check out this article on how to reach life goals). So how come we still fail? This psychological research suggests why and what mindsets should help us reach our goals. 1. Stop fantasising The biggest enemy of any goal is excessive positive fantasising. 2.
The reason we don’t achieve our goals is lack of commitment. One powerful psychological technique to increase commitment is mental contrasting. 3. You can use the Zeigarnik effect to drag you on towards your goal. What the Zeigarnik effect teaches is that one weapon for beating procrastination is starting somewhere…anywhere. 4. 5. When we miss our target, we can fall foul of the what-the-hell-effect. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 10 Simple Postures That Boost Performance. Psychological research suggests simple actions can project power, persuade others, increase empathy, boost cognitive performance and more… We tend to think of body language as something that expresses our internal states to the outside world. But it also works the other way around: the position of our body also influences our mind. As the following psychological research shows, how we move can drive both thoughts and feelings and this can boost performance. 1.
Pose for power If you want to feel more powerful then adopt a powerful posture. Carney et al. (2010) found that when people stood or sat in powerful poses for one minute—those involving open limbs and expansive gestures—they not only felt more powerful but had increased levels of testosterone flooding their systems. 2. Tensing up your muscles can help increase your willpower. 3. If you’re stuck on a problem which needs persistence then try crossing your arms. 4. If crossing your arms doesn’t work then try lying down. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. The What-The-Hell Effect. What pizza and cookies can teach us about goal-setting. Goal-setting can be a handy way of improving performance, except when we fall foul of a nasty little side-effect. Take dieting as an example. Let’s say you’ve set yourself a daily calorie limit. You manage to keep to this for a few days until one evening after work, your colleagues drag you out to a restaurant. Instead of your healthy meal at home you’re faced with a restaurant menu.
Then in the restaurant you eat some bread and have a drink while everyone chooses from the menu. So, just as we’re getting somewhere with reaching our goal, the whole thing goes out the window in a moment of madness. The what-the-hell effect isn’t just a lack of self-control or momentary lapse; it is directly related to missing a goal. The pizza and cookies experiment Recent research by Janet Polivy and colleagues at the University of Toronto is a good example (Polivy et al., 2010).
Avoid the what-the-hell effect So, is there any way around this? Zeigarnik Effect.