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. 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. When we constantly multitask to get things done, we’re not multitasking, we’re rapidly shifting our attention. Phase 1: Blood Rush Alert When Mike decides to start writing his History essay, blood rushes to his anterior prefrontal cortex. Phase 2: Find and Execute Phase 3: Disengagement While in this state, Mike then hears an email notification. The process repeats itself sequentially. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
5 More Unexpected Ways to Work Smarter, Not Harder I wrote a post recently about ways that you can work smarter, not harder. As I worked through the list of techniques I’d collected, the post became so long that I had to split it in half. Here are even more suggestions to help you make your day more productive without putting in extra hours. 1. Limit your to-do list I’ve written about the history of the to-do list before, and how to write a great one. One way to do this is by choosing 1–3 Most Important Tasks (MITs). “Do your MITs first thing in the morning, either at home or when you first get to work. The rest of your to-do list can be filled up with minor tasks that you’d like to do, so long as you’ve prioritized 1–3 MITs. Plan the night before Another to-do list tip that can reduce work anxiety is to write out your to-do list the night before. Focus just on the present day My most recent and favorite change to my to-do list has been separating my “today” list from a master list of everything I need to get done. 2. 3. 4. 5.
This 15-Minute Activity Will Make You More Successful At Work 30-Second Productivity Strategies Half a minute is all it takes to make each day more productive. 1. Take 30 seconds to set the stage for awesome success. Here's how: Before you start doing something, answer the question, "What can I do to make this awesome?" That's basically what Mike Williams of the David Allen Company (the Getting Things Done folks) asked me. When I started to interview him, he stopped me and said, "What would make this call wildly successful for you?" At first, it sounded cheesy. Keep in mind this applies just as much to your personal life, too. Don't just move blindly on to the next task. Answer that question, and whatever you do, you will do a lot better. 2. Unfortunately, all too often you forget what happened. Don't. Then you will remember what's important--and be able to act on what's important. 3. That's a shame, because meetings involve people--and that means there's a lot to think about ahead of time. Terrible meetings are all talk and no action. 4. Feeling stressed? 5. 6. 7.
How To Motivate Yourself: 3 Steps Backed By Science You make goals… but then you procrastinate. You write a to-do list… but then you don’t follow through. And this happens again and again and again. Seriously, what’s the problem? Why are we so good at thinking of what to do but so terrible at actually doing those things? The problem is you’re skipping an essential step. The Mistake Every Productivity System Makes Productivity systems rarely take emotions into account. We can’t ignore our emotions. And we can’t fight our feelings. Via The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking: …when experimental subjects are told of an unhappy event, but then instructed to try not to feel sad about it, they end up feeling worse than people who are informed of the event, but given no instructions about how to feel. So what does the unavoidable power of feelings mean for motivation? In their book Switch, Chip and Dan Heath say that emotions are an essential part of executing any plan: Focus on emotions. 1) Get Positive It’s optimism.
Six Lazy Ways to Trick Your Brain Into Being Productive How do I... Stanford Literature Review What is it? A critical literature review is one of the most important activities in the process of research and is usually included as part of the introduction to a research report or thesis. The aim of a literature review is to show that the writer insightfully evaluated the existing published literature on a particular topic. A good literature review should do the following: Define the scope of the problem Place the current study in a historical perspective Show the relationship between previous research and the current research thesis Avoid unnecessary duplication Evaluate different research methodologies and emphasize key studies Compare and contrast different research findings on a topic while grouping together authors with similar conclusions and noting areas in which authors are in disagreement Report gaps in the previous research and how the current study can add to the literature in general Conclude by summarizing what the literature says How does one begin? C.
List of academic databases and search engines This article contains a representative list of notable databases and search engines useful in an academic setting for finding and accessing articles in academic journals, institutional repositories, archives, or other collections of scientific and other articles. Databases and search engines differ substantially in terms of coverage and retrieval qualities.[1] Users need to account for qualities and limitations of databases and search engines, especially those searching systematically for records such as in systematic reviews or meta-analyses.[2] As the distinction between a database and a search engine is unclear for these complex document retrieval systems, see: the general list of search engines for all-purpose search engines that can be used for academic purposesthe article about bibliographic databases for information about databases giving bibliographic information about finding books and journal articles. Operating services[edit] Services no longer operating[edit] See also[edit]
Blended Learning Toolkit | Understanding by Design Overview Understanding by Design, an excellent book by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe, offers a powerful framework for designing courses through what they call “Backward Design.” It seems “backward” in that it starts from the opposite end of the planning process we typically go through to design courses—we usually start by thinking about how to teach our content. Backward Design, in contrast, leaves teaching activities until the end and starts with the desired results of that teaching. “Teaching is a means to an end. The Backward Design process proceeds in three phases, as follows: I. First, you establish your learning goals for the course. What should participants hear, read, view, explore or otherwise encounter? Answering each of these questions will help you determine the best content for your course,and create concrete, specific learning goals for your students. II. III. Resources Understanding by Design is available online and in the CFT library.
Intro to Online Course Design "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works." — Steve Jobs As an online instructor, you may find yourself involved in numerous roles related to online course design. Online course design requires a wide range of skills and tools. This article provides an overview of the field of instructional design and technology, a look at the typical process of an online course design project, guidelines for faculty subject matter experts (SME), as well as resources for further reading and research. Instructional Design & Technology Instructional Design and Technology is an area of study and practice that is constantly evolving. Models, Theories, and Frameworks Martin Ryder, an instructor with the Graduate School of Education at the University of Colorado at Denver, maintains a popular list of instructional design models that includes frequently used models as well as resources related to learning theories and taxonomies. Competencies Online Learning Quality Initiatives
100 Search Engines For Academic Research Back in 2010, we shared with you 100 awesome search engines and research resources in our post: 100 Time-Saving Search Engines for Serious Scholars. It’s been an incredible resource, but now, it’s time for an update. Some services have moved on, others have been created, and we’ve found some new discoveries, too. Many of our original 100 are still going strong, but we’ve updated where necessary and added some of our new favorites, too. Check out our new, up-to-date collection to discover the very best search engine for finding the academic results you’re looking for. General Need to get started with a more broad search? iSEEK Education:iSeek is an excellent targeted search engine, designed especially for students, teachers, administrators, and caregivers. Meta Search Want the best of everything? Dogpile:Find the best of all the major search engines with Dogpile, an engine that returns results from Google, Yahoo! Databases and Archives Books & Journals Science Math & Technology Social Science
5 Social Media Lessons I Learned from Peter Pan Disney has taught us a whole slew of lessons since we were kids. But they taught us more than to believe in ourselves, to help each other, and to wish upon stars—they planted the seeds to social media success over sixty years ago, and we’re reaping the benefits now. What am I talking about? Peter Pan. The guy was preaching social media etiquette all the way back in the ‘50s, and it’s about time we start picking up what he was putting down. Provide a Solution to Your Audience’s Problem Mr. On social media, it’s absolutely integral to listen to what your audience is talking about, so that you can understand what they want. Lead Your Audience Where You Want Them to Go When you’re shopping in a store, and you ask a salesperson where an item is, wouldn’t you rather they walk you to the item to show you where it is instead of pointing in some direction and telling you where to go? He comes in, takes Wendy by the hand, shows them how to fly, and escorts them all the way to Neverland. Connect: