Tips: Preparing for exams

First of all, we’d like to stress that a Muslim must put all trust in Allah when he faces tribulations of this world. A student should, thus, seek Allah’s help, do his best, try all halal means to his end, based on this hadith in which Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) quoted the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as saying: “A strong believer is better and is more lovable to Allah than a weak believer, and there is good in everyone, (but) cherish that which gives you benefit (in the Hereafter) and seek help from Allah and do not lose heart.” (Muslim)

Making It Up and Making It Happen

The ability to get things done can be expanded by understanding the specific phases of how we naturally take things from an intention into physical reality, and how these can be used as a set of tools to direct focus. Whether it?s taking a vacation or building the infrastructure of a newly created nation-state, each of the five discrete levels of implementation has its own kind of conversation and its own best practices. Worked together, they create a whole model of how we get things done most effectively, with the least amount of effort. If any one of the five steps is done insufficiently, however, effectiveness can be severely limited. These horizons can be delineated as follows:

1. There is purpose — an intention to have something different in some way. (We?re taking a vacation to relax and have fun with new experiences.) At this same level are the values that provide the parameters of behavior. (We want to share it together, considering each player equally, and it needs to be affordable.)
2. A vision is created to reflect what the purpose expressed or fulfilled would look like in the world. (We?re going to Italy next summer for two weeks, touring the major cities and sites, combining gardens, art, shopping, food and wine, and off-the-beaten-path exploring.)
3. We brainstorm all sorts of ideas and details to consider in order to have the trip happen. (When? Which cities? Car or trains? Tickets for galleries? Day trips? Weather and dress? And so on.)
4. We organize all of our thinking into components and subcomponents, often with sequences and priorities. (Reservations and ticketing, arranging personal and work logistics so we can unhook, organizing clothes and accessories, packing, and the like.)
5. We decide next actions and who has them, to create forward motion on all movable fronts of the project. (Surf the Web for gardens to tour, call Jessica re: her suggestions for Umbria, browse the travel store for maps and gear while waiting for the Frommer?s guide we ordered. . . .)

Engaging in this series of events is how we all get things done, naturally and instinctively, all the time. An intention initiates our creative energy; an outcome vision directs our thinking about all kinds of details and considerations; we organize the pieces into a coherent structure; we take physical action steps to put the parts into motion. As simple and obvious as this process may seem when dealing with something as straightforward as a vacation, in more complex enterprises these sequential phases often need some care and feeding to ensure effective implementation.

Focus on the right horizon at the right time.

The model can supply some critical guidelines for leaders to use to handle the operational side of their roles, preventing initiatives from getting stuck and ensuring effective allocation of knowledge-worker resources. Organizing without sufficient brainstorming can undermine a plan. Action off purpose can be chaotic. A vision without accountability for relevant projects can be vacuous. Thinking at these various levels of creative development and decision making does not often happen by itself, either, and a conscious, intentional energy is required to direct the focus at the right horizon at the right time. Let?s take a closer look at each level.

Another decent article !

Masterschedule

Any plan to schedule time and activities must have at its center a MASTER SCHEDULE, that is, a schedule of activities that is fixed. A master schedule needs to be drawn up only once a semester: unless, of course, changes occur in the basic program. First, fill in all the required activities, such as classes, drills, and laboratory periods. Second , add other regular activities, such as part-time jobs, commuting time, sports, and regular meetings. Third, include sleeping and eating. With the fixed activities accounted for, the remaining blank spaces on the uncluttered chart are free for use on a weekly or day-by-day basis. Such a schedule, on a 5×8 card, scotch-taped over your desk, or carried in your notebook, unclutters your mind, and more important, enables you to visualize the blank boxes as actual blocks of time into which you may fit necessary activities.

Five Steps to Successful Time Management

1.  Set specific academic and personal goals.

2.  Create a term calendar, recording major events.

3.  Create a weekly schedule of your classes, labs, drill, meetings, etc.

4.  Decide on specific times to work on each course.

5. Make a to-do list for each day the night before or during breakfast.

How to Get Control of Your Time And Your Life

1.Count all your time as time to be used and make every attempt to get satisfaction out of every moment.
2.Find something to enjoy in whatever you do.
3.Try to be an optimist and seek out the good in your life.
4.Find ways to build on your successes.
5.Stop regretting your failures and start learning from your mistakes.
6.Remind yourself, "There is always enough time for the important things." If it is important, you should be able to make
time to do it.
7.Continually look at ways of freeing up your time.
8.Examine your old habits and search for ways to change or eliminate them.
9.Try to use waiting time­­-review notes or do practice problems.
10.Keep paper or a calendar with you to jot down the things you have to do or notes to yourself.
11.Examine and revise your lifetime goals on a monthly basis and be sure to include progress towards those goals on a
daily basis.
12.Put up reminders in your home or office about your goals.
13.Always keep those long term goals in mind.
14.Plan your day each morning or the night before and set priorities for yourself.
15.Maintain and develop a list of specific things to be done each day, set your priorities and the get the most important
ones done as soon in the day as you can. Evaluate your progress at the end of the day briefly.
16.Look ahead in your month and try and anticipate what is going to happen so you can better schedule your time.
17.Try rewarding yourself when you get things done as you had planned, especially the important ones.
18.Do first things first.
19.Have confidence in yourself and in your judgement of priorities and stick to them no matter what.
20.When you catch yourself procrastinating-ask yourself, "What am I avoiding?"
21.Start with the most difficult parts of projects, then either the worst is done or you may find you don't have to do all the
other small tasks.
22.Catch yourself when you are involved in unproductive projects and stop as soon as you can.
23.Find time to concentrate on high priority items or activities.
24.Concentrate on one thing at a time.
25.Put your efforts in areas that provide long term benefits.
26.Push yourself and be persistent, especially when you know you are doing well.
27.Think on paper when possible-it makes it easier to review and revise.
28.Be sure and set deadlines for yourself whenever possible.
29.Delegate responsibilities whenever possible.
30.Ask for advice when needed.

Adapted from A. Lakein. How to Get Control of Your Time And Your Life

Getting Things Done

by Dave Allen, Audio available http://www.audible.com

 

Efficiency is a good thing. What ever you are doing whether it be important, interesting, useful or something you just have to do; efficiency is key in getting it done. If you are not efficient then you are most probably not relaxed when doing it. In the following you will learn how to be efficient and have the desired result and be able to get things done respectively.

When doing something you need to ask yourself a few questions:

• What is it that you have to do?
• When you have to do it?
• How do you do it?

The book is divided into three parts:

• Part 1 – The Art of Getting Things Done – It is describing the whole game. A brief overview of the system and an explanation of why it’s unique and timely. Its presenting the basic methodologies
• Part 2 – Practicing Stress-Free Productivity – Shows how to implement the system. A personal Coach and a step by step.
• Part 3 – The Power of the Key Principals – Goes deeper describing the more profound results you can expect when you incorporate the methods and models into your work and life

"The art of resting the mind and the power of dismissing from it all care and worry is probably one of the secrets of our great men."

– Captain J.A. Hatfield

Chapter 1 – A Practice for a New Reality ~Introduction

You already know how to do what is necessary to achieve the 'high-performance' state. However, you need to apply these skills in a more timely, complete, and system way so you can get on top.

The methods that will be presented are based on two key objectives:

• Capturing all the things that need to get done-now, later, someday, big, little, or in-between-into a logical and trusted system outside of your head and off your mind
• Disciplining yourself to make front-end decision about all the "inputs" you let into your life so that you will always have a plan for "next actions" that you can implement or renegotiate at any moment

The problem people have these days is that there are new demands, and insufficient resources. People say they have so much to do and not enough time.

"Anxiety is caused by lack of control, organization, preparation, and action"

– David Kekich

"I consider ‘work’ in its most universal sense, as meaning anything that you want or need to be different than it currently is. Many people make a distinction between ‘work’ and ‘personal life’, but I don't: to me, weeding the garden or updating my will is just as much ‘work’ as writing this book or coaching a client. All the methods and techniques in this book are applicable across that life/work spectrum-to be effective, they need to be."

– Dave Allen

 

The Basic Requirements for Managing Commitments

• If it’s on your mind then your mind isn’t clear. Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in trusted system outside your mind (collection bucket).
• Clarify exactly what your commitment is and decide what you have to do, if anything, to make progress toward fulfilling it.
• Once you've decided all the action you need to take you must keep reminders of them organized in a system you review regularly

An Important Exercise to Test This Model

• Write down the project or situation that is most on your mind at this moment
• Now describe, in a single written sentence, your intended successful outcome of this problem or situation.
• Now write down the very next physical action required to move the situation forward.

Do the above now…
What probably happened after doing the above exercise is that you acquired a clearer definition of the outcome desired and the next action required. What created that is thinking

"Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought"
– Henry Bergson

The Real Work of Knowledge Work

You have to think about your stuff more than you realize but not as mush as you're afraid you might. In knowledge work the task as is not given it has to be determined. What you need to ask yourself is…"What are the expected results from this work?" The answer to that question has to be crystal clear. Outcome thinking is one of the most effective means available for making wishes reality.

”The ancestor of every action is a thought”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Why Things Are on Your Mind

Most often, the reason things are "on your mind" is that you want it to be different than it currently is, but:

• you haven’t clarified exactly what that intended outcome is
• you haven’t decided what the very next physical action step is
• you haven’t put reminders of the outcome and the action required in a system you trust.

Your mind can't let go until and unless you write yourself a reminder in a place it knows you will, without fail, look.

This constant, unproductive preoccupation with all things we have to do is the single largest consumer of time and energy.
– Kerry Gleeson