on studying.. how psych of me. :D

since it's finals week, and since i have 27minutes left for procrastination (i will explain later why there's a time limit for "procrastination"), i will blog about studying. :D (thank you to Pao Asuncion for activating my nodes... or for the non-psych people, giving me the idea of blogging this. haha)


How do i study?
(i don't think this is effective because i don't really get high grades, but psychologically this is okay because. i am able to remember things that i believe will last for a lifetime, and this is what's more important right? right? okay.)

- first, i have to see everything i have to study. and when i am overwhelmed. i sleep. HAHAHAHA KIDDING. HAHAHAHA.

like the picture above, i have to see what i have to do, what i have to accomplish by then, and when everything is happening. I HAVE TO SEE THEM. and it should be somewhere where it is impossible for me not to see it. for my case, the post its are in the computer table right beside my bed. so when i wake up, i see them. when i enter my corner, i see them. and use bright colors. so that it catches your attention.

so why do i have to see them? so that you don't miss out on anything. and make sure you put everything. back when i was in first year, i used one post it per task. and my computer table was full of post it. the goal was to eliminate all the post its as early as possible. :) and i have to see them all so that i won't get overwhelmed by how much i have to do, after finishing one task. :)
and nothing beats the joy of taking out one post-it or crossing out one task. :D


- TIME MANAGEMENT.
okay cliche much, but like what my friend jika said, "but cliches are the most effective inventions of the literary world, full-proof words strewn together to make the most sense and fathom all that we thought impossible to be said." (sorry jika. i'll put you on my references)

but cliches have nothing to do with my point. HAHAHAHA (certainly not in the same context as how jika used it. haha)

like Friday when i started writing down on the post its the things i have to do, i realized that Theo was up first. My Theo finals was Monday so i studied theo first. and then Cog and then Expe in awhile. well. it's as simple as that. but some people organize their time according to the difficulty of a subject, or. whatever. but this is not the point really, i just wanted to point out PROCRASTINATION.


PROCRASTINATION is a green-eyed monster. it's very very evuhl. but you can always make it into something not evil. :D do what i do.

pao was asking me why i wasn't on plurk and he said that i plurk is perfect for someone like me. oh dear, yes, i've heard about plurk. but i know that if i get into it, i wont stop. and pao even said that it was a perfect thing to do when procrastinating. ohhkaaay. helping. helping very much. :) and then i said "later, when i have all the time in the world." and he said "wow, nagseset pala ng time for procrastination. haha" and yes. I DO PUT PROCRASTINATION IN MY SCHEDULE.

my theory is that, people always have the tendency to procrastinate. and that's just natural. sometimes, we have to break from our routine to stay sane. :)) (i'm not saying that my lola's insane, but you see, she has this routine everyday of her life and it doesn't break. and because everything is automatic, it becomes a hard habit to break. any new stimulus to her system is not understood well, or is not even entertained at all. because it takes less cognitive resources to process information while doing automatic routines (okay this is very cogpsych), she doesn't get to use her cognitive resources AT ALL. shit. i hope you reader understood my point. because cognitive psychology is very useful.) and procrastination can SOMETIMES be useful. like now, i spent the whole afternoon with denise today going from Jollibee Petron to Starbucks Katipunan to Jollibee Katipunan. I studied Cognitive Psychology the whole time (which explains why the cog theories are so available to my heuristics. haha) and vowed to finish everything before i go back to the dorm. We were done by 6:30.

and now. i am procrastinating till IISA PA LAMANG starts. HAHA. (it's a soap i'm currently addicted to. because the script is awfully witty, and the actors are so good, and the plot is nice. it's a great soap. swear.) procrastination is part of my schedule because i know that even if i study all the way, i'll always stop in between and do something else. So. by procrastinating BIG TIME, i eliminate the tendency to procrastinate at small amounts later when i study. HAHAHAHAHA. it's like taking a BIG MEAL beforehand, and feeling full after so you won't get to eat while doing stuff for the rest of the day. :)) HAHAHAHA. (well. sometimes, after taking a big bite of procrastination, i take desserts and small slices of it again. but. it doesn't really hurt my long-term studying. so i think this is better. haha)

also, when procrastinating. DO NOT PROCRASTINATE WITH THINGS THAT CAN TRAP YOU. i.e. TETRIS

it is the devil's advocate. one you pop, you can't stop. ask my macedonian friend deni. if you start playing tetris on your procrastination period, you'll tend to extend and extend and extend untill you fall asleep. HAHAHA. so don't do things that coulr trap you. do multiply, or ym, or whatever. HAHAHAHA. DON'T TOUCH TETRIS DENITA MARIA CONCHITA ISABELITA VILLASENORITA!!!!!!!! haha.

- REINFORCEMENT.
this is so psychology. and i think this is what's important, that i am able to apply to daily life what i learn in school. ahaha. no offense to math majors, but i don't think i would want to compute the area of starbucks everytime i'm there. HAHA. REINFORCEMENT.

if you all know about operant conditioning, you'd know that the frequency of a behavior increase or decreases depending on reinforcement and punishment. for example, if you want a kid to behave while in the mass, you could reinforce him to behave by saying that you'll go to jollibee if he does. and you could punish him by taking away something he likes, like not going to jollibee for a month. HAHA. same with what i'm doing now. lately, i've been buying boxes and boxes of donuts just because i like donuts and also because i use it as a reinforcement. everytime i finish a subject, i eat one piece. and i make sure that my system identifies it as a worthy reward so that i'll look forward to it, and study faster. bwaahhahah. kid. but it works. FOOD. yum.

or like last weekend, i had my Charlie Chan delivered, and ate only when i finished the long theo article. :) hahaha. yahoo. :D

or i sometimes do punishment, like if i spend one more hour on the internet and spend extra time procrastinating (outside of my allotted time for it), i spend one more hour studying. HAHA. well. it works. hahahahaha.


- CHOSE A NICE STUDY PLACE.
again, another cliche from the world of study tips. haha. in my case, my definition of a nice study place is somewhere FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR FAR AWAY AWAY AWAY AWAY FROM THE INTERNET!!!!!!!!!!! it's a devil's advocate too. IT'S EVIL. therefore, stay away from Lance!!(my laptop) and so, anywhere far from the internet will do. like starbucks. and jollibee. HAHAHA.

here's another cog theory. how can i study in starbucks and jollibee when there's so many distracters?! well. one, the distracters help me focus. some people have their own distracters. like playing music on your ipod, or maybe leaving the tv on while studying, or studying in an ateneo-lasalle game. HAHAHA. (i don't know if the latter is possible. but, what the heck. haha huh?! haha) because of the many stimuli coming to my sensory register, i am able to filter out only the important stimulus like WHAT I'M STUDYING. :D and it helps me focus more.

and distracters, (in my theory) are small forms of procrastination. you see, when you take in information, you should take a break once in awhile to let the information process. it's like, taking in as much food as you can, and then you stop eating coz you're full right? your brain sometimes gets full too, and you have to stop for awhile to let it all in, let it all go to your long term memory, so that you'll remember it not only for the test but also for the rest of your life. (i swear you will, a similar stimulus will let you activate the node). so when you are distracted in that study place, you get a little break from studying and let the information process, incubate in your brain. and then when you get back to studying, you're all refreshed and ready to take in new information. hahaha

AND SO. MY LAST NOTE FOR A NICE STUDY PLACE IS.

STAY AWAY FROM THE BED!!! IT IS NEVER A NICE PLACE TO STUDY, NOR IS IT EVEN AN OPTION!!!! STAY AWAY! IT'S ANOTHER DEVIL'S ADVOCATE!!! HAHAHAHAHA

- NO TO CRAMMING.
i actually love studying (puke.) haha. but no really, i love studying especially psych subjects because i enjoy it. i love the examples i can think of while studying the theories. haha. and as much as i don't want to, i have to cram. if not, i'll fail the test miserably. but i really don't want, and am not an advocate of cramming. because its effects are short-term only, and the things you study when cramming will last only until you need them. so probably, by the end of the finals, you'll forget everything. (believe me, after cramming for a test, i read my notes after because i wanna remember them forever)

PLUS. crammed information may enter into ones long term memory, BUT IT WILL BE HARDER TO RETRIEVE THE INFORMATION later in life. so you'll always end up with the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon, and you'll get frustrated by not being able to recall it immediately. unlike information that aren't crammed, your brain gets to process it thoroughly, like getting to chew your food and savor its flavor, so it goes to your long term memory with more meaning and with more understanding. so the next time you need the information, it'll be readily available and easier to retrieve. :D

it's never really effective so i suggest, using the distribution theory, you study everyday. :) at least, you don't study LARGE chunks of information so your brain doesn't overload. and because it's just a small chunk of information, you can process it thoroughly and give meaning and more understanding to it. :D also, there's this theory called the serial effect wherein one is more likely to remember things that were processed first (PRIMACY EFFECT) and things that were processed last (RECENCY EFFECT. the most recent). so if you cram, you'll only remember the first and last chapter. compared to distributing your information, at least, you get to remember the first and last part of every chunk of information everytime you study. thus, you get to remember more information. :D


HAHA i'm sure there are more theories to make studying more effective. :) but this is all i can think of. :) is this a long blog? it is noh? hahaha. oh look. it took me an hour to blog this. and i'm just in time for IISA PA LAMANG. HAHAHAHA LOL

i'm not hoping you'll use my theories, or use my tips.. i just wanted to see them so that i'll use them. HAHAHAHAHAHA. because sometimes they ARE effective, sometimes they're not. hahahahahaha

GOODLUCK TO EVERYONE!!!!!
GO FINALS!!!!!!!!!
KAMON ACADS!! BRING IT ON!!! BRING IT ON!!! *hayah!*


References haha
Regala. J. (2008). Happy anniversary to us!. Retrieved October 6, 2008 from www.pinktintedtelevisions.blogspot.com