Three weeks down, seven to go; midterms approaching and projects on the horizon….
The past three weeks have been full of introspection and some self-discovery. For instance, I’ve known I’m a visual learner for many years but I’ve had some difficulty hitting my stride in some of my distance education courses. The readings and exercises of the past two weeks have helped me make the move toward taking notes while I’m reading (as I would do during a lecture if I were sitting in a classroom), which I know will help fix the important terms and concepts in my mind.
This isn’t my first term with online learning, but last term was a tough one for me and I was hoping to find some tools to help me get through my last few terms. I am not one to explore journaling, goal setting, etcetera on my own (I feel as though I’m always running!!) so I appreciate that this course requires some dedicated introspection and thought and I even had an epiphany while doing the case study exercise last week! (Which, frankly, surprised me!)
The discovery was in regard to my peak and valley times. As a night owl, I generally do my best work between 10 pm and 1 am. This began as a teenager and has continued throughout my life, being especially valuable now as a divorced mother, I can accomplish great things after everyone else is fast asleep. However, I received some feedback from a well-intentioned friend who suggested that perhaps I would be better served to go to bed earlier, get up earlier, and accomplish things before others awoke. I tried this Winter term and rediscovered that I am really not very accomplished at getting up early for the sake of getting up early. I didn’t realize until I worked through the case study, that I effectively robbed myself of about 17 hours a week of prime study time which led to a sort of vortex where I couldn’t figure out why I could not accomplish anything and got very self-critical.
After this discovery I found a free downloadable scheduler that breaks the day down into fifteen minute increments and I took about ten minutes to plug all my scheduled activities into it (two kids to two different schools, chauffer to dance, Scout meeting, etc) and what I found was pleasantly surprising- it seems as though I may have quite a bit of study time, if I get more organized and structured about using it. For instance, I know it’s more difficult to study when my nine year old is home, so perhaps I’ll use that time to grocery stop instead.
I know when I feel stressed I tend to have difficulty focusing, so I have identified a goal of trying to be more structured, though I’m still working on the SMART parts of the goal. I also know I feel better when I run, so I’m prioritizing that in my schedule as well. And, finally, I want to journal, but have always struggled with it, so I plan on trying some of the suggestions from our text over the next few weeks because I’m contemplating some big life decisions right now and think I could benefit from the outlet and process!
Cheers!
Jessica
I think it’s great that you made the attempt to drastically change your schedule from a time where you felt comfortable getting things done, to a time that was not so productive for you. Although you discovered that you were less productive, you also better understand what works for you. I’m still trying to figure that one out.
I like the idea of characterizing that decision as a learning opportunity. It felt more like a train wreck in the moment! Your comment makes me think, though, that sometimes we need to step our of our comfort zones in order to grow (almost always, I suspect) and, really, that is what education and learning is all about. So, yay me! And hooray for you, too! We are making it happen!
Thanks again for your kind words.
I think one strength that you did not mention but that obviously comes through in your blog post is your high level of self awareness. If you can understand when you are at your best for studying by looking at your schedule and understanding also what causes you to not study well, like stress, you are very in touch with who you are. I have struggled with that which has meant that I let things get to me and I put those things off because they cause stress which results in me not being the best student, or what ever role I am in at the time. Also, I think I have gotten better with knowing what makes me tick by journaling ( I had to do it for my composition class, through the online app Write365) so I think if you do that it would only help you more with being in touch with your feelings also it does a lot for stress, I think I am going to start it up again soon.
It sounds as though you are fairly far along the road of self-discovery, too. I certainly struggle with procrastinating and avoidance when I begin to feel overwhelmed or doubt my abilities. I have no idea where you are in your life or adventures, but I would tell you that I’m an older-than-average student and I’ve learned more about myself in the past two years than in most of the ones before that! If you ever want to chat more, just let me know! I have found it beneficial to find other online learners to commiserate with! I suppose if you reply here we can figure out how to get in touch. 🙂