Research Portal

ORGANIZING YOURSELF

Tasks

• Bullet Journaling Basics
• Getting Things Done Basics
• Lots of apps include GTD design cues; Google Tasks has a brand-new app

Notes

• Dialectical Journal Basics
• Cornell Notes
• For the wild ones among us: Sketchnotes

The most important thing is to actually have a system.  Nothing can save you if you don’t have a system.  Nothing can save you if you don’t use your system.

Supported-By-Science Study Skills

Start here: The Study Cycle (LSU)

Then read these:

• The Multitasking Myth, Time Magazine
• Exercise and Study, New York Times
• The Curve of Forgetting, University of Waterloo
• Close the Book, Chronicle of Higher Education
• Concept Maps (UNC)
• Teaching Others (WUSL)

Coping with Digital Distractions:

• To defeat that urge to check your electronic communications all the time, you have to first know how much time you’re wasting* *doing so.  We recommend RescueTime or the StayFocusd extension to help.
• Try getting rid of the notifications, by stowing your phone or muting your computer (and closing any chatboxes or chat programs you have open), or even using a plugin such as TabWrangler that deletes tabs in your browser you haven’t been using for a while.  You might even want to use your applications at full screen, so that you can’t see notifications.
• Set yourself up for success by minimizing access to distracting websites and apps – create a work profile in your browser or a work user on your computer with limited access to bookmarks, games, and other distractions.
• Finally, nothing can substitute for your ability to make good decisions.  We do not block your access to Netflix, for example – but you are responsible for your decision to watch Netflix, as opposed to doing other (potentially) more worthwhile things.

Research Tools:

JSTOR

To access JSTOR, click HERE.  You must access the site from this page, using the username and password you created with JSTOR.

Power Searching with Google Google has an exceptional set of searching tutorials.  Click HERE to access them, and choose the Self Paced lesson option.

Evernote, Apple Notes, et cetera Many of us here at SEGL depend on Evernote’s ability to sync notes between all of our devices.  If you have an iPhone and a Macbook, Apple Notes does something very similar, and it’s already installed.  Click HERE to set up an account, and download the apps on your different devices, such as your phone or tablet, as necessary.