Diversions

I plan on using the next few weeks to see how well I can switch from reading to working out to some other kind of study activity. Writing this blog post isn't working on something for one of my classes (I keep reminding myself that I'll be taking two classes, my planning always seems to focus on one class), but going from one activity to another as smoothly as possible is the real trick. I have a tendency to take 15 minutes reading blogs or some other online activity before getting down to whatever task I have planned for a particular evening (working on grad school applications, writing posts, that kind of thing). I need to smooth out those transitions to stay efficient and on task.

I may also look for some good study techniques. I have studying science (well, chemistry anyway) down cold, but it's been a long time since I thought about how to study out of a text book that is mostly text. I was never very efficient at studying from textbooks in college. Do I try the summarizing each paragraph in the margin? Do I put everything in the context of my imaginary research company? I guess I should try to figure these things out before classes start. Well, maybe it's not a matter of how I go about studying, but what I want to get out of each class. It's easy to fall back into the conditioned response of going for the grade in school. I don't need good grades to get an interview for the summer job that will lead to my first hire post-MBA, but I do want to learn something from these classes. I need to keep asking myself how the material impacts what I do now and what I want to do as my career progresses. I really want to use these foundations classes as a way to get the business perspective on my company and the industry. I look at it as a scientist. How do other people in the company view the same organization? Maybe these classes will help me figure that out.