#studytea

Reading week updates!

I did not do anything academically productive for the first half of reading break: I watched Netflix, took lots of naps, caught up with my friends, and procrastinated the things I actually needed to do. I have done some stuff tho! Last weekend I helped wrap up a final interview for a participant for the adolescent study I'm working on. We had a video meeting to discuss case summaries today and everyone was pleased with the case summary I wrote and I was really happy about that! I hadn't written anything like it before so the writing process was difficult.

Supplies Used:

Advice-- Basically, be an active learner, not a passive one. This means engaging all senses and working to actively recall information! Some ways you can do this: quiz yourself, explain it to a friend, do practice questions, flashcards, draw out things from memory. Do not passively re-read the book or copy notes down, unless you’re consolidating it into your own words and working to understand the concepts. Learn for understanding,  it is not enough to simply memorize in many classes.

http://calnewport.com/

spaced repitition: overcome the curve of forgetting! There is quizlet and memrise, but I prefer https://apps.ankiweb.net though it does have a learning curve. (link is to the documentation)

Art of Memory- great place to learn advanced techniques like Major System, Memory Palace, and others. Mnemonics and memory palaces are great.

 https://forums.studentdoctor.net/ honestly has some of the best studying tips and resources I’ve seen. Great tutorials on anki, diagramming, studying, scheduling, etc. Applicable advice to people outside the medical field. They even have a nontraditional thread, which is great.

Do not forget the big picture!

Mindmaps help with this

stay persistent!

Turn videos to 1.5 to 2x speed if you can handle it. Saves time! Take good notes (but make sure you pick out what’s actually important) so you do not have to rewatch too many times (passive)

If a certain method does not work for you, just keep switching things up or combine methods.

your brain works via networking and connecting. Try to connect large ideas to other subjects, feelings, thoughts, images. It will make recall much easier.

I love trying out new apps and programs, and am still trying to decide which system works for me. I am getting a new computer mid-May and will be thoroughly reviewing some of these apps and trying out new ones. Feel free to message me with your favorites! 

Passwords

 https://bitwarden.com- Using this currently. Free & Open Source

Alternatives: Lastpass, Keepass ( using currently), 1Password (haven’t used, have heard good reviews)

Organization - You can do this with note taking apps, but these have different approaches

airtable- amazing program that allows you to make relational databases /spread sheets that can be viewed in several different ways. You can add rich content as well. Honestly amazing 

trello- utilizes rich, sharable boards for to-do/projects/etc

pinterest  - can be great for lists and saving resources, good exploration options 

Pocket / Instapaper- useful for organizing things you wish to refer to in the future. I have an If This Then That applet set up to sync between these two. Instapaper looks prettier to read in, sometimes. 

To Do / Planning

Plan  - amazing app that allows you to write up tasks, then drag them into a calendar to schedule them. Also supports kanban boards. Currently using this combined with Airtable 

Todoist / wunderlist recommended To-Do list apps

google calendar- there are others like Apple’s built in calendar, TimePage by Moleskine, etc. Have tried & enjoyed google calendars, haven’t tried too many others.

recommended mobile apps that integrate with calendar web services: Calendars 5 & Fantastical 2

Note Taking

Typora - beautiful markdown editor with inline styling. Free in beta (Windows/Mac/Linux)

Treesheets - free open source program that is “ ultimate replacement for spreadsheets, mind mappers, outliners, PIMS, text editors, and small databases” I love this program for organizing. I’ve tried a ton of things so far, but this is so flexible and well designed. I’m a really visual person, so emacs orgmode isn’t really for me, but this is 

https://dynalist.io/ // https://workflowy.com/ - really neat outline/notes program. Free! 

Bear - nice markdown support, aesthetic, light, very cheap subscription based price model

Simplenote - plain text, free, light, minimal

GoogleKeep - aesthetic, simple

Microsoft OneNote - very full featured, great pen/annotation options 

Evernote - comparable to OneNOte

Bullet Journal - The Analog System for the Digital Age - also falls under organization

For academic notes, active recall is honestly better than just rereading/writing notes forever. (though physically writing things down is very useful)  So I recommend taking notes in a quizzable way and using 

Anki - powerful, intelligent flashcards or quizlet

Outlines / Study guides are nice to make because they provide context for what you’re learning. 

To Try 

http://paperwork.rocks/ - open source/free

http://elephant.mine.nu/ - open source/free

https://laverna.cc/

Ulysses - $ but known for being worth it, markdown, great organization options, aesthetic

Scrivener -$ but known for being worth it, good for complex projects like research papers and novels, some learning curve

Tagspaces

http://rowstack.com/ - project management for teams, but obviously can be used by one person as well!

emacs / vim - high learning curve, but great

http://happenapps.com/#quiver - for programmers, but could be applied to everyone

YCominator Open Source Discussion