TEFL + Academia

The struggle is real: even though we have a wonderful 48 hours to get everything we need to done, time somehow slips through our hands. Here’s how you can best utilize the weekend, so you can manage to fit in your work, some fun, and much needed rest.

1. Address your needs first

Did you miss out on a lot of sleep over the week? Use that first night of the weekend to fully recharge. You’ll be useless to yourself if you’re tired.

Are you just crazy burnt out from the week? Take some R & R time for yourself. Unwind with a few episodes of your favorite show on Netflix, read, take a bath, meditate, or go out with your friends. Do whatever it is that revitalizes you. You’ll also be useless over the weekend if you’re still burnt out.

2. Make a plan

As with anything you want to execute successfully, you need a plan. This is where you whip out the bujo, planner, or a bunch of sticky notes if that’s your style.

Write down a list of everything you need to get done over the weekend. This is only the essentials, the top priorities. Example: study for A.P. Bio exam, write reading response, do laundry.

Next, take each item from the list and break it down into steps. Example for reading response: 1) Read chapters 1 & 2 of Jane Eyre; 2) brainstorm response ideas; 3) make a brief outline; 4) write response draft; 5) edit

Don’t let seeing so many steps overwhelm you! The point is that you’re breaking down the larger, tougher projects into smaller, manageable tasks. You can check them off as you’ve completed them for a delightful sense of accomplishment.

3. Schedule, schedule, schedule!

Scheduling allows you to make necessary social engagements or allocate chill time for that highly important balanced lifestyle. 

If you need to break down your day into hours or even half hour units, then do it if it works for you. Allocate a realistic (generous) amount of time for each task. And stick to it.

4. “Easier said than done, Carolyn,” is what you may be thinking, and that’s totally fair. Here are some tips to make all of this easier:

Be kind to yourself. Forgive yourself if you need to. We are all human and subject to imperfection. That’s just how it is, and that’s okay. Please don’t beat yourself up if you don’t follow your schedule or feel like you’ve accomplished every task you set out to do. It’s okay, alright?

Put away your phone! In the other room! In a drawer! Have a friend hold on to it! Or just download Forest, which is a great app that incentivizes staying away from your phone.

Download the app SelfControl for your computer and block sites that tend to suck you in (like tumblr, for example!).

Stay well nourished and HYDRATED for maximum mental functioning.

And I’m dead serious about this balanced lifestyle stuff: if all your needs are being met, then you’re more likely to stay focused and driven.

1. You are very lucky and privileged to have access to almost unlimited knowledge and you should appreciate that.

2. Be one of those rare people who step over their insecurities and succeed.

3. You will know what to do as soon as you start. Ideas never appear from inactivity.

4. Make yourself proud.

5. It’s not supposed to be easy. Nothing good ever is.

6. One hour every day doesn’t feel much but its 365 hours a year. You can’t not succeed after so much work.

7. If you give up now, you’ll have to return to this later anyway but from the very beginning.

8. Maybe you think you can never find something to use your skills and mindset for. But if you continue investing in what matters to you, it will find its way out there.

9. Every moment you thought your fears would suppress you has become the time you made it. 

As a cognitive neuroscience major, I read a lot of lengthy academic papers. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from having done so many damn readings, it’s that you don’t actually need to read every single word in the paper to understand it. A lot of times, the author will repeat themselves over and over, or offer evidence/explanations that aren’t essential to understanding their argument. Instead, I recommend using the first/last method, which is essentially a guideline to what you should read in order to understand the main gist of an academic paper. 

Any academic paper consists of three structural units: the paper as a whole, the sections/subsections that make up the paper, and the paragraphs that make up each section. The paper as a whole typically follows a certain form: intro/abstract, main argument separated into sections, conclusion. The sections cover one facet of the main argument. The paragraphs provide specific details or explanations for the topic currently under discussion.

The first/last method is exactly what it says on the tin: you only need to read the first and last bit of every structural unit. This means you will read the following as they are presented in the paper: 

abstract, intro, and conclusion

definition of terms, if provided

first and last paragraph of each middle section

first and last 1-2 sentences of each paragraph

The main argument is typically summarized in the intro/abstract, conclusion, or both. The main claim of each section is usually presented in the first paragraph, and the conclusion of the section typically expresses the implications of that claim. Finally, paragraphs will usually start with some kind of topic sentence and end with a conclusion. By reading only these things, you’ll pick up at least 70% of the meaning of the paper, and you’ll save yourself a lot of time and frustration. 

If you’d like to bump that comprehension up to 95%, I recommend skimming the paper for italics, lists, and descriptions/summaries of other arguments and reading those things when you encounter them in addition to the things mentioned above. The key to this is to skim for certain cues, and not read every single word. Italics serve as a visual cue, lists are cued by indicators like “first”/”second” or “1)”/”2)”, and summaries of other arguments are typically indicated by copious citations or usage of another author’s name.