I've been away for a while ...

I didn't update for a while because I was having exams. Students usually have this excuse to keep them away from certain things, but its as genuine as it gets in my case. You see, the way I study, I uh ... don't. I basically don't study anything all semester long, and then cram like crazy in the few days before the exam. Now, this may seem like a ridiculous, lazy way to do things, but in fact it is quite the opposite. It requires incredible dedication, focus and time management. It is an art, and it requires years of training and hours of meditation. Its almost Zen-like. Seriously. Now, when the exam period has started, I usually take a good look at the order of my exams, and determine an order based on necessity (to study). Once I've done that, the hours of the day as I understand them are forgotten, and the day takes on a new shape. Since studying is something, that, for normal people is both tiring and boring, it must be balanced with something else. Usually I recommend sleep, whether you're sleepy or not. Even if you're not, lying down with your eyes closed relaxes the body, and your mind is free to do whatever it wants. The only rule here is not to worry about studying or exams. You have to predetermine how much time you're spending studying and breaking. Suppose I have an exam tomorrow. I calculate that I have 30 hours till the point where I have to get up to go to the exam. I have fifteen chapters to study. A quick calculation reveals that i have a maximum of two hours per chapter, but this is not really possible given human limitations. See, you don't really wanna be cramming like mad, only to fall asleep in the exam. Trust me, it happens. My best friend fell asleep in his first year CS exam, mouth open, drool dripping and all. Back to the time thing. With 30 hours, what you wanna do is study 15 hours - 1 per chapter, with 1 hour breaks in between. If you're a stamina star, try 2 and 2. If you find that you need more study time, reduce your breaks, but only to a point.

I have found that the biggest problem people face when an exam is near (and they don't know much) is the fear itself. They worry so much about not knowing anything, not having time, and telling themselves they can't learn a whole semester in 72 hours that it ends up being a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy. Think of it this way ... if you studied an hour a day throughout the semester, how much would it add up to? Its around the same as the cram hours, and thats why you can get away with it. Try it on your next exam, but before you do that, make sure you write down on paper that you don't hold me or my instructions responsible for the consequences of your actions.