August 2011
6 posts
9 Easy Ways to Create Ideas →
Apply this checklist of nine creative-thinking principles that were first formally suggested by Alex Osborn, pioneer of brainstorming, and later arranged into the following mnemonic SCAMPER.
Amazon Student for iOS Makes Buying, Selling... →
iPhone: Instead of scouring bookstores and Amazon for the correct textbooks, Amazon Student for iPhone lets you scan barcodes and buy or sell your semester’s textbooks with just a few taps.
“The reason that most of us are unhappy most of the time is that we set our...”
– swissmiss | Goals
New Insights on the Creative Brain / Psychology... →
“Right brain good, left brain bad.” That belief about creativity and the right and left hemispheres of the brain dates back to the Seventies, and reflects a very outdated bit of neuromythology.
Get Ready to Head Back to School This Weekend →
Whether it’s your first year at college or your fourth, starting school back up can get a little nerve racking. This weekend, make yourself a plan that’ll get you back into the swing of things without any stress.
How to write faster. →
It’s no secret that writing is hard … but why can’t I be one of those special few for whom it comes easily? What am I doing wrong? Why haven’t I gotten any faster?
November 2010
5 posts
Dissertations →
Yes, it’s technically about “dissertations,” but 85% of it applies to thesis writing, too! Lots of good insight and suggestions.
A Defense of Writing Longhand
A Defense of Writing Longhand
“But there is obviously more to writing than typing. What I’m really doing is composing. Composition requires focus. It is, like most acts of creation, monotasking. And as much as I love technology, it drives us to distraction.
A pen and paper has but one functionality. It captures the marks I make so that they can be referred to at a later time. It...
What is Plagiarism, and Is it Always Bad? →
What is Plagiarism, and Is it Always Bad?
“It’s easy to become attached to your words, claiming ownership to their arrangement on the page and to the phrases you create. But how much do you really own what you write? How much have you, technically, plagiarized?”
Set Up a Writing System that Stays Out of Your Way
Set Up a Writing System that Stays Out of Your Way
“It’s easy to obsess more about your writing setup than your actual writing, but when inspiration strikes and you actually want to—you know—write something, nothing should stand between you and putting your thoughts on paper, digital or otherwise.”
Forget About Perfect Grammar and Just Write Well →
Forget About Perfect Grammar and Just Write Well
“Learning the rules of language is important, otherwise it can be pretty difficult to communicate effectively. But if you’re hung up on perfect form and accuracy you can end up impeding your own creativity and the development of language in general.”
October 2010
5 posts
“Capable psychonauts who think about thinking, about states of mind, about set...”
– Procrastination « You Are Not So Smart
WriteRoom — Distraction free writing software for... →
Everyone seemed really enthusiastic about the clean-screen writing software, WriteRoom. It’s $24. ”I created WriteRoom as an alternative to Microsoft Word. WriteRoom’s full screen writing environment gets your computer out of the way so that you can focus on your work. The result is a subtle clearing of the mind that I think helps you write better.”
Why So Many People Can't Make Decisions →
Is ambivalence a problem? Maybe.
BackupElf Backs Up Files You Send It via Email →
I’ve said it before: You’ve got to get in the habit of backing up your work. But maybe you’re not into Dropbox, and maybe you don’t have the cash to spend on an external harddrive. But you are an email whiz, aren’t you? So I’ve got an elf you should meet…
“Academics, who work for long periods in a self-directed fashion, may be...”
– What we can learn from procrastination : The New Yorker
September 2010
13 posts
Dropbox Hearts School, Giving .EDU Addresses 500... →
Dropbox is a great way to back things up off-site. Super intuitive, easy to use. Half a terabyte! For free! (Seriously: When I was a kid, my father shelled out $500 for a 15 meg drive).
Man Who Killed Himself In Harvard Yard Left a... →
This is so sad, so baffling. At least the author has found peace.
Top 10 Motivation Boosters and Procrastination... →
You have enough enemies when it comes to getting things done—having your own brain plotting against you is just unfair. Hone up on a few strategies, thought exercises, and habits that get you past mental roadblocks and back to productivity.
Organize your Gmail and have fun while doing it.... →
With 0Boxer (Zero Boxer, as in empty inbox), you can organize your Gmail and have fun while doing it.
“I’ve learned that I have to force myself to accept the “good...”
– I Procrastinate Because I Care
Use a Timer as a Productivity Booster and Sanity... →
Outside of timing a pot bubbling on the stove, not a lot of people use a timer on a daily basis. If you haven’t worked a timer into your daily routines, the expense is small and the benefits are great. Today we’re going take a look at how the humble timer can take the nebulous conglomerate of tasks, breaks, goofing off, sweating deadlines, and the entire mass of what constitutes your...
“The problem with huge goals and equally as huge commitments to radical changes...”
– Set Goal Minimums for Guilt-Free Productivity
MozyHome for Mac: Online backup service, free 2GB... →
Throughout the semester, I’ll occasionally remind you to be sure to backup your material. Mozy is an online backup service. It keeps a backup copy of your files offsite, somewhere far, far away. If you lose your original files (or someone steals your laptop), you can get a copy of them from Mozy.
“What makes Ryan’s story canonical is its start. Ten years earlier, he walked out...”
– The Danger of the Dream Job Delusion
“Steve Martin noted that the key to becoming really good at something (so good...”
– Getting Started is Overrated
"1945-1998" by Isao Hashimoto →
Hashimoto’s elegant multimedia work makes deft use of raw data on nuclear tests conducted around the globe during the last half of the 20th Century. Surreal and strangely moving, this is a perfect example of what an unconventional thesis might look like.
“Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself...”
– God did not create the universe, says Hawking | Reuters
August 2010
4 posts
“The first step is to start. People who succeed somehow find a way to keep...”
– The first step is to start - (37signals)
Student's Thesis, Dreams on Stolen Laptop →
Ah, the cautionary tale. Remember: Always back-up! Back-up daily, and store some back-ups off-site.
1 tag
Tools Worth Using: Evernote →
Evernote is an amazing, free, in-the-cloud app that lets you capture, organize, tag, and search just about anything you can imagine. Create notes via Twitter or email, capture web pages, upload photos from your iPhone (and have Evernote automatically OCR them). Evernote is definitely a tool worth using.
2 tags
“The perfect is the enemy of the good — Voltaire.”
– Why Being A Perfectionist May Not Be So Perfect - Stepcase Lifehack