For a typical, quarter-conclusive column, I will talk nerdy about the subject that is running through the mind of any student who plans to return next quarter: finals.
I hope you will understand why this is not a very tech-intensive undertaking: because I, too, hope to pass this quarter.
Nonetheless, here is some tech advice for making the most of your finals week:
A. Turn off the computer.
Cringe.
I know, I really said it. Cue the tomatoes.
But I am a reasonable nerd, and I understand that turning off the lappy is often not possible, if ever possible at all, when it comes to studying.
So, if you cannot complete step A, read on.
B. Get a procrastination timer. The MeeTimer add-on for Firefox is the best, but you can also try the very basic, yet very forceful timer at http://theinsomniacsociety.com/timer.html to help keep your eyes from straying onto Facebook and other Web vices.
MeeTimer clocks how much time you spend actively procrastinating on certain sites, thereby showing you in what direction, exactly, time flies when you're studying. It can also confront you with cold, hard numbers when you enter select sites.
Works like: a nagging parent sitting over your shoulder.
C. If e-books are the wave of the future, then certainly e-notecards can be such offspring. Study Stack (http://www.studystack.com) is a simple resource that allows you to login through Facebook Connect in order to create your own study note cards, which you can shuffle, keep and discard online.
Works like: a notecard-flipping robot that also happens to be a genius.
D. A solution for successful research paper writing is to organize your links/illegitimate sources with Firefox's add-on Zotero. It lets you create folders for various categories of research and drag and drop links into the folders by just clicking the Zotero logo at the bottom of any window.
Works like: a super-awesome, link-eating machine that spits out filing cabinets.
E. Notefish (http://www.notefish.com/) is a tool available as a Firefox add-on that puts your Web copy-and-pasting scraps into a separate page that is very easy to maneuver. It sets it in the same format as the sites, be it text or photos, and allows users to check back on the sources of their information - so no plagiarizing; tisk, tisk.
Works like: a factory-sized stack of Post-its accompanied by a good-looking secretary to organize them.
F. Leave your glossy planner for iProcrastinate for Mac. This free program (http://www.craigotis.com) is available for the iPhone and iPod Touch as well. It allows you to make separate schedules for classes and prioritize them according to deadlines and overall importance rankings. The easy-to-use interface almost makes organization bearable.
Works like: iCal with a prettification, intensification button.
G. Unplug yourself. Your hard work isn't worth the Blue Book you're drooling on if you're doing just that - crashing during your final exam after countless all-nighters. Perhaps one day Firefox will have an add-on for rest and relaxation. In the meantime, however: Please move on to step Zzz.
Bonus non-tech tip: Switch musical genres and set a relaxing playlist. Try these, some of my favorite tunes, as the bases for your Genius, Last.fm or Pandora auto-playlist:
Broken Social Scene's hHallmark; Sigur Ros's Hoppipola; Belle and Sebastian's Rollercoaster Ride; Bon Iver's Flume; Damien Rice's Volcano; and Elliot Smith's Angeles.
Works like: a non-Flight of the Bumblebee way to remain undistracted yet un-bored.
Olga Kharitonova is a junior studying journalism and a writer for The Post's campus staff. When you're procrastinating, feel free to e-mail her at ok137308@ohiou.edu, as she is probably procrastinating, too.
4 Opinion
Olga Kharitonova
