This originally appeared in August of 2009:
As we all get back into the swing of things, I wanted to share some links for useful information on organizing, note taking, and productivity. First, one don’t: Don’t try to multitask. It turns out that we’re not good at it. Second, one do: Do write about what you are reading or have heard. Writing and otherwise manipulating ideas, is learning.It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
Here is a link to an overview of some cognitive psychology–it’s called Bloom’s taxonomy of learning, and it describes the different kinds of learning we do, and the difficulty level. Most people who come to law school are excellent at the knowledge and comprehension levels and expect that these are what they need to continue to do well in law school. That is true, but only as a first step. We’re trying to get you to become experts at all of the other levels that follow, and it is those kinds of learning you must demonstrate on exams.
So how do you get there? Here is one link about note taking and different ways to do it, and here is another (yes, I’m addicted to lifehacker). Here is another link about a particular method–one that I was actually taught in junior high school. Craziness, but it’s particularly useful for reading assignments.
Here is a general productivity description in the model of David Allen’s “Getting things Done.” And just to round things out, here is a good link on stress management.
Happy new semester!
