Being a Student - Part 2

Being a student for life is important. A follow on concept that I think is just as important is being a student OF life. Learning about what makes you tick, how you process things, how you react to things, what your weaknesses are, and what your strengths are.

We all have strengths and weaknesses. If we make a concerted effort to learn them and manage them we can significantly improve our lives. With strengths there is the obvious make them better route. Also we can learn to better apply them in ways that help us advance our goals.

Weaknesses need attention too. Sometimes they can be overcome and erased, but more often than not our weaknesses are going to be around in some form or other forever. So it is valuable to learn to work around them and find ways to compensate so any negative effects are minimized or avoided.

An example of this for me is that I can get distracted easily and often have a short attention span. I try to be better, but at a certain point I have to accept that at least for now that is part of my mental makeup. To compensate for this I get organized. If I have a clear and detailed to-do list I am much more able to stay on task. I will sometimes even schedule in breaks so I can embrace distractions, but for a limited time, so I can get them out of my way. This doesn't always work, but it often does.

Another area of life study is more biological. When do you do certain tasks best? Maybe you are best at planning and organizing your day when you are freshest in the morning. So instead of checking your email you do that first. Maybe you have a hard time focusing after lunch so slogging through email is a good somewhat mindless task to do then. I have found that right before bed is a bad time to bring up weighty topics with my wife. The conversations go a lot better in the morning.

Taking stock of who you are and how you do things, what your patterns are and when you are geared up for challenges can be a real boost to your productivity and happiness.