My commitment to excellence in scholarship
Well, it’s almost time for the Year of Sagely Living to begin. 2008 should shape up to be quite an experience. We’ve already got some great folks involved. Three bloggers other than myself have publicly committed: (1) Abdallah Stickley at Even Unto China, (2) Brandon Brown over at his blog, and (3) Michael at The Life Giving Sword. There’s already considerable “buzz” across the internet being generated concerning the project. I hope this continues, as a concerted effort at self improvement on the part of many people can only be a good thing. It’s also going to be more fun as a community effort. There’s always time to get involved, just reply to any of the Year of Sagely Living posts to let us know where/how you’ll be sharing your experiences with the rest of us. I should also note that several people without blogs have indicated their willingness to participate in the project, and if they create online spaces for sharing their experiences I will certainly share them here.
Now, I’d like to publicly commit to my Scholarship practices for January 2008. Drumroll, anyone? I should note that because school doesn’t start until January 7, I will do something slightly different until then. I will be reviewing each of last term’s classes once per day and producing a blog article about each. I will move to the following practices on Monday the 7th.
Practice/habit #1: Daily study
- I described this practice a bit already in my post about this category of habits. It has been my experience that the extent to which I work with a subject frequently defines my success in comprehending the material therein. However, I’ve rarely been diligent enough to work with each subject every day. I think this is a logical test of the method. I may find that it’s overkill, I may find that it actually interferes with my comprehension. But, I won’t know until I try. For anyone that thinks this doesn’t seem like a difficult practice, it definitely represents a shift in strategy for me.
- I will study each of my major subjects daily for at least half an hour per day. This includes: Advanced Cosmology and Symbolism (Heiner Fruehauf), Business Seminar (David Berkshire), Clinic Shift (David Berkshire), Formulas (Arnaud Versluys), Pharmacology of Natural Substances (Paul Kalnins - ND and anthroposophical medical genius), Points and Points lab (Dr. Xiaoli Chen) and Internal Medicine (Dr. Rihui Long). That’s three and a half hours total per day.
- To make this maximally manageable, I will be utilizing “down time” to the best of my ability. This includes flashcards on the bus, when walking, when standing in line and being very conscious about my use of time in general. Because I’ve recently tightened up my time management system, I should be able to make it happen.
- During exam weeks, I may shift my strategy slightly. I will reduce non-testing study time to only 15 minutes a day, increasing the testing subjects to necessary levels. This feature will only come into play if I decide to extend this habit out past January, as our first exams are unlikely to come in January. I hope.
- I will not study on Sundays. I may read Chinese medicine related materials for pleasure on Sundays. I will not study on any special family days (birthdays, weddings, other celebrations or very difficult times).
- I will not study for a class on the day that I have that class, though I will take 10-15 minutes at the end of the day to review my notes.
- I will report as frequently as makes sense. I will try daily updates at first, but may decide to do batch posts every week or twice a week.
Practice/Habit #2: No distractions
- This is a little simpler, as I’ve already moved strongly in this direction over the last year. I find that I study best when I’m distracted least. I know some folks seem to thrive in busy, crazy atmospheres - I’m just not one of them. I have had great study sessions in coffee shops, but those times are balanced by the number of times that I’ve ended up just watching folks walk by. I’m a Fire Dragon, what do you want from me?
- I will always seek out solitude when studying - when at school, the back of the library with headphones on. When at home, the meditation room upstairs where I already have a beautiful study space created. Additionally, at home, I will make sure to let everyone know not to disturb me and for how long. I find that if my family knows when they CAN disturb me, they tend not to disturb me until then.
- If I do not need my computer to study, I will not have it near me. If I do need my computer to study, but not the Internet, I will disconnect the Internet. If I need the Internet to study, I will not check email, blog statistics, Google Reader or anything else. Whatever I am working on, I will work only on that without any other programs open. I have already disabled all “automatic notifiers.”
- If I decide to listen to music while studying, I will listen to only music without words.
- I will turn off my cell phone during all study times.
- If I must be disturbed while studying, I will deal with the disturbance in as little time as possible - marking my place or writing down a quick note to remind myself where I am in the study process. Then I will return directly to that task without even thinking about it.
- These distraction reduction measures will be used regardless of if I’m studying for half an hour or five hours.
- The only exceptions to this rule will be (a) when studying with others - a rare occurrence, (b) in long study breaks, I will break every 45-50 minutes for about 10 for some physical movement.
As an additional push, though extending beyond the month of January - I will attempt to get honors in three courses this term. No small feat given the courses I’m up against.
I want to point out that this is just two habits, one more difficult than the other. For those of you who don’t geek out on personal productivity literature or for whom this is going to be your first concerted habit change - one changed habit per period is usually preferred. This may be especially the case for this project, given that most of us will probably want to maintain some of our habits throughout the twelve months.
To keep updated with the latest about the Year of Sagely Living, including my own experiences in establishing and maintaining these crucial habits, be sure to subscribe to this blog via RSS feed or via email.
Eric
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Tags: classical-chinese-medicine, habits, productivity, scholar, study, studying, Year of Sagely Living
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11 Responses to “My commitment to excellence in scholarship”
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Eric,
Count me in. It’s a great project, and I’m excited to be a part of it.
rr
Eric,
I like your plans. The specificity of your habits is a great tool.
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Hi Eric, Recently found your site (and the world of blogging at large). I was hoping to find a way to connect to you, maybe through sagely living (great idea!) but wasn’t sure I wanted to be scholarly right now (I know, not very sagely of me) but then I realized that learning all about blogs, and blogging for the first time, all of which I began this month has been facilitated by the boat-load of scholarly attention I’ve been heaping on this new-found passion. I’ll be keeping track of my monthly progress at my blog, http://www.fiveminds.wordpress.com. I love your blog, and just clicked that cool orange RSS button… Thanks. Julie
Julie,
Awesome! I’ll be sure to link to you as time goes on. So glad to have you on board…
Eric
Hello,
I was wondering if you could tell me which TCM school you go to? I’m also interested in TCM and am currently researching which schools to apply to. Thanks!
Hey Cathy,
Strictly speaking, I don’t go to a TCM school. I go to a CCM school! :) Let’s just say a Chinese medicine school… ok? :D
I go to NCNM (National College of Natural Medicine) which has the country’s best Naturopathic medicine program combined with the country’s best Chinese medicine program. It’s a great place to be, and I definitely recommend you check it out.
Eric
You must be a very serious student, making those future plans, good work, i like your spirit so keep it up :)