Meta Data for Your Books

Today I’m offering tips on how to prepare to handle huge amounts of learning material by adding meta data to your books. When the game is on you don’t have time to think and this way you don’t have to.

Imagine for a moment that you are in an advanced college math class. You have just acquired a rather large math book and you don’t know where to start. You don’t want to start. At first it seems so daunting. Reflexively you reach up and touch the side of your temple with two fingers, activating your bionic eye’s heads up display. You look down at the book in your arms and suddenly crisp clean text begins to superimpose itself over the cover, augmenting your reality with relevant facts and details about the contents of the book. You can see how much of the book you’ve read (currently 0%) and the text jutting out from the side tells you which homework problems are due and when, and what chapters to read before exam dates. My how the future is cool.

Back in the real world, 2011, we can build a system as good as the bionic eye (sans the x-ray vision, sorry) and it only takes a little work. It is the same way I survived my college classes and the only way I’ve ever been able to motivate myself to pull out a book and do homework while waiting in a dentist office:

If you are in a class and the teacher is kind enough to provide a syllabus (lesson plan) that covers the future dates of exams and homework, take some time to process the data onto colored Post-It notes. Places these sticky notes into your books such that all your information is in one place. We want to get away from the idea that you need to have a separate notebook that tells you what your homework will be.

The Many Ways To Track

Homework Assignments

Put Post-It notes on each page where a homework lesson starts. Write the homework assignment directly on the note. Include problem numbers and due dates. Placement: You want this note to be slightly hanging out of the book so you can easily locate and turn to the correct page. You can even write the homework assignment on the non-sticky edge that will be hanging out of the book so you can see it when the book is closed; or at least pick a Post-It with a designated color for homework, such as Orange. You pick the color.

Homework Help

The same note you use for a homework assignment can also be a great place to write the homework problems you need help with. You can easily ask a friend or teacher for help with “27, 32, and 83”, for example; It will all be right there on the page if you write it down. Placement: Consider hanging a “danger” colored note out of your book–a visual cue like a Red Post-It–reminding you in class that you need to ask for specific help. This note will guide you to the right page.

Stopping Points

Put a Post-It note below the last problem of each homework assignment, warning yourself to STOP HERE. I been burned numerous times doing more homework problems than I needed because I just kept on going, not realizing that I had completed the assignment. Covering up the very first problem you are not supposed to do gives you a finish line to race toward and lets your brain relax and focus on the task at hand. There’s simply no way to advance without removing the note and of course you’ll read it.

Reference Material

Tired of finding the answers section repeatedly? Mark it with a blue Post-It note. Placement: Hang this color outside of the edge of the book and write the name of the content it is marking on the edge, so you can clearly see and return to it later.

Exam Due Dates

Put Post-It notes in the book at the end of each chapter you will have been required to learn by a certain date, because of an exam, for example. Include the due date on the note. This works only when the teacher is keeping a tight schedule of school days and has opened it up to you. Placement: You want this note to be at the end of the chapter you need to have read, and have it slightly hanging out of the book so you can see how far you need to read to.

Unfinished Progress

Ah, the regular ol’ bookmark. You need to use another color of Post-It to represent how far you’ve read. In some cases I have two bookmarks. One represents how far I have read once, and the other represents how far I have read the book twice when I’m re-reading certain material. Another example is having a “skimming” bookmark and a “reading” bookmark because skimming a chapter before reading does enhance your ability to absorb the material.

Let me do some coaching here. If you are having a tough time with the material, it is also a good idea to try to exceed the class schedule so information is more relevant when you are in class.  More on this:  Your brain is better at absorbing what it is actively looking for and trying to relate to. If you attempt a homework lesson BEFORE it has been covered in class and you get stuck, the next day in class your brain will be “all ears” for the information that would allow you to pass the blockade. Show your brain what is needs and lacks, and it will actively listen for ways to succeed.

Let’s Review

By now you should have a book with at least three or four color Post-It notes in it. E.g. Green for Exams, Orange for homework, Yellow for everyday what/when, and Pink for a bookmark of where you’ve read up to. Use any colors you want to mark the other stuff like where your next homework assignment is, or quick assess to homework answer, glossary, or places you felt you needed to re-read later. Whatever you can think of.

Why this Works

– Information is where you need it instead of in multiple places
– Time is saved such that you are not searching and re-searching for material
– Less motivation is required to do the work since it has been planned out
– It is inherently fun to process the homework Post-It notes by reaching them and then throwing them away once they are completed

Help me think more like this.

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