Monday, January 23, 2017

A New Procedure

The current master's course I'm taking--my last one ever!--doesn't have abstract algebra as a prerequisite, but it should.  Terms and ideas are tossed around so casually with the obvious assumption that the students understand. 

I was an applied math major.  Until this master's program I'd never taken a math history course or an abstract algebra course.  I'm feeling a bit behind the 8 ball.

My alarm goes off at 5:00 each morning, but I don't really need to be out of bed until 6.  I set the alarm so early so I have plenty of time to wake up and to get on my elliptical trainer.  I can't help being old, I can help being fat.

But I don't.  I just lie in bed till 6 am and then get up.

I try to spend 90 min a day on my master's course--but then I also have to study for the cumulative final exam which covers 6 of the 10 courses I've taken over the past 5 years.  That's a lot of time per day.  It just is.

This morning, though, I hit upon the idea of getting up before 6 and putting in some studying for the cumulative exam.  Even at just 15-20 min per day, I should have an excellent review completed by the time the exam rolls around in April!  While I'm a fat lazy slug and can't motivate myself to get out of bed to exercise, I should be quite able to motivate myself to get out of bed to study.

So that's my new plan.


6 comments:

Mrs. Widget said...

Good plan. Now what happens if you don't do it.

Darren said...

I don't want to go there yet. I want to execute this good plan.

Mike Thiac said...

No plan survives initial contact! :<)

In all seriousness, when do you see getting your masters?

Darren said...

This May, if I pass this course *and* the cumulative exam for the entire program.

I've followed my plan 2 days in a row now :)

Pseudotsuga said...

Good luck!
Have any backup motivators to help you follow through?
It's tough to meet the demands of higher ed coursework while making a living in the real world.

Darren said...

3 days in a row! This morning I got so "in the zone" that I went over time and had to cut a few minutes from shower time.