How to Stayed Organised During A-levels/uni (A*A*A*)
Summary
TLDRIn this informative video, James, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Manchester, shares his strategies for staying organized while preparing for A-levels and exams. He emphasizes the importance of digital note-taking using Anki and OneNote to create a 'second brain' that consolidates lecture notes, past papers, and study materials into a single, easily accessible location. James also highlights the benefits of active recall and spaced repetition for effective studying. Additionally, he advocates for an analog system to manage time and tasks, using a weekly and daily planning approach to balance academic and personal goals. By overpreparing and teaching oneself before lectures, James suggests cultivating a deeper understanding and sparking curiosity. His method involves time blocking, setting study limits, and doubling the estimated time for tasks to ensure efficiency. The video concludes with the message of intentionality in planning one's day and life, encouraging viewers to focus on what's essential for personal satisfaction and success.
Takeaways
- 📚 Use digital note-taking tools like Anki and OneNote to create a 'second brain' for organizing and synthesizing lecture notes and past papers.
- 💻 Having an iPad can help eliminate paper clutter and centralize all study materials for quick and easy access.
- 🔍 Active recall and spaced repetition are key study strategies for retaining information, which are built into tools like Anki.
- 📈 Focus on creating high-quality flashcards and completing past papers to prepare for exams effectively.
- 📈 Before exams, concentrate on active review and revising with digital flashcards until the material is firmly embedded in memory.
- 📷 A digital system allows for the integration of various resources like screenshots from textbooks and videos from platforms like YouTube.
- 📚 Overprepare by teaching yourself the subject before it's covered in class to gain a deeper understanding and spark curiosity.
- 🗓️ Utilize an analog system for time and task management by creating weekly and daily plans to organize your tasks and activities.
- ⏰ Time blocking is a useful technique for planning your day by allocating specific time slots for different tasks.
- 🔄 Be flexible with your plans and adjust them as needed during the day to ensure you're making the most of your time.
- 🧘♂️ Intentionally planning your day can lead to a more satisfying life by focusing on what truly matters to you.
- 🌟 Efficiency in time management can lead to the discovery of new opportunities and the creation of fulfilling projects, like starting a YouTube channel.
Q & A
What is the first step James suggests for staying organized for A levels and GCSEs?
-The first step is to take digital notes and create a second brain using Anki and OneNote, synthesizing all lecture slides and past papers into one place for easy access.
What are the advantages of using an iPad for studying according to James?
-An iPad allows you to eliminate paper and have all your study materials in one place, accessible with a single click, making it quick and easy to start studying.
How does James use Anki to improve his study efficiency?
-James uses Anki to create flashcards for important questions and parts of the curriculum. He also relies on Anki's built-in active recall and spaced repetition to study effectively.
What is the second step James recommends for staying organized?
-The second step is using an analog system for time and task management, which includes making a weekly and daily plan to organize tasks and activities.
How does James use YouTube and Google to deepen his understanding of the subject before lectures?
-James teaches himself the subject before the teacher does by using YouTube and Google to gain a deeper understanding and spark curiosity about the subject matter.
What is the weekly panel template that James uses for planning?
-The weekly panel template is an analog system that allows James to map out his tasks for the week, dividing the page into sections for university work and other personal activities.
What is the method James uses for his daily planning?
-James uses Cal Newport's time blocking method, where he breaks his day into blocks of time and plans his activities accordingly.
How does James approach studying within his daily plan?
-James tries to constrain his study time to a specific period each day, such as from 9 to 5, and he advises doubling the estimated time for each task to account for unforeseen challenges.
What is the importance of reviewing flashcards actively when using Anki?
-Actively reviewing flashcards helps to reinforce the material in your memory and link concepts together, which is crucial for exam preparation.
How does James ensure he is intentional with his time and activities?
-James sets aside time to sit down and plan his day and week, considering the disciplines in his life and how he wants to spend his time to achieve satisfaction and happiness.
What is the philosophy James suggests building around your day for better results?
-James suggests focusing on what makes you happy and what's essential, keeping digital notes and using an analog system for tasks and time to be more intentional and aware of what's important.
Why did James create a YouTube channel?
-James created a YouTube channel as a way to utilize his free time efficiently and to share knowledge that could help others, stemming from his increased time awareness and organization.
Outlines
📚 Staying Organized for A Levels and University
In this paragraph, James, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Manchester, introduces the topic of the video: staying organized for A Levels and university. He shares his personal strategies for maintaining organization, which include taking digital notes and using Anki and OneNote to create a 'second brain.' He emphasizes the benefits of having an iPad for studying, as it allows for a paperless and easily accessible system. He also talks about the importance of active recall and spaced repetition for studying, which are features of Anki. Additionally, he suggests being overprepared by teaching oneself the subject before attending lectures, using resources like YouTube and Google, to deepen understanding and spark curiosity. The paragraph concludes with a recommendation to use an analog system for time and task management, which will be explained in the next paragraph.
🗓️ Time and Task Management with Analog Systems
The second paragraph delves into the use of an analog system for managing time and tasks. James discusses the importance of creating a weekly and daily plan, using a template he found on Ray's YouTube channel. He explains that the template allows him to map out tasks for the week, dedicating one half of a page to university and work-related tasks, and the other half to personal interests and hobbies. He stresses the importance of time blocking, where each task is allocated a specific time slot, and advises doubling the estimated time for each task to account for unforeseen challenges. James also emphasizes the value of intentional planning, suggesting that it not only improves daily satisfaction but also reflects on how one wants to spend their life. He concludes by encouraging viewers to be flexible with their plans, making adjustments as necessary, and to take the time to thoughtfully consider how they want to spend their day.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Digital Notes
💡Second Brain
💡Anky
💡Spaced Repetition
💡Weekly Plan
💡Daily Plan
💡Time Blocking
💡Overprepared
💡Intentionality
💡Disciplines
Highlights
James, a mechanical engineering student at the University of Manchester, shares his strategies for staying organized for A-levels and GCSEs.
Advocates for creating a digital second brain using Anki and OneNote to synthesize lecture notes and past papers.
Using an iPad for note-taking allows for a paperless system with quick access to all study materials.
Importance of having a system where everything is in one place to deepen knowledge and prepare for exams.
Active recall and spaced repetition are key components of effective studying, which are built into Anki.
Focusing on making good flashcards and completing past papers is essential for exam preparation.
Digital systems enable the integration of screenshots, YouTube videos, and other resources into study materials.
Being overprepared by teaching oneself the subject before the teacher does can lead to a deeper understanding.
Using YouTube and Google for self-study can foster curiosity and interest in the subject.
A weekly and daily planning system helps in managing time and tasks effectively.
Using an analog system for planning can lead to a more intentional approach to time management.
Time blocking is a method to structure the day into blocks of time for different tasks and activities.
It's important to allocate specific time for studying and to double the estimated time for tasks to account for unforeseen challenges.
Flexibility in planning is crucial, allowing for adjustments throughout the day as needed.
Intentional planning of the day can influence how one wants to spend their life, focusing on what brings happiness and satisfaction.
Efficiency in time management can lead to the discovery of new interests and passions, such as creating a YouTube channel.
Maintaining a balance between digital note-taking and analog task planning can enhance organization and intentionality.
The video serves as a reminder to always focus on action and what's essential for personal and academic success.
Transcripts
today's video I'm going to talk about
how to stay organized for your a levels
and gcc's this channel is to help you
study deeper I'm James I'm a mechanical
engineering student at University of
Manchester and I hope this video helps
you so let's get into it the first step
is take digital notes create a second
brain on anky and on one note I
synthesize all my lecture siid all my
past papers into one note so that I can
do it on my iPad having an iPad is
amazing because it allows you to
get rid of all your paper and just have
everything in one place and one click
away and it's very quick to access
everything quick okay and when
everything's quick it makes it easy and
it's much easier to get started to stud
to actually study right um when I have
important questions things I make get
wrong in exams the most important parts
of a curriculum I put it into anky I
make basic or image inclusion flash
cards and when I do that I have
everything in one place to deepen my
knowledge right and before an exam I
focus on the main lead measures to
studying and getting good grades which
is active record and space repetition
which is built into to anky right and
that takes care of it all for you so all
you have to do is focusing on making
good flash cards doing all the past
papers and when it comes around to the
actual exam time cramming ankey
reviewing until it gets into your head
okay and making it link all together
when you review and reviewing it as
actively as
possible the good thing about a digital
system is that you can take screenshots
of your textbooks you can add YouTube
into one note and ankey and keep like
your hard drive of all your information
that you've learned and all the stuff
that's helped you understand the subject
in the
meantime to be organized I believe you
have to be overprepared so I try and
teach myself the subject before the
teacher teaches me so I have a deeper
understanding before before I go into
the lecture you can do this through
YouTube you can do this just through
Google at the moment and chat GDP and
when you do this you have some sort of
like time that if you allocated to teach
yourself the subject you become more
interested in it because it implores
this curiosity in your head
so have a digital system and try and
teach yourself the
subject the second step is using an
analog system for your time and your
tasks I try to make a weekly plan and a
daily plan and how I'm going to show you
how I do that I've got this template
from this guy Ray channel YouTube I'll
link it in the description and his
template for this is a weekly panel it's
an analog system you can map your tasks
out throughout the week I have half the
page for my tasks I want to do with work
with my University and other things then
the other half of the day is for like
YouTube reading working out I do Judo I
go for runs I try and play the guitar a
lot and it kind of builds a plan for all
these other parts of your life sit down
to look at your day to plan your day you
need to think about the disciplines in
your life and build on those disciplines
to master yourself so I do this on
Sunday and then what I do is when the
night before the next day just before I
go to sleep I plan my timeout in my
little Journal
here I use call newport's method where
you just do time blocking where you time
block your day you break into blocks of
time is that when you make your daily
plan try and have a limit to you're
studying when you study in a day try and
constrain it for a time period for
example try and study maybe for you're a
uni student only from 9 to 5 that's what
I try to do so I can have a strict
deadline when you estimate time double
it so if you got a task and you think
it's like 1
hour block out two hours for that task
and also Al you don't have to get your
plan right um for example this was my
plan the night before but I sat down
during the day and I just made a new
plan and I think it's good because you
can think right there hasn't gone to
plan today but what do I want to do with
the rest of my day how do I want to
spend my day and for
me when I've done this a lot and I've
been doing this for about 3 years now
when I sit down and I think how do I
want to spend my day
intentionally not with on my phone just
doing it quickly actually sitting down
like a philosophical thing where you
actually intentionally sit and think
about how you want to spend your day I
believe translates in how you want to
spend your life because when you focus
on the little things and you focus on
the things that make you happy it makes
you happy in the long run you know and
if you do this for long enough you get
more satisfaction from other things like
I created this YouTube channel because I
saw the time of my day that have free
have so much time free when you become
more efficient and you know where your
time is
going this is the video I wish I had as
a reminder to always focus on action and
always focus on what's essential keep
your notes and your digital notes on
digitally and then keep your tasks and
your time on analog to be more
intentional of your time to remind you
of what's important and kind of build a
philosophy around your day of what makes
you
happy when you do all of these
things you get better results so hope
this video has helped you in some sort
of way and thank you very much for
watching
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