Wow critical thinking skills and self awareness were not her strong suit. Bonus: That is your 21st birthday present? WTF!?!
Here buy this one for her Birthday/Xmas/Whatever.
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Thinking-Skills-Dummies-Martin-ebook/dp/B00UYXHP0G
Very little spillover. From what I've read, it didn't even impact his ability to memorize a string of random alphabetic characters. That said, people have done a lot with mnemonic techniques to accomplish amusing tasks like memorizing the order of 27 decks of cards in an hour, and some techniques there can be trained for a somewhat wider range of tasks.
If this sort of thing interests you I strongly recommend this book. But be careful, the subject material can have a profound, transformative effect on your life and the lives of people around you. It is not for everyone.
This process (called the diffused mode of the brain) is discussed in depth in a book I read a few years ago called A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra).
Would highly recommend if anyone is interested in how your brain learns things - especially abstract concepts like mathematics and programming.
Hey man we all get discouraged when learning something new.
You should check out this https://www.amazon.ca/Mind-Numbers-Science-Flunked-Algebra-ebook/dp/B00G3L19ZU
The author was terrified of math throughout high school and joined the army after graduating. When she was ~25 she realized the work she was doing was not going to provide her a great future, and she went back to school for an engineering degree. During this time she learned how to overcome her issues, and she's now doing a PHD.
I really liked the book, I got it on Audible but wouldn't be surprised if the library had it :) She covers strategies to deal with solving new problems and also procrastination.
I'm early thirties, and left a controlling ex a couple years ago myself (still married because they keep "accidentally" dropping the ball on their end, but that's another story). I had a discouraging experience going back to school while we were still living together, and it made me nervous about trying again. But this time has been totally different. I'm graduating from CC this spring with a 4.0!
We adult students have a lot of things going for us. There's the benefit of life experience and a fully developed brain. We tend to be more organized and driven, too. You may even find that material you struggled with as a teen comes more easily now.
However, I still get panicked every semester that I'm going to lose focus and flunk. Recently I've started having nightmares that I'm going to fail a class and not get to walk for graduation. I'm also worried because I'm starting STEM "weed out" classes next semester, so the difficulty is about the ratchet up significantly.
I'm managing by keeping my focus mostly on my current semester. I also bought a book called <em>A Mind For Numbers</em>, which is recommended for folks who aren't so confident in their math skills. It focuses on strategies for studying more efficiently and reducing the time you feel like you're grinding away but not getting anywhere.
I know it's scary, but school won't be as bad as your fear is telling you. Community colleges are very supportive places, with lots of resources to help you succeed. Take advantage of advising, free tutoring, and disability services (if panic attacks continue to be a problem). Don't let fear stop you from getting that degree! You can do it!!
Thanks bro for your awesome story...you've basically managed to do what most of us wish to do. About your question on improvement of focus, there's this book called 'The Manual by Rod Bremer' its has its Part One solely on how to Improve Focus & Concentration. It has practical techniques & daily exercises on how to improve in those areas, all based on scientific evidence & sorted out for only the best techniques that actually work.
U won't go wrong if u actually apply it. https://www.amazon.com/Manual-Ultimate-Concentration-Note-Taking-Arithmetic-ebook/dp/B019LT9I6M .
Am also interested in building an e-commerce business. Maybe u could point me in the right direction. Stay strong.
I was very similar to you, and found the book <em>A Mind for Numbers</em> incredibly helpful for helping develop effective studying techniques (I read it my last semester in school, and kicked myself for not reading it sooner). There's a coursea course called "Learning how to Learn" by the same woman (+ a man, iirc) that seems to cover the same content.
Good luck!
I recommend The Only Academic Phrasebook You'll Ever Need: 600 Examples of Academic Language to my undergrads. It's in American English. This website is a phrasebank in British English.
This book I read gave a neurological explanation for procrastination. They stuck someone in a fancy brain scanner gizmo and gave them a task that would trigger their procrastination. What they saw was that the anticipated discomfort you mentioned lit up the actual pain centers in the brain. They also saw, however, that this brain activity stopped when the person actually started the task. Based on this, their advice was "start by just doing a little." But in your case, it sounds like the pain response continues while doing the task. Emotional flashback?
If their model is correct, then maybe your problem isn't actually "procrastination," but you're getting the same end result of avoidance and dissociation. If so then tactics for dealing with procrastination aren't going to help as much as expected- and obviously you've tried quite hard!
I’m sorry, that’s sounds so frustrating, college-level math and physics can be very unforgiving if your high school math foundation is weak. It sounded like you have put in the hard work but struggle to see results. That’s an indication that your current study strategy/habit is not working and it’s time to learn some new study skills, to study not just harder but smarter. Here is the perfect book for you:
https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Numbers-Science-Flunked-Algebra-ebook/dp/B00G3L19ZU
I benefitted a ton from the book. I also agree that it would be a good idea to take a semester off to focus on your mental health and study strategy, review high-school math using Khan academy, and do some soul-searching to understand why you are in college (what’s your life goals?) so that when you are ready to come back, you will be in a much better mindset with better background and strategies to get through the struggle.
Unlimited Memory: How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive is free with an Amazon prime subscription for those that are interested in the "learning how to learn." resource.
Diffused thinking is more conducive to creativity and invention, but while flow is a sign of focused productivity. You need both diffused and focused modes of thinking. Models of innovation, like design thinking, have divergent and convergent stages.
This MOOC on Learning How to Learn has a good introduction to how your brain works. The early lessons are informed by A Mind for Numbers.
When you have time (winter break?) read A Mind For Numbers by Barbara Oakley - it's a book about how to learn more efficiently, especially in math/science. It's a very practical book about how the brain learns and how to structure your study in a way that utilizes the literal biological process of learning that happens in your brain.
Also, what u/two-bit-hack said, and practice a lot. Don't be ashamed to watch tutorials and look up answers until you get it, but when you look up answers make sure you take the time to learn why the answers are correct. Real learning takes time and effort. Be persistent, consistent, and patient.
Salut, eu zic ca "problemele" ar fi astea:
- Ai nimerit fix intr-o recesiune, din ce văd majoritatea firmelor nu prea mai angajează acum, toată lumea merge pe burta, așteaptă sa vadă ce se întâmplă în viitor.
- Încearcă sa privești un pic lucrurile din prisma unui potențial angajator: primește probabil jdemii de CV-uri de la o grămadă de oameni care au terminat cursuri și vor sa între în industrie. Ca sa te cheme la interviu, trebuie să-i sara ceva în OK de pe CV - o experiență, un proiect, o măslină, o atenție. Oricât de junior / internship ai fi, trebuie sa fii un pic util firmei, sa poți sa faci un task mic singur; nu te angajează nimeni ca după aia sa pună un mid / senior dev langa tine 24/7 ca sa îți arate cum sa faci merge și sa citești cod.
- ca parare subiectiva și total neceruta, cred ca ești blocat în tutorial-hell.
Cred ca ar trebui să-ți faci un plan (gen ca în Ian 2023 sa fi angajat ca developer (junior sau internship) și pentru asta ai cam ~2 luni sa faci un proiect micuț pe care-l să-l pui pe CV (un exemplu ar fi sa consumi și tu un API public, gen ala de la GitHub, ca sa faci un git repo searcher - folosește și tu o libarie de CSS și vezi dacă poți să-l faci un pic responsive)
Dacă partea de mai sus îți da atacuri de panica și nu știi de unde sa te apuci sa faci asta, sugestia mea ar fi sa termini the odin project (track-ul cu full stack JS recomanda oamenii pe aici). În paralel, îți recomand sa citești cartea asta (te învață cum sa înveți, titlul e ușor imbecili)
Dacă banii sunt o urgență, atunci poți încerca sa aplici pentru poziții de QA, cu mențiunea ca munca e destul de repetitivă și departe de programarea propriu-zisă, așa ca o sa fii în aceeași situație de acum, doar ca o sa poți zice ca lucrezi în IT.
My college days started in the early 90's, so it's been a long time, and I'm not a biochemist, but I have a tip to share with you, and anyone else who is about to embark on the college journey: Learn memory techniques, if you haven't already. There are various sources on the subject. I like learning by reading. One easy book on the subject is Unlimited Memory: How to Use Advanced Learning Strategies to Learn Faster, Remember More and be More Productive
May I recommend this book - A Mind for Numbers
Or you could work through the course which is free for now - Learning How to Learn
For Maths specifically, how about working through Khan Academy? Their practice exercises are, to me, pretty good.
Checkout book called Anki Essentials v1.1 It helped me.
One other thing that may interest you, being a good visualiser, is the potential for developing mnemonic techniques.
If you have an amazon account, you can read the first few chapters of the following book for free ("download sample"), the exercise described in chapter five "use you car to remember" - about 3 pages of description - should give you a flavour of what is possible.
You can use this to make a lot of use of visualisation skills in an academic setting, mostly through an increased ability to memorise and recall lists.
Best advice and best course I did (around 30) was the "Learning how to learn" course from coursera - its free and has a companion book a mind for numbers.
Highly Recommend. https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Numbers-Science-Flunked-Algebra-ebook/dp/B00G3L19ZU
That's fair. It's one of the things I've learnt in a software career, it's very difficult to have an emotional attachment to things on a computer screen.
Vidya games showcase some pretty extreme stuff for example. But we don't care because we know, 2D isn't real.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Mind-Numbers-Science-Flunked-Algebra-ebook/dp/B00G3L19ZU
Give that book a try. Spring for the physical copy even, it has most of what I was talking about.
I remember the big difference in my college days was putting my bed time in Google calendar. I had a bed time with 15, 30 and 60 minute notifications.
Even though I didn't actually go to bed then, the act of measuring how much sleep I got meant I really fixed my sleep schedule and things got better.
I always recommend the book A Mind for Numbers by Dr. Barbara Oakley along with the accompanying free Coursera course Learning How to Learn. Same information, different formats. It walks you through HOW to study - taking breaks so you can actually process what you just learned, how to review, flashcards, self-testing, etc. It also goes through what doesn't work - highlighting, passive re-reading, cramming for hours right before a test. All with scientific reasoning on how the brain works and what is the most efficient way to learn.
So I did the BS in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance degree and currently work in the field. Some of these responses about Cybersecurity are a little much... It is not that bad to work in the field.
Some things to note about it though is that it is a BROAD field. Cybersecurity includes things like audits/compliance, pentesting/offensive security, digital forensics, incident response, threat intelligence, governance risk compliance (GRC), security engineering, threat detection, application security, devsecops etc.
The other thing to note is that entry level roles are really competitive, especially if you have no tech back ground to start off with. It can be done, just super competitive.
With that out of the way, it seems you don't want to be pigeon holed and I say because of that then get the degree in Computer Science. Its the more general of the two degrees. You could always learn the cyber security stuff on your own later. Lots of resources out there.
I know you mentioned not being mathematically inclined but don't let that stop you. You could always do the math portions of the degree at Straighterline and transfer them in. There is also a ton of math resources now a days for people to use such as Khan academy and Wolfram Alpha. I can also recommend this book:
A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra) link: https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Numbers-Science-Flunked-Algebra-ebook/dp/B00G3L19ZU
Another thing to remember is that math and coding are skills. I believe that means when given the right resources, anyone can learn them.
Welcome! I am just halfway through my Social Psychology BA program :) This book has been extremely helpful for writing research papers. Also, powerthesaurus.com., grammarly and online APA citation generators. After writing so many academic research papers, choosing fresh language and sentence flow can become tiresome. Even after you get the hang of citation formats and paper organization, it’s just nice and handy to have those little helpful tools! You will do great!
I honestly don't have it all figured out, but I've done a few iterations on my system and I'm in a much better place with it than I have ever been.
I am currently using a system that uses all 3x5 notecards that I keep in a little notecard box, and separate with tab-separators. I've based the organization system on the zettlekasten system, which you can read about here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Take-Smart-Notes-Nonfiction-ebook/dp/B06WVYW33Y
I have a couple of different sections of notes so far. Monsters, Factions, NPCs, Treasure, Locations, and Next Session. As I'm doing prep, I just grab a stack of notecards and put every new concept on a new card. Events, Ideas, Little notes, procedures, anything goes into the 'next session' thing. I clarify thoughts on the cards and file them together into bundles that represent the locations, events or beats of the next session depending on what I'm running.
I can also pull cards out of my archive as necessary (monsters, NPCs locations, etc)
One thing I do a LOT that helps is to TRY to make concepts fit onto one side of a single card. Sometimes I'll overwrite a card, and have to re-write it to make it fit. Jettison ideas and clarify stuff. Cards get re-written a lot. If you find yourself re-writing a lot, that's a good thing.
There are a lot of benefits to using index cards. It keeps each concept concise. It lets you use each as a card. You can randomly select or deal cards out for wandering monsters. You can hand treasure cards to the players to keep in their inventory. You can let players take an NPC card and run the NPC if they hire them as a hireling. You can lay out a bunch of cards in front of you as an ad-hoc control panel... the list goes on and on.
If you're getting your "news" from liars and propagandists, you're worse off than if you'd watched no news at all.
You need to learn how to distinguish credible sources from those that aren't.
If you're an anti-vaxxer (AKA moron), then you have not learned even the basics of how to determine what is or isn't a credible source. You'll have to start with a Critical Thinking for Dummies type of guide. That's how lacking you are in even the basics of understanding reality.
Here's a place you might be able to start, if you're not too braindead from stuffing your head with stupid:
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Thinking-Skills-Dummies-Martin-ebook/dp/B00UYXHP0G
In the meantime, a tip from people who aren't braindead:
The mainstream media is a poor source of information about science and medicine; the best sources are peer-reviewed journals, but you need a reasonably good foundation in those subjects to make sense of the articles You don't have to know the ins and outs of, say, L-protease inhibitors, but you do need to have enough of a core science background to get the gist of the abstracts and conclusions that scientists reached from the EVIDENCE they investigated for those papers.
I am not the brightest person out there, but even I know that science is argued not in the media, but in peer-reviewed journals.
Hey dude, get a pencil and paper and spend your free time on it. It doesn't have to completely be finished in one session or one day. Just keep revisiting it and add as your mind processes it. I would love to recommend a great book to you by Barbara Oakley. It's called a mind for numbers. It's an amazing book that explains the processes of the brain and what the best methods are for actually improving your abilities. I'm sure you are much more capable than you think you are. I'm am extremely happy for you that you have found DMT, it will show you that you can improve yourself in ways you wouldn't even imagine were possible. Just couple the dmt with real world application and you will see drastic improvements. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00G3L19ZU/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glc_3H1DBYK2YVE5FT9YKK0G
Yes you can do it! You will not not fail.
This is a good, motivating resource: A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science
You simply have to change your study habits when it comes to math classes. You have to rework problems, use recall and pomodoro methods. (It can really be applied to many topics.)
This may be overkill and obvious to some people but this is what I did for all math classes (calculus, physics, linear algebra, discrete math, stats) as a 30 something returning to college.
I did a version of the above and it was inspired from the book I linked. My success with this method is high. FWIW. I graduate in December.
It's important to find something that works for you. And you'll figure that out through trial and error. Just hope the error isn't too high.
This book helped me find some multiple flaws in the way I use to study and in return, greatly improved my GPA. Don't be misguided by the title, these are tips for all field of studies (not just science and math).
Which would would you prefer I read?