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College Survival Guide/Creating a Planner

< College Survival Guide

Whenever starting a new semester, it's always a good idea to have your events planned out. If you have every detail of your day planned out, you'll become less susceptible to the planning fallacy.(1)

Supplies needed:

  1. Watch (Wristwatch or clock)
  2. Writing instrument.
  3. Paper or other surface for writing on.
  4. Grasp of division. Ex: [(140/7) = 20]
  5. Computer
  6. A spreadsheet program: Openoffice.org, Microsoft Excel, Google account, etc..

Creating a Class Schedule

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  1. Obtain your class schedule.
  2. Create a spreadsheet document.
  3. Wikibook not complete.....

Preparing to avoid the planning fallacy

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The planning fallacy occurs when you think you know how long something will take. However, a more mathematical approach to planning out your day would be better than an assumption. Typically the best way to figure out how long it will take to read 20 pages of a textbook is to time one's self. If a person were to stay keep the environment around her or him consistent, maintain the same speed of reading and comprehension, and keep on task, then he or she would have variables to help determine how long it took to read 20 pages. This may not be the best statistical way to prepare, but it is better than nothing or assuming.

Ex:

You sit in a quiet library with a pair of AoSafety headphones on. You keep your eyes on the book and maintain a steady rate of reading. In two hours you have read 20 pages of your textbook. If you were to continue going through your textbook—proceeding to a different text after the 20 pages and returning back to the preceding text—and reading 20 more pages, then you can view how long it took you to read 20 pages again.

Analyzed version:

  1. Read 20 pages of a book. (Book 1)
  2. Log the amount of time it took to read 20 pages.
  3. Read 20 pages of a different book. (Book 2)
  4. Log the amount of time it took to read 20 pages.
  5. Read 20 pages of a different book. (Book 3)
  6. Log the amount of time it took to read 20 pages.
  7. Read 20 pages of a different book. (Book 4)
  8. Log the amount of time it took to read 20 pages.
  9. Read 20 pages of a different book. (Book 5)
  • If you have fewer than five books, go back to book 1.
  • If you have greater than five books, alternate the time accordingly to whatever heuristic thought you have.

Ex:

  1. Read 15 pages of a different book. (Book 5)
  2. Log the amount of time it took to read 15 pages.
  3. Read 15 pages of a different book. (Book 6)

Continue reading and logging time for a week (7 days).

By the end of a week, you should have the amount of time it took you to read 20 pages of each book per day.

Example: Book 1 (Su: 2 hours; M: 1 hour 30 mins; T: 2 hours 15 minutes; ...) Add up the amount of time from each day for book 1; divide by 7.

  • This is typically how long it takes you to read 20 pages of book 1.

Do the same for every other book.

  • This is typically how long it takes you to read 20 pages of that book.

There may be problems with the first few days in which you become acquainted with a textbook. These problems should be totaled into the equation.

After doing this for a week, you have a better understanding of how long it takes you to read a certain book. It is advised that you switch between books.

Setting up a Reading Schedule

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References

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  1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planning_fallacy
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