Perspective, Challenges, and Time Management - Week 3

Utilizing Databases for Research

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When I am researching using a database, I usually type in some words that I think may give me a useful result, then when I get a long list of useless words, I try changing the words I used when searching or adding filters, like dates published and type of piece (i.e. academic journal, e-book, etc). It typically takes me longer to do database research compared to research with a search engine. Most of the time I spend on database research is trying to find the right database to use. In the past I have used primarily EBSCO and Gale as those are the two Mrs. Costello mentions a lot by name, so when I think of databases, those are the two my mind starts with. I usually get pretty frustrated with my database research. I can never find a lot about topics I need, or the only useful information I find is one paragraph out of an entire book. I think If I search databases more appropriately and wasn't rushing to get it done I may be able to find more useful sources. So far, I have found a grand total of ZERO journal articles from databases. I'll need to make some more progress with this later this week.

Time Management

My ability to manage time is pretty good, except I only manage my time well when I want to. For instance, if I need to manage my time with activities I like, then no problem, everything is organized and managed well, and may even have a written schedule, down to the minute, of what I'm doing. If I need to manage my time with activities I don't like or things I have to do but don't want to do, then my time management skills fall apart. I may tell myself I'm gonna do something before some point, but then I will procrastinate doing that until about a week after it needed to be done.

Typical Day

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In the morning, I have a first period study hall, so I don't come into school until 8:30am, so I sleep until 8am, giving me an extra hour at least. Sometimes I procrastinate work and need to wake up earlier to get it done, this used to happen often with my Topics in Literature blogs for last semester. I go to school and go about my day, and any free time I have during the school day is usually set aside for things I want to do rather than things I need to do. After school I usually just, do no work at all. I usually hang out with friends or watch some Netflix, YouTube, or Hulu. I don't typically have any homework this semester for any of my classes, but in previous years, I just pushed it off until it was late and eventually did it at some point.

Time Management Continued

My time management suffers due to lack of motivation. Truth is, I don't like doing work I don't enjoy. If I was motivated to do work, then I think I may be more willing to properly manage my time for that. I think that this class will receive good time management from me because I get to pick what I am researching and doing my project on, so I hope this motivates me enough to set aside appropriate time for this class.

Calendar
I took the liberty of putting my calendar into a Google Calendar. I like to have all my stuff in one place: on my laptop, and I use Google Calendars religiously in my every day life. Also, putting everything into a Google Calendar makes it so I can see it whenever and wherever I am.
You can see my Google Calendar HERE.

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There are many things that challenge me within my life. Basically anything a normal, functioning human does is challenging for me because I am that incompetent. In all seriousness though, one thing that I anticipate struggling with in this class is actually going out and working with people. Collaboration is not a strong suit for me and it puts me in an uncomfortable situation. I am excited to be able to pick what I learn about in this class. I don't wanna read Shakespeare or boring books like I have in previous english classes. I'm glad I have the choice to tailor my education towards my interests.