In Sickness and in Health

Hi to everyone,

And thanks to those who commented. Johns suggestion makes perfect sense, though I do feel like I am going through a period of re-training my brain, it seems to get stuck in gear sometimes, it can be a very stubborn brain! A bit like an old Citroen 2cv I used to have.

This week has been a trial to say the least, largely down to illness in the family. It has prevented me achieving my aims from my last post but....... I would like to put a positive spin on things, I am proud of how I still managed to get 2 essays done, even though my time plan went out of the window completely. I think I showed a good level of commitment and determination, a very late night was involved when I really needed sleep, ahh sleep hmmm, I digress!

I think the college week as gone quite well, I feel Asked the right questions for what I need to know, but I do think group discussions could be more active. Come on folks SPEAK UP!

There has been a lot of written work again this week, and I don't mind admitting that I can't wait for the practical stuff to start. Let the creative juices flow!

Aims

As for my aims this week, simple ones I think, they are:

1. To get my time planning back on track. I need organisation in my life!

2. To do as much research as possible this week, I would like to experience the sensation of being in front of my work, if that kind of thing really does happen.

3. To clear my head before starting work. This may sound a little bit daft, but I seem to experience a block before I start working. Like I can make no sense of things. It causes me to lose time and panic a little. Less panic next week hopefully!

Again thanks for reading and feedback is always welcome.

Mark.

FREE BEER!

And now I have your attention viewers……

I am now in my 2nd week back at college and things are becoming slightly more settled. Projects are becoming clearer in regards to what is required, and that has made me feel generally happier.

I am seeing already that some serious juggling of time, and tasks is going to be required, but so far I have not quite got to grips with this.

I think this is down to the fact that we have a lot of work to do, and I have not yet prioritised what needs doing 1st. I am continuing to fill in weekly planning, though I don't believe my planning is efficient enough yet.

I need to become more efficient as soon as possible, there is a lot to learn, and my impression is that the quicker that learning is done, the better the chances are of making a good job of the projects, particular the CiSSy project.

The Biz project as shed light on another weakness I have, that is my ability to get to deeply involved in one research subject. This is a drain on my time and I need to be investing time in a more evenly spread way.

Aims

My aims for this week are

1. To organise my work load efficiently, hopefully this will bear fruit in the form of more time left for other work.

2. To stop myself frittering time away on research, making my research cover what it needs to and not 'go in too deep'

I only have the 2 aims for this week but I think they are the big 2!

I would also be grateful for any feedback, so feel free to chip in with any suggestions or comments.

Thanks for reading

Mark

Losing My Blog Virginity

My first week back at college and my first ever blog!

It was a nervous start to the week, the anticipation of coming back after 4 months off and the excitement was getting to me. I knew that the work was going to be more intense than the first year, and so it is proving even this early on.

The tempo feels as though it has been upped and at the moment I feel okay with it, though it is early days and I am sure there are stressful times to come.

I have started as I mean to go on, my time planner is filled in and I will be trying to stick to it, though no doubt the plan will change along the way.

I feel I must be far more strict with my self organisation this year to make a good job of my work. If I don't stick to mini deadlines and my time plan I know I will struggle.

I have started dating my sketchbook pages to help me record when I have done tasks and think this will be valuable to illustrate my new found time management skills.

In general, I feel this has been a good first week, exciting but slightly scary.