I am a huge advocate of the 20-30 minute power nap. However I think the timing of it is important too. I was studying accounting last and decided I needed a nap. So I took a 30 minute nap at about 7pm. Good idea? Not so much. I was very refreshed but the problem was I was still wide awake at 1am last night when I finally forced myself to go to bed. So I'm pretty tired this morning and not doing a very good job of concentrating (as evidenced by the fact I'm typing this instead of paying attention in DA....). Oh well :) Here is a great page about naps:
http://www.mensjournal.com/healthFitness/0601/napping_power.html
How Long Is A Good Nap?
THE NANO-NAP: 10 to 20 seconds Sleep studies haven't yet concluded whether there are benefits to these brief intervals, like when you nod off on someone's shoulder on the train.
THE MICRO-NAP: two to five minutes Shown to be surprisingly effective at shedding sleepiness.
THE MINI-NAP: five to 20 minutes Increases alertness, stamina, motor learning, and motor performance.
THE ORIGINAL POWER NAP: 20 minutesIncludes the benefits of the micro and the mini, but additionally improves muscle memory and clears the brain of useless built-up information, which helps with long-term memory (remembering facts, events, and names).
THE LAZY MAN'S NAP: 50 to 90 minutesIncludes slow-wave plus REM sleep; good for improving perceptual processing; also when the system is flooded with human growth hormone, great for repairing bones and muscles.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Time Management (or lack thereof)
Ok, I think I've determined that my time management skills are severely lacking. Or maybe it's just my prioritization (according to my spell checker I made that word up....cool) skills.
Sometimes this program gets a little overwhelming and frustrating and I don't know where to even start studying. The Financial Accounting class is probably the worst one for me because it is so fast paced that you just can't afford to slow down. I need one of those golden watch things that stop time so I can stop and catch my breath! We had our first quiz today in accounting and I think I did okay (my definition of okay being that I know I got at least a 30% on the quiz....lol) but there came a point in my studying that I just had to stop studying for the quiz and read the next chapter (which I didn't complete) so I wouldn't be too far behind.
And now I'm studying for the Globalization quiz on Friday and trying to figure out how to study for the Decision Analysis class. And that reminds me, I think one of the things that drives me crazy in this program is that I would really like to have clear cut learning objectives, assignments and deadlines. I like everything to be laid out in front of me so I can just check them off as I go. But I don't feel like that is happening so I get frustrated and sometimes end up doing nothing because of it (not a recommended technique by the way).
My game plan is to somehow incorporate some extra reading. I would like to read and implement the ideas in David Allen's "Getting Things Done, The Art of Stress-Free Productivity". I have started that book a couple of times but never gotten past the first chapter because something else always comes up. But I have read very good reviews about this book and at this point I'm willing to try just about anything. On a similar note, if anyone has any recommendations for books on effective study habits please let me know. I've got to find a better method because the one I'm using right now isn't cutting it.
Sometimes this program gets a little overwhelming and frustrating and I don't know where to even start studying. The Financial Accounting class is probably the worst one for me because it is so fast paced that you just can't afford to slow down. I need one of those golden watch things that stop time so I can stop and catch my breath! We had our first quiz today in accounting and I think I did okay (my definition of okay being that I know I got at least a 30% on the quiz....lol) but there came a point in my studying that I just had to stop studying for the quiz and read the next chapter (which I didn't complete) so I wouldn't be too far behind.
And now I'm studying for the Globalization quiz on Friday and trying to figure out how to study for the Decision Analysis class. And that reminds me, I think one of the things that drives me crazy in this program is that I would really like to have clear cut learning objectives, assignments and deadlines. I like everything to be laid out in front of me so I can just check them off as I go. But I don't feel like that is happening so I get frustrated and sometimes end up doing nothing because of it (not a recommended technique by the way).
My game plan is to somehow incorporate some extra reading. I would like to read and implement the ideas in David Allen's "Getting Things Done, The Art of Stress-Free Productivity". I have started that book a couple of times but never gotten past the first chapter because something else always comes up. But I have read very good reviews about this book and at this point I'm willing to try just about anything. On a similar note, if anyone has any recommendations for books on effective study habits please let me know. I've got to find a better method because the one I'm using right now isn't cutting it.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
MBA commercial
In case you haven't seen it, this is the Fed-Ex commercial Jane was talking about in the GCMO class today.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
No more going in the backyard!
Just a quick update to let everyone know that the GAPP (Generally Accepted Peeing Principles) are now back in effect since we got our toilet and sink installed tonight (see my first post if you don't know what I'm talking about). Of course now it's almost 11pm and I still haven't started my Decision Analysis homework but sometimes ya just gotta set priorities....
Isn't this just a debate?
Well today was interesting for a variety of reasons. First of all, as usual I was operating on about 5 hours of sleep which this time I attribute to the evilness of Yahoo. If you've ever read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People you'll remember that Stephen Covey talks about how things are important, urgent, or some combination of the two. Well for me, email and IM's are both urgent and important and must be answered immediately. So even though I had every intention of reading as soon as I got home I ended up chatting with friends on Yahoo until about 9:30 when I finally just had to let Tina take over so I could get my reading done. I started reading the Shell Global Scenarios and when I woke up about 20 minutes later I was disappointed to find that I was still at the same place I was when I fell asleep.
Anyway, the most interesting class today was the Globalization class. That one is usually fun anyway because we just debate each other and I really like to debate alternate point of views. So I decided to take a stand and state that I felt morals were a universal concept and should apply everywhere and in every situation. And wow, did that get some people fired up! Now in my defense what I was trying to say was that I felt my morals applied universally in every situation that I am involved in, but it was much more fun to let people get riled up over the whole universal piece so I didn't bring that up. I'll admit that I tend to be an instigator sometimes but it's all in fun :)
The class debate was fun too as some people really get into it. Of course, as expected, Philippe opened with a speech that sounded as if he had prepared it days ago with the help of his researchers. Always hard to follow him because he does it quite well. But it wasn't long before people started to really fight for their point of view. Caroline was in the farmer group and at one point I thought she was about to come over the desk (ok, not really but she was pretty fired up!) I'm not sure if we settled anything but it was fun to see everyone argue their point of view.
Ok, enough for now...I need to go read tonight's homework because I'm going to attempt to install the toilet in the downstairs bathroom tonight so people don't have to go outside :)
Anyway, the most interesting class today was the Globalization class. That one is usually fun anyway because we just debate each other and I really like to debate alternate point of views. So I decided to take a stand and state that I felt morals were a universal concept and should apply everywhere and in every situation. And wow, did that get some people fired up! Now in my defense what I was trying to say was that I felt my morals applied universally in every situation that I am involved in, but it was much more fun to let people get riled up over the whole universal piece so I didn't bring that up. I'll admit that I tend to be an instigator sometimes but it's all in fun :)
The class debate was fun too as some people really get into it. Of course, as expected, Philippe opened with a speech that sounded as if he had prepared it days ago with the help of his researchers. Always hard to follow him because he does it quite well. But it wasn't long before people started to really fight for their point of view. Caroline was in the farmer group and at one point I thought she was about to come over the desk (ok, not really but she was pretty fired up!) I'm not sure if we settled anything but it was fun to see everyone argue their point of view.
Ok, enough for now...I need to go read tonight's homework because I'm going to attempt to install the toilet in the downstairs bathroom tonight so people don't have to go outside :)
Monday, July 16, 2007
Here we go!
For my first real post I just wanted to write a little about my intent of this blog. I enjoy writing about my experiences and do write another blog but it is not really geared towards this audience and probably not appropriate for all ages so I'm starting this one to share my experiences as I work towards my IMBA. I doubt I will be able to match the comedic genius of Philippe and his postings on Facebook but I'll try.
So I hope everyone enjoys this and I'll do my best to keep it interesting and entertaining, but most of all, true to life.
So I hope everyone enjoys this and I'll do my best to keep it interesting and entertaining, but most of all, true to life.
A day in the life....
I'm kind of cheating on this one because I wrote it yesterday and posted it to the Yahoo group we have for our class. But I'm going to copy and paste it here for my first post :)
For those of you that think there is too much going on and can't study let me just tell you about a day in the life of the Allen household...
I was peacefully going about studying accounting and printing off exercises when the doorbell rang. I open the door to see a woman I've never seen before and one of my 14 year old daughter's friends. The woman proceeds to tell me about how this girl apparently belongs here (at this point I have no idea what she is talking about) and how she had stayed out until 3am with her son. But the girl (Tricia is her name) won't tell the woman where she lives so she is bringing her back to our house since Tricia was supposed to be spending the night (a story Tricia had completely made up to avoid getting in trouble I assume). Too much drama for me so I pass this one off to my wife and daughter.
So now back to studying. Then maybe 30 minutes later I hear Tina (my wife) yelling at one of my son's friends because he had decided that since we are remodeling the downstairs bathroom and there is no toilet in there that he would just go outside and pee in the backyard. Now I know some of you are thinking, "and....?" but it's a generally accepted rule that once you are past the age of 2 and not drunk that it is not okay to pee in the yard. But whatever, Tina seems to have this one handled too. So this time I decide to go outside on the porch and sit in the rocking chair and read my accounting book since it is quieter out there.
I manage to finish chapter 3 (okay, so I'm a little behind....) when I hear arguing coming from the living room. I go inside to find out what is going on and find my 16 year old son (also named Karl) is arguing with Tina about why he can or can't pee outside. After all, he shouldn't have to go all the way upstairs, and if the dog can pee outside why can't he? Not one to get into arguments about things like this I simply told everyone in the room (which consisted of 6 teenagers) that peeing outside was unacceptable. They would use one of the upstairs bathrooms...end of conversation.
But when you are 16 everyone is against you and somehow the conversation conveyed that message to Karl. He got mad and said he was leaving. He starts looking for the keys to the van so he could leave while I stand there and tell him that he is not going anywhere. He is not listening and finds the keys so by this time I have to get
in his face. Not something I like to do (as a red usual and blue needs) but he left me with no choice. So we are standing there in the hallway face to face as I stare him down and essentially dare him to try and get past me. He finally throws the keys down, hits the refrigerator door, kicks some boxes and storms outside managing to
shatter the glass in the storm door in the process. So now I have a house in chaos, broken glass all over the foyer and porch, and my son walking off down the street.
Then maybe an hour later, still trying to deal with the previous situation, Tina and my youngest daughter are moving a china hutch but Morgan doesn't realize the top and bottom of the hutch are not attached. So she is pushing on the hutch and manages to push it off the base so all the vases and various pieces of china that I picked up
in Korea slide off and land on the floor in a whole bunch of tiny little pieces. Oh, and somehow a little while later Morgan managed to break off one of our kitchen cabinet doors.
And all that happened before 2:00pm. Now back to accounting....
For those of you that think there is too much going on and can't study let me just tell you about a day in the life of the Allen household...
I was peacefully going about studying accounting and printing off exercises when the doorbell rang. I open the door to see a woman I've never seen before and one of my 14 year old daughter's friends. The woman proceeds to tell me about how this girl apparently belongs here (at this point I have no idea what she is talking about) and how she had stayed out until 3am with her son. But the girl (Tricia is her name) won't tell the woman where she lives so she is bringing her back to our house since Tricia was supposed to be spending the night (a story Tricia had completely made up to avoid getting in trouble I assume). Too much drama for me so I pass this one off to my wife and daughter.
So now back to studying. Then maybe 30 minutes later I hear Tina (my wife) yelling at one of my son's friends because he had decided that since we are remodeling the downstairs bathroom and there is no toilet in there that he would just go outside and pee in the backyard. Now I know some of you are thinking, "and....?" but it's a generally accepted rule that once you are past the age of 2 and not drunk that it is not okay to pee in the yard. But whatever, Tina seems to have this one handled too. So this time I decide to go outside on the porch and sit in the rocking chair and read my accounting book since it is quieter out there.
I manage to finish chapter 3 (okay, so I'm a little behind....) when I hear arguing coming from the living room. I go inside to find out what is going on and find my 16 year old son (also named Karl) is arguing with Tina about why he can or can't pee outside. After all, he shouldn't have to go all the way upstairs, and if the dog can pee outside why can't he? Not one to get into arguments about things like this I simply told everyone in the room (which consisted of 6 teenagers) that peeing outside was unacceptable. They would use one of the upstairs bathrooms...end of conversation.
But when you are 16 everyone is against you and somehow the conversation conveyed that message to Karl. He got mad and said he was leaving. He starts looking for the keys to the van so he could leave while I stand there and tell him that he is not going anywhere. He is not listening and finds the keys so by this time I have to get
in his face. Not something I like to do (as a red usual and blue needs) but he left me with no choice. So we are standing there in the hallway face to face as I stare him down and essentially dare him to try and get past me. He finally throws the keys down, hits the refrigerator door, kicks some boxes and storms outside managing to
shatter the glass in the storm door in the process. So now I have a house in chaos, broken glass all over the foyer and porch, and my son walking off down the street.
Then maybe an hour later, still trying to deal with the previous situation, Tina and my youngest daughter are moving a china hutch but Morgan doesn't realize the top and bottom of the hutch are not attached. So she is pushing on the hutch and manages to push it off the base so all the vases and various pieces of china that I picked up
in Korea slide off and land on the floor in a whole bunch of tiny little pieces. Oh, and somehow a little while later Morgan managed to break off one of our kitchen cabinet doors.
And all that happened before 2:00pm. Now back to accounting....
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