The one thing that has changed significantly for me, since the beginning of the academic year, is my level of comfort. I pined for VU for some time- it was once, in a sense, my second home, and had been since 2001. However, things change, time moves forward and I am now relatively comfortable at RMIT. I've found the Research Workshop both enjoyable useful and it has given me many new ideas about effective research practices. I'm also enjoying the other two subjects I'm undertaking (Communication Revolutions and Histories of Film Theory). They too have contributed substantially in widening my knowledge base. I've also been able to utilize my writing skills, which is imperative to me. The pie chart exercise Adrian asked us to do (below) was extremely worthwhile. It has allowed me to 'see' my strengths and weaknesses and determine which areas I need to concentrate on improving.

Pie Chart...

The results from the pie chart we did in today’s research workshop have clarified quite a lot for me regarding my study habits/plans. They were as follows:

Time spent on…

 
Reading/ note taking 30%
Writing 30%
Planning 5%
Editing/polishing 5%
Study group (Comm. Rev) 5%
Stressing/procrastinating/contemplating 10%
Other stuff 15%

 
Clearly my study habits are a little unbalanced. My 'Achilles heel' is reading academic texts. I find them turgid and dense, much like walking through mud while wearing boots made of lead. I also have difficulties with time management- I need to allocate myself more time for ALL tasks, especially reading and writing. Leaving things 'til the last minute and working under pressure just doesn't work for me. I've compiled a list (below) of the things I MUST do in order to improve my study habits and make my uni life a little easier...

 
1. Allocate more time for the things I DON’T like doing and do them FIRST so they’re out of the way… (then reward myself for having completed the things I hate doing).

2. Take notes in EVERY subject, EVERY week. Using my digital recorder in lectures and tutes may also be worthwhile.

3. Externalise my plans- make them VISIBLE. Note taking and ticking off when tasks are completed may be a good way to monitor my progress.

4. Make AT LEAST TWO back-ups of the data I produce.

5. Spend equal amounts of time on each subject and more time researching for thesis.

6. Blog more and use blogs as a way of monitoring my progress.

7. Readdress thesis proposal- redifine and tighten it up. 

8. Talk more to others in the research group (work on conquering shyness!!!)  

Link to thesis proposal: http://elgg.net/nataliet/weblog/9426.html 

 
Thus far, I feel I’ve achieved quite a bit this year. I've certainly learned a lot- esp. about blogging. It has proven to be a helpful and useful tool for communicating with others and monitoring one's progress. But I really need to spend more time reading and researching. I also need to work on becoming more confident within myself.  I do have a tendency to think the worst (re myself, not others!) and it isn’t helping. It means I spend more time worrying, procrastinating, picking at my face, staring at the wall, opening the fridge and closing it again for no apparent reason, whining to my ex partner about what I 'haven’t' done, etc, etc… I need to 're-structure' my uni-world and stick to it. And I need to change my thoughts from 'negative' to 'positive'- this is going to be a tough one! But I CAN do it!! Actually, in retrospect, negative thinking is probably my real Achilles heel. This MUST change.

 
I also intend to:

1. Further explore the Action Research definitions we posted a little while ago. I found the notion of action research quite interesting.
Some links to various definitions:  http://elgg.net/nataliet/weblog/12416.html

http://elgg.net/kristin/weblog/12708.html

http://elgg.net/rubia/weblog/12610.html 

2. Add to my filmography and bibliography... Links to the beginnings of both: http://elgg.net/nataliet/weblog/12667.html

http://elgg.net/nataliet/weblog/9685.html 

3. Readdress and revise my abstract. Tighten things up a little... Link to abstract: http://elgg.net/nataliet/weblog/11613.html 

4. Post more reviews on IMDb- practise my film writing skills, etc...

Link to my first IMDb review on 'Sans Soleil': 

 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084628/usercomments-14

Lastly, I've attempted to make a link to one of my stored files (below), just to make sure I know how to do it. I'm still finding RSS feeds slightly confusing. I've attempted to use them a few times, but I don't know if I have done so successfully. Time to start  on list of 'to dos' above... :-)

labsome/meanwhile 

No, this blog has absolutely nothing to do with Labsome or academe. 
Just trying this 'inserting a pic' business again. I'm determined to remember how to do it!!! This blogging thing is rather addictive. First a mobile phone, now a (minor) fondness of the net- my Luddite aspirations are waning...