Marketing Plan and Marketing Strategy

Complete understanding of the marketplace and very careful planning are very important in developing a business strategy that will guarantee success. Successful businesses have certainly all stated with a very efficient and effective marketing plan. In running a business, marketing plays a very important role. The business owner must be knowledgeable with the business’ customers, with their competitors, their strengths and weaknesses. These elements along with others should be well-defined in order to develop a well-written marketing plan and should be carried out though effective marketing strategies. Marketing Plan and its Overall Purpose An excellent marketing plan will draw how the business can catch the attention and retain their customers, how it will content with identified competitors and the needed fund to achieve desirable results. The marketing plan should incorporate a thorough market research, location of the business, the targeted group of customers, competition, product or service to put in the market for sale and effective strategies for promotions and advertisements. A marketing plan assists the business to incorporate its total marketing effort. It makes sure of a logical and organized approach to products and services development in order to meet and satisfy the needs of the customers. (Paul, 2007) Conducting a market research is needed to start an effective marketing plan. Through market research, relevant data will be gathered in order to help the business to solve possible problems in marketing. Frequently, the most common way of conducting market research is though survey via direct mail, telephone survey or facilitating a focus group session. Derivative or secondary data is also important to a successful market plan. Studies and reports done by different sectors of the society, like the government, associations and other businesses within the industry can provide very significant data and statistics on the research area. Consumer behavior research as the scientific study of the processes consumers use to select, secure, use, and dispose of products and services that satisfy their needs is very important in market research. Consumer behavior unswervingly affects marketing strategy. This is because of the concept of marketing, the idea that firms are present to satisfy customer needs (Winer, 2000). In writing the marketing plan the business needs to be clear on its objectives and how they will achieve them. A good marketing plan makes realistic, measurable and very clear objectives, which includes deadlines, provides a budget and designates responsibilities. A marketing plan is comprised of an analysis of the current market of the business, the business’ objectives, the business’ key strategies, the business’ actions to attaining their objectives, their allocated budget and the effective timing of entering and positioning in the market Regardless of what type of market research a business will do, the focus should be on gathering sufficient information to find out who the potential customers are, if there is product or service demand for the business, if there are competitors in the scope of the business and how can the business be successful in the marketplace that they belong to. A comprehensive and a well-written marketing plan is very vital to all business undertakings because it illustrates how the business plan to attract and retain customers, how they will compete with their competitors, and what resources will they have available to attain the identified goals of the business. (Paul, 1997) Marketing Strategy and its Various Components In the present intense competition in the marketplace, a strategy that guarantees a coherent approach providing the business’ product or service in a way that it will outperform its competitors is very crucial. On the other hand, by defining the marketing strategy of the business, it is a must to have a well-written methodology for the everyday process of implementing it. There is little value to strategy when the business lacks the resources or the know-how in its implementation. The process of developing a marketing strategy involves the consideration of many factors. Out of those factors some are more important compared with the others. For the reason that each strategy must prioritize some distinct considerations, it is not rational to determine each important factor at a generic level. (Porter, 1998) In developing a marketing strategy, there are two major components, which are: How will the business address the competition in the market How will the business carry out and support their daily operations After selecting the direction which is the most ideal for the overall objectives of the business, the next step is to consider the following factors in order to select a strategy for the offering that will outsell in the market: (Porter, 1998) Pricing After determining the overall objective of the offering and selecting a generic strategy, the business should then decide on the range of closely associated operational strategies. One of these is how will the business price the offering. The pricing strategy is mostly influenced by the business’ necessity for net income and the objectives for stable market control. Promotion In order to sell an offering, the business should effectively promote and advertise it. Place of Distribution The business must choose the distribution channel and the method that will be utilized to get the offering into the close to the customer. Product/Service The business should be scrupulously familiar with the factors that launch products/services as strong contenders in the marketplace. Once the strategy is defined the must use the gathered information to determine whether this strategy will attain the objective of making the business competitive in the marketplace. Marketing Plan and a Marketing Strategy Fitting Together The marketing plan is how the business puts marketing strategy into practice. It is worth emphasizing the main points of the business’ strategy in the plan. The marketing plan functions as a detailed road map for the planning and supervision of all marketing undertakings for a given period. An effective marketing plan must be customized and it may be essential to change a range of sections to meet the changing needs of the business to which it applies. Effective marketing plans start by studying what is presently happening and what has happened in the past. It is unworkable to build up solid plans for the future if the present situation is misunderstood. The marketing plan can then be considered as the practical application of their marketing strategy. In effect, the business will not have a marketing plan without a marketing strategy. Then marketing strategies sets in by being delivered by the business’ detailed marketing plan. Conclusion Operating successful business is not an easy task; it involves a great deal of business knowledge. Marketing is simply all about letting people know about the product or service that a certain business offers, and influencing potential customers to buy or use it. And for effective marketing the business have to let people know about their product or service constantly and to do this, the business will to have to come up with both an appropriate and effective marketing strategy and a marketing plan. References: Paul, S. (2007). Why Need a Marketing Plan?, Legal Zoom Article Center. Porter, M. (1998). Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, Free Press. Winer, R.S. (2007). Marketing Management, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Advanced Practice Nurse Essay

The Advanced Practice Nurse will play a crucial role in advancement of the healthcare system in the United States. There are several factors affecting today’s healthcare system which will influenced the future development of the Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) role. Some of the major factors include the evolving federal and states laws, rapidly growing and aging population, increasing rates of chronic diseases in children and adults, and the cost of healthcare. These challenges require increase need for well trained healthcare professionals (OJN). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that was singed into law March 23, 2010 had the greatest impact in healthcare reform in the United States since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. This legislation established emphasis on preventive services with focus on primary care, funds for community health initiatives, and improve quality of care. It also afforded health insurance to millions of Americans who are c urrently uninsured (OJN). The influx of new patients will stress an already strained healthcare system. According to the American Academy of Family physicians, by 2020, the United States will need 40 percent more primary care providers . One way to meet the increasing shortage of primary care provider is to enhance and expedite the growth of Advanced Practice Registered Nurse. A government accounting office noted that Nurse Practitioner are the fastest growing group of primary care providers . (p-241-242). Nurse practitioners could fill the growing shortage of primary care more quickly than physicians. It only takes nurses 6 years of education and training while physicians may require 11-12 years.(health policy) The Advanced Practice Nurse role is also defined by the individual state’s Rules, regulations and statutes. Advanced Practice Registered Nurse practitioners in most states are still fighting their state laws which prevents them from independently practicing without a collaborative agreement with a physician. Currently only 19 states and the District of Columbia allow nurse practitioners to practice independently of a physician. (KHN) The American Nurses Association conducted a review of 19 studies in May 2010, which confirmed that care delivered by a nurse equivalent is equivalent to care provided by a physician.. In addition, the study showed that NP’s consistenly provided more patient care, follow-up, and Consultation time, b(OOO) Another factor that has impact on the future role of Advanced Practice Nurse is the increase healthcare needs of the aging population and chronic Diseases of children and adults. (Impact). More complex healthcare needs increases The cost of healthcare. The cost of U.S. healthcare is $7,538 per capita spending. This is nearly double than any other organization. (OJN) Nurse practitioner Providing care in primary care is less costly than a physician since since they tend to offer fewer to tests and expensive diagnostic procedure. According to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration, or HRSA, at least 55 million Americans live in areas with an inadequate supply of primary care doctors. Massachusetts has the most primary care doctors per capita; Mississippi has the fewest. The nation would need more than 15,000 additional providers to meet the target ratio of one primary care practitioner for every 3,500 residents, according to HRSA, a gap that cannot be filled with physicians. The Association of American Medical Colleges predicts a worsening shortage ahead. In the next 10 years, as one-third of all doctors retire, there will be 90,000 fewer doctors than needed to serve the nation’s aging population. Half of the shortage will be in primary care. Nationwide, 117,000 physicians practiced family medicine in 2012, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation; 134,000 nurse practitioners practiced primary care, according to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Last year, only 1,916 U.S. medical school graduates, or about 12 percent of the total, went into primary care residency programs, according to the nonprofit research group National Resident Matching Program. Nursing school graduates who went into primary care totaled 11,764 in 2012, about 84 percent of all NP graduates. But will relaxing state NP licensing laws improve patient access to care? A study reported this month in the journal Health Affairs says yes. The authors found that between 1998 and 2010, as more states relaxed licensing laws, the number of patients receiving care from NPs increased by a factor of 15.

Nissan USA

How to effectively manage new employees at the Ionians Smyrna plant? II. Statement of the Objective To adapt US and Japanese corporate cultures at the Ionians Smyrna plant within 6 months Ill. Areas of Consideration Strengths a. Latest Japanese management techniques and technology for producing vehicles b. Key positions and first line production supervisors are being filled by workers from Tennessee through an agreement with the State c.Hired experienced and native Tenseness that will be have specialized training in Japan for 2 to 4 months d. Participative management or harmonious relationship between management and labor e. Maximize human resources by implementing job enlargement and enrichment. Weaknesses a. Japanese economy Is worst advertisement for free trade b. The company's top management Is aged between 50 – 65 years old c. Cultural difference in work attitudes are predominant d. Language barrier Opportunities a. Employee screening by Tennessee Department of Employment b.Maximize human resources of Ionians USA bib enlargement and Job enrichment) Threats a. Use of robots that will replace human workers b. Temporary or sub-contract workers are opposed by US unions (AAU) Alternative Courses of Action ACACIA: To unionized the new employees thru AAU participation ACE: To establish strong reward system for workers V. Analysis ACACIA: To unionized the employees thru JAW Advantages: 1 . Promotes Job security and decreases Job attrition rate 2. As Americans tend to be individualistic, management could convey messages thru union organizations 3.Induce harmonious relationship between management and workers 4. Labor cost can be fixed for quite sometime, thus management cod roper plan its cost Disadvantages: 1. If abuse, management may have decrease human resource control 2. May subject companies to tantamount labor disputes induce by the union organization ACE: To implement employee empowerment thru trainings and decision making participation Advantages: 1 . Awareness on the Japanese management style and operations of the business 2. Improves the confidence of workers that increases productivity, efficiency and quality products 3.Develop teamwork open communication among between management and workers 4. Employee satisfaction and welfare 5. Work motivating environment 1. Abuse benefits and familiarity 2. Compromise confidentiality ACE: To establish strong reward and recognition system for workers Advantages: 1 . Improves the confidence of workers that increases productivity, efficiency and quality products 2. Job enrichment/satisfaction 3. Competitiveness of workers 4. Motivated workers 1 . Over-expectations 2. Bias/sub]activity of reward criteria 3. Compromise the quality of output VI.Conclusion Decision Matrix Criteria ACE ACE Cost 3 2 Performance effectiveness Turn-over rate Total 4 9 5 Definition of Criteria Cost – the amount of money needed to pursue the recommended courses of action Performance effectiveness – effic iency of workers resulting to increase quality and productivity Turn-over rate – decrease in turn-over rate of workers Criteria Weights 3 – least costly, most effective, lowest turn-over rate 2 – less costly, more effective, lower turn-over rate 1 – costly, effective, low turn-over rate 0 AC 2 is chosen for the most advantageous plan.Identify/ highlight good cultural corporate traits among workers and promote practice of such in the work place Quality circle members, Department Heads Decorate the plant with posters sharing good US and Japan corporate values John Bryan, HER Department 1 month Send key employees to Japan for training John Bryan, Department Heads, Conduct monthly meetings discussing corporate cultures and corrections if any John Bryan, Quality circle members, Every month Conduct small focus group discussion among workers regarding work and corporate culture HER Department, Department Heads Monitor results John Bryan, HER Department 2 months

Movies on Racial Discrimination Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Movies on Racial Discrimination - Movie Review Example And even though he was locked up inside, he still knows how to do and handle "business." Guys on their neighborhood, Mexican-Americans mostly, are members of their gang and they call one another as "carnal." When he got out of the jail, he learned from his father that he was not born out of love but just a product of a sexual assault. His mother then was raped by sailors at the time of the Zoot Suit Riot. When Santana met his love interest in the movie, he was tempted to change his ways for her sake. But even if he was tempted, it did not happen. Some things went wrong so the two of them did not end up being together. Santana, in the last part of the movie, was brought back behind the bars again and there he was killed by his fellow inmates. Talk to Me, on the other hand, is a movie that has concentrated on the life of Petey Greene after he got out of prison. He was an ex-convict who wanted to land a job in a radio station where his former inmate's brother is working. He was at first turned down by Dewey thinking that helping him might cost him his job. But the table has twitched and turned and so Dewey has still decided to help him. Hence, Petey has become a successful disc jockey and a television personality. The issue then on race is and has always been a big matter even up to now when there are already so many societies claiming to practice egalitarianism. But what like Marks said- racial categories are but just "cultural constructs" to which Biology would deny to give its support (Marks, available from http://www.mrrena.com/misc/race.php). In the movie Zoot Suit, it was clearly presented that the Mexican-Americans' trademark are the Zoot Suits. But as mentioned in the film, the real meaning of Zoot suit has been distorted by the media. It was used against them and was used to label them. As a result, crimes or any sort of violence within the area would always be attributed to them. Marks also mentioned in his writing that being a member of what he called "unbiological groupings" referring to the racial categories (such as the Chicanos and Jews) "may mean the difference between life and death, for they are the categories that allow us to be identified (and accepted or vilified) socially" (Marks, available from http://www.mrrena.com/misc/race.php). Applying it in the context of the movie American Me, becoming a part of the gang to which Santana belongs to is one's pride and joy. This film didn't portray racism as it is in the usual way since the Mexican-Americans here were the ones being discriminatory. And as a proof to this, there was even a scene in the movie that showed the gang raping a white guy. Another movie that has touched some of the issues on racism is Talk to Me. Blacks, as we all know, have always been mistreated. They have been often discriminated and ridiculed by the Whites as if they belong to a different species. Their opinions or take on matters are not important at all or so they believe. In this movie, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot to death, the Blacks cause an uproar and chaos on the streets to show the Whites how angry they were for killing him. The Blacks' strong affinity with him is maybe because he was also one of them. Furthermore, only few people can assert their right on social issues and Martin Luther King Jr. was one of them. He was like the voice of the Black people so it wasn't surprising anymore that people would violently react about his death.

Ethics and the Criminal Justice Profession Case Study

Ethics and the Criminal Justice Profession - Case Study Example He fails to document this information." (Rothlein, 2007). This case shows that evidence has been discarded that may or may not affect the case. It is not within the bounds of the detective to determine that. All evidence must be disclosed. This case essentially tells how important the Brady v Maryland case is in the everyday job of the police officer or investigator. This in many ways is a difficult question to answer. No one wants to be held to a higher standard than those around them. However, I again quote the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics. In paragraph two it says: "I will keep my private life unsullied, as an example to all: I will be exempletory in obeying the laws of the land and the regulations of my department."(Law Enforcement Code of Ethics). If we do not hold the police officer at a higher standard than what might that affect when it comes time to prosecute a criminal If the arresting officer is known to indulge in drug abuse off duty and then arrests someone for doing the same while on duty, how does he justify that Because it is the law.

Philosophy of Life after Death Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Philosophy of Life after Death - Essay Example This paper illustrates that, first, the concept of dualism makes one belief in life after death. Dualism is a belief that people exist in both material and nonmaterial nature, which seem to be independent of each other. According to Taylor, dualists argue that human beings consist of body and soul, the latter being the center if the character and mental element. In dualist, thinking the body is less significant since it is only a carrier of the soul, which survives after the end of the body. Some activities in our lives, for instance, to detect, to will, to consider are totally independent of the physical being, which makes sense in believing in dualism. Descartes, as quoted in seven oaks philosophy website, argues, â€Å"considered the human soul simple, indivisible and indestructible, and thus able to maintain its existence after the death of the body†. One will tend to ask what form a body will take on the next life now that the body is no more. Dualism assumes that life af ter death is continuous and that souls and spirits no longer live in bodies. One measure to self is a solid form, which one must bear even after death. Therefore, dualism fails in this criterion in that the afterlife form do not have bodies to connect with, which means they acquire different forms all together. In the resurrection, Christians believe that sinners get their punishments in purgatory and the saints enjoy in heaven. The inquiry one will ask is how a sinner in the spirit body will feel the pain inflicted on him in hell, or how a saint will enjoy without the physical form. These questions arise because pleasure and pain come to the physical body and not to the soul. Assumptions in dualism prove that there is no life after death. Secondly, the philosophical believes of materialism is not a strong enough support in life after death. In materialism, persons are assumed to rejuvenate and receive the same type of body after death. The lives lived by the resurrected persons com pares with their early life on earth in many ways. They live in a perfect world where they do all they want: good food, walk on bright paths, do not become ill, do not sin, and they have ample possessions. The major concern that arises is how the older person compares to the new person. Can we still prove it is the same person? According to Barnes as quoted in seven oaks philosophical website, â€Å"we cannot imagine ourselves living in heaven or paradise and still being ourselves: if our flaws are corrected, our disabilities removed, our needs and wants to be satisfied, are we still in any meaningful sense the same person?† Assumptions in a materialistic approach to resurrection fail to meet the criterion of identity. The transformation of the persons who die to the new heavenly body without flaws, disabilities, or needs means that the two bodies are two entities altogether. To me, the process of life after death is an impossibility through resurrection. Consider a human bei ng who is a cannibal.

U.S. Demographics to the Year 2050 and the Outlook for Social Security Essay

U.S. Demographics to the Year 2050 and the Outlook for Social Security - Essay Example Using predictions that assume a low birth rate, at one time, its expenditure will have been outrun by the income generated. Consequently, in the absence of a suitable alternative source of income, the system will fail (Bergmann 2). It is, therefore, quite essential to make correct and accurate predictions, especially the ones that assume the worst-case scenarios. This prepares the system managers for the worst, and the necessary arrangements made to avoid the situation. Assuming the worst does not happen would give a moral boost for the system but will leave it unprepared for any drastic future changes (Boskin 2). The two segments that most influence the social security system are the people that fall between ages 18 and 64, and 65 years and above, representing the working class and the retired respectively. For clear analysis of the effect of the number of people in these two groups, it is essential to find the ratio of the numbers in both groups. One advantage of using this measure of comparing groups in a population is that it gives a general overview of the situation by elimination method. Consequently, the next merit of this technique i.e. simplicity is seen. It enables one to analyze complex ideas albeit with some simplicity. The major weaknesses of this method arise from the assumptions it makes. Though the official age to start working is 18 years, there are people as young as 15 and 16 who are working and thus contribute to the social secur ity kitty. On the other hand, others reach the age of 65 and continue working, and they too contribute to the social security system. This reality compromises accuracy of this estimation method. It also ignores the contribution made by these two groups in the population (U.S. Population Projections 2020-2050 1). In cases where fertility and immigration remain low, the dependency ratio of the working class reduces against the retired citizens. This means that the number of retired people per every employed person increases. This scenario would mean disaster for the social security system as less and less people would be funding it while the number of dependents would increase exponentially (See table 1). This is the least favorable alternative to the social security system; it would mean less money would be available to fund the increased expenditure (Lee, Anderson and Tuljapurka 4). Current trends aggravate the situation as improved medical care, and higher standards of living have resulted in increased life expectancy. This, however, does not mean that the paper advocates for low life expectancy. Within the 50-year forecast, the workforce population to age ratio changes depending on the availability of new labor force to replace the retiring one (See figure 1). Based on the measure that predicts an increase in the dependency ratio caused by low population growth due to low fertility, reduced immigration and increased life expectancy, the rate of employment does not match that of retirement. This exerts undue pressure on the working population, and the balance has to be reestablished somehow, either by reducing benefits (expenditure), or by increasing income. The most likely scenario is whereby the population will increase but at a rate that would not keep up with the increasing retirees. The dependency ratio is expected to change from 4.88 in 2000 and will reach nearly 2.7 by 2050. This means that each dependent will be taken care of by taxes

Fiduciary duties and acquisition Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Fiduciary duties and acquisition - Case Study Example The outstanding securities in the company are also an important factor to take into consideration. What is the condition and classification of these securities? It is clear to note that the company is up for sale for the purpose of fiduciary duties. One of the most important aspects to note about the company’s history is the fact that the company has been growing. In the event the managers should think about the option of sale, they will be giving up on a good investment. The company has been growing to new heights every other year. This is evident from the stock market and the prices of shares. The growth rate of the company stands out with regards to the market and the internal relations. The firm has instituted an educational program for their employees that seek to address important issues with regards to the manner in which they conduct business and relate with other clients. Growth is one of the areas that display the company’s strengths. Through growth, the compa ny has been able to establish a good market for its products as well as improving its stability. With regards to technology, the company has an extraordinary portfolio. The company’s competencies have been aligned alongside the needs of the customers. The company has a wide variety of customers and continues to increase its customer base through the provision of quality services. The applications provided for by the company range from cyberspace and undersea to outer space and improved military systems. Some of the services provided for by the company include global security, health information systems, missile defense systems, command and control systems, unmanned aerial vehicles, advanced radar systems, large scale intelligence information systems, civil government and public safety information systems, high energy laser systems, and satellites for a wide variety of missions. Through these services, the organization has been able to establish one of the largest client bases through an extensive market. This provides for the growth of the company as well expansion of the operations being conducted by the company. One of the strengths of the company is the manner with which it addresses future expansion. The company is defining future systems through assessing their underlying technologies. The company is focused on addressing the next generation security needs. Through innovation, the company has been able to work on improving their current aerial systems. The company is working towards the development of the future generation of secure and unmanned aerial systems. These advancements are also focused on the establishment of the long range bombers and the space radar systems. The company can be able to shift the course of the organization through preventing the hostile offer. The hostile offer is concerned with the acquisition of the company through the cash considerations. The relationship that has been established between the company and its clients i s also important in the analysis. The company has set up various ways through which the clients are able to communicate with the company’s administration. The company has also ensured that relevant measures are taken to ensure that communication within the different departments and divisions is made efficient. The relationship between the employees and the employer is maintained at high standards. This ensures that the management has an easy time managing

Describe and explain the experiences of African colonial subjects Essay

Describe and explain the experiences of African colonial subjects during either or both of the world wars - Essay Example Unconditional possession of these colonies provided imperial powers with the manpower that kept the promise of making their rulers richer and stronger because of their natural resources and enabling them to wage war anywhere in the world (Anon, 2012). Europe rationalized its colonization of Africa as their moral duty to lift Africans from their primitive stage of civilization. Rulers built on the preoccupied ideas of people travelling to Africa and established the need to make African civilized. Europeans always saw African from their cultural prism, moreover, their preoccupation with skin color and physical attributes made these ideas even stronger (Anon, 2012).Therefore, even great contributions during the World War I and World War II could not win acknowledgement for colonial African soldiers. In an effort to rise above prejudice, this paper briefly explores the contributions of colonial African subjects during both of the World Wars. World War I World War I is considered to be tr uly a world war due to diverse military action and participation of people from five continents of the world. African colonized countries and subjects were specifically influenced by the results of WWI (AHA, n.d.).World War I imparted a profound and many-sided impact on colonies. The Balkan confrontation transformed into a general European war in mid-1914 and turned into an extra-European dimension because a few confronting states were considered to be the most powerful colonial powers. Just after the breakout of war, fights started in many parts of the world and most of the territories were conquered by the Entente power very soon. German African colonies were defended by African soldiers and German officers called 'Schutztruppen'. South Africa invaded the German South West Africa on behalf of the Entente powers that triggered problems for South Africa itself; however, 11,500 Anglophobe Boer people joined German side as a result of rebellion (Koller, 2008, p.111). The most prominen t and early reaction was the anger that is raged throughout African colonies due to conscription of mostly young African colonial subjects into European armies. However, the war had even more critical consequences. African subjects came to know that their masters are nothing but ordinary humans like themselves. African subjects expected rewards and compensation from their rulers for providing services to them. The compensation was expected in the form of money, and social and constitutional changes that can transform their lives back home. It triggered a hope amongst African subjects and made them realize that they deserve to be treated in a better way. Educated African subjects followed President Wilson's invitation to acknowledge the government on the basis of their national determination. The term refers to the idea that people should be free in their respective political boundaries (AHA, n.d.). Colonialist Powers Mission During World War I, European empires conscripted nearly 19 2,000 Senegalese Tirailleurs from sub-Saharan Africa who were sent to the Western Front in Cameroon, Turkey, and Togo. In particular, the French prized their possession of troupes indigenes as their assault troop on their battle front. In this Great War, approximately 30,000 to 31,000 African subjects lost their lives, several others were wounded, and some returned to their colonies as disabled for life(Mann, 2006, pp.16-17). Moreover, the French had planned the recruitment of one

Green cars (electric cars) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Green cars (electric cars) - Essay Example ough no one can argue that electricity is a form of â€Å"clean energy† as compared to traditional fossil fuels, the fact remains that this electricity must be generated in some way: whether from coal, nuclear, or hydro stations – all of which represent a definite environmental drawback. Thesis sentence: A tangential problem to electrical generation that few people spend much time thinking about concerns the material that is used to make the batteries which will store the electrical power for the vehicles. V. Total environmental impact of the production process as compared to total carbon output and green technology/electric/hybrid vehicles as compared to the environmental effect s of traditional automobile manufacturing Thesis statement: As factories will need to retool and diverse supplies of â€Å"rare earth† materials will need to be utilized in order to create these batteries, there will be a net loss of the earth’s resources as compared to traditional automotive manufacturing; as such, this analysis asks how this loss will be

Research Papers in Computer Science Essay Example for Free

Research Papers in Computer Science Essay Since we recently announced our $10001 Binary Battle to promote applications built on the Mendeley API (now including PLoS as well), I decided to take a look at the data to see what people have to work with. My analysis focused on our second largest discipline, Computer Science. Biological Sciences (my discipline) is the largest, but I started with this one so that I could look at the data with fresh eyes, and also because it’s got some really cool papers to talk about. Here’s what I found: What I found was a fascinating list of topics, with many of the expected fundamental papers like Shannon’s Theory of Information and the Google paper, a strong showing from Mapreduce and machine learning, but also some interesting hints that augmented reality may be becoming more of an actual reality soon. The top graph summarizes the overall results of the analysis. This graph shows the Top 10 papers among those who have listed computer science as their discipline and chosen a subdiscipline. The bars are colored according to subdiscipline and the number of readers is shown on the x-axis. The bar graphs for each paper show the distribution of readership levels among subdisciplines. 17 of the 21 CS subdisciplines are represented and the axis scales and color schemes remain constant throughout. Click on any graph to explore it in more detail or to grab the raw data.(NB: A minority of Computer Scientists have listed a subdiscipline. I would encourage everyone to do so.) 1. Latent Dirichlet Allocation (available full-text) LDA is a means of classifying objects, such as documents, based on their underlying topics. I was surprised to see this paper as number one instead of Shannon’s information theory paper (#7) or the paper describing the concept that became Google (#3). It turns out that interest in this paper is very strong among those who list artificial intelligence as their subdiscipline. In fact, AI researchers contributed the majority of readership to 6 out of the top 10 papers. Presumably, those interested in popular topics such as machine learning list themselves under AI, which explains the strength of this subdiscipline, whereas papers like the Mapreduce one or the Google paper appeal to a broad range of subdisciplines, giving those papers a smaller numbers spread across more subdisciplines. Professor Blei is also a bit of a superstar, so that didn’t hurt. (the irony of a manually-categorized list with an LDA paper at the top has not escaped us) 2. MapReduce : Simplified Data Processing on Large Clusters (available full-text) It’s no surprise to see this in the Top 10 either, given the huge appeal of this parallelization technique for breaking down huge computations into easily executable and recombinable chunks. The importance of the monolithic â€Å"Big Iron† supercomputer has been on the wane for decades. The interesting thing about this paper is that had some of the lowest readership scores of the top papers within a subdiscipline, but folks from across the entire spectrum of computer science are reading it. This is perhaps expected for such a general purpose technique, but given the above it’s strange that there are no AI readers of this paper at all. 3. The Anatomy of a large-scale hypertextual search engine (available full-text) In this paper, Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page discuss how Google was created and how it initially worked. This is another paper that has high readership across a broad swath of disciplines, including AI, but wasn’t dominated by any one discipline. I would expect that the largest share of readers have it in their library mostly out of curiosity rather than direct relevance to their research. It’s a fascinating piece of history related to something that has now become part of our every day lives. 4. Distinctive Image Features from Scale-Invariant Keypoints This paper was new to me, although I’m sure it’s not new to many of you. This paper describes how to identify objects in a video stream without regard to how near or far away they are or how they’re oriented with respect to the camera. AI again drove the popularity of this paper in large part and to understand why, think â€Å"Augmented Realityâ€Å". AR is the futuristic idea most familiar to the average sci-fi enthusiast as Terminator-vision. Given the strong interest in the topic, AR could be closer than we think, but we’ll probably use it to layer Groupon deals over shops we pass by instead of building unstoppable fighting machines. 5. Reinforcement Learning: An Introduction (available full-text) This is another machine learning paper and its presence in the top 10 is primarily due to AI, with a small contribution from folks listing neural networks as their discipline, most likely due to the paper being published in IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks. Reinforcement learning is essentially a technique that borrows from biology, where the behavior of an intelligent agent is is controlled by the amount of positive stimuli, or reinforcement, it receives in an environment where there are many different interacting positive and negative stimuli. This is how we’ll teach the robots behaviors in a human fashion, before they rise up and destroy us. 6. Toward the next generation of recommender systems: a survey of the state-of-the-art and possible extensions (available full-text) Popular among AI and information retrieval researchers, this paper discusses recommendation algorithms and classifies them into collaborative, content-based, or hybrid. While I wouldn’t call this paper a groundbreaking event of the caliber of the Shannon paper above, I can certainly understand why it makes such a strong showing here. If you’re using Mendeley, you’re using both collaborative and content-based discovery methods! 7. A Mathematical Theory of Communication (available full-text) Now we’re back to more fundamental papers. I would really have expected this to be at least number 3 or 4, but the strong showing by the AI discipline for the machine learning papers in spots 1, 4, and 5 pushed it down. This paper discusses the theory of sending communications down a noisy channel and demonstrates a few key engineering parameters, such as entropy, which is the range of states of a given communication. It’s one of the more fundamental papers of computer science, founding the field of information theory and enabling the development of the very tubes through which you received this web page you’re reading now. It’s also the first place the word â€Å"bit†, short for binary digit, is found in the published literature. 8. The Semantic Web (available full-text) In The Semantic Web, Tim Berners-Lee, Sir Tim, the inventor of the World Wide Web, describes his vision for the web of the future. Now, 10 years later, it’s fascinating to look back though it and see on which points the web has delivered on its promise and how far away we still remain in so many others. This is different from the other papers above in that it’s a descriptive piece, not primary research as above, but still deserves it’s place in the list and readership will only grow as we get ever closer to his vision. 9. Convex Optimization (available full-text) This is a very popular book on a widely used optimization technique in signal processing. Convex optimization tries to find the provably optimal solution to an optimization problem, as opposed to a nearby maximum or minimum. While this seems like a highly specialized niche area, it’s of importance to machine learning and AI researchers, so it was able to pull in a nice readership on Mendeley. Professor Boyd has a very popular set of video classes at Stanford on the subject, which probably gave this a little boost, as well. The point here is that print publications aren’t the only way of communicating your ideas. Videos of techniques at SciVee or JoVE or recorded lectures (previously) can really help spread awareness of your research. 10. Object recognition from local scale-invariant features (available in full-text) This is another paper on the same topic as paper #4, and it’s by the same author. Looking across subdisciplines as we did here, it’s not surprising to see two related papers, of interest to the main driving discipline, appear twice. Adding the readers from this paper to the #4 paper would be enough to put it in the #2 spot, just below the LDA paper. Conclusions So what’s the moral of the story? Well, there are a few things to note. First of all, it shows that Mendeley readership data is good enough to reveal both papers of long-standing importance as well as interesting upcoming trends. Fun stuff can be done with this! How about a Mendeley leaderboard? You could grab the number of readers for each paper published by members of your group, and have some friendly competition to see who can get the most readers, month-over-month. Comparing yourself against others in terms of readers per paper could put a big smile on your face, or it could be a gentle nudge to get out to more conferences or maybe record a video of your technique for JoVE or Khan Academy or just Youtube. Another thing to note is that these results don’t necessarily mean that AI researchers are the most influential researchers or the most numerous, just the best at being accounted for. To make sure you’re counted properly, be sure you list your subdiscipline on your profile, or if you can’t find your exact one, pick the closest one, like the machine learning folks did with the AI subdiscipline. We recognize that almost everyone does interdisciplinary work these days. We’re working on a more flexible discipline assignment system, but for now, just pick your favorite one. These stats were derived from the entire readership history, so they do reflect a founder effect to some degree. Limiting the analysis to the past 3 months would probably reveal different trends and comparing month-to-month changes could reveal rising stars.

Smoke-laden Essay Example for Free

Smoke-laden Essay We read the following Sherlock Holmes stories; The adventure of the veiled lodger, The speckled band, The red headed league, The crooked man and The silver blaze. In detail I studied The adventure of the veiled lodger, The speckled band and The silver blaze. In terms of narrative of the characters, the use of language, Structure and the authors view point and then compared them. In The veiled lodger Holmes is passed on a message by a landlord, from a tenant. It said do you wish to find out what really happened to Mr. Render. When Holmes and Watson got to the house they find out that the tenant was Mrs. Render. They also found out that Mr. Render did not die the way they originally thought, which was being attacked by a lion, but it was a murder carried out by Mrs. Render and her lover called Leonardo. They did this because of the way that Mr. Render treated Mrs. Render, he would abuse her when she commented on how he had other women. They made the murder look like it was a lion from the circus attacking him, by using a club with nails attached, to look like claws but the plan went wrong. They managed to attack Mr. Render but when Mrs. Render opened the loins cage to let the lion loose from the cage the smell of blood had sent it wild and it turned on Mrs. Render. The Speckled Band is about a family of two sisters and their step father. The mother had died and left a sum of money in the step fathers possession to keep the whole family going. When the daughters gets married some of the money was to go to them, so that the money in the end will be split three ways between them. When one daughter does get engaged she starts to notice strange occurrences, like a low whistle early in the morning about three am which is not normal. She then dies in mysterious circumstances and the case was never solved. When the second of the daughters got engaged she had to move into her sisters old room as her room was supposedly being decorated, she too started to hear a low whistle early in the morning. She then comes and finds Holmes and explains her situation she asks him to investigate what is happening. Holmes looks at all the evidence and clues only to discovers that the step father is planting a deadly snake in their bed each night and then calls it back after so long using a whistle and milk. The plan was that the snake would bite the daughters and then he could call the snake back before someone could see it. In The silver blaze Holmes is called to investigate the murder of a man and the where abouts of a lost racing horse. When Holmes gets to the site he notices something even before he has left the carriage, he stays sat down quiet for a moment and when he gets up he doesnt say what it was he noticed, which was that some of the sheep seemed to be lame. When the case is closed he then reveals what he found and how he got his conclusion. What actually happened was the victim had drugged the stable boy and taken the horse out in to the moors, where he attempted to take a nick out of a bone of the horse so that would be paralysed . It would therefore lose its next race. He did this because he had a bet on another horse to win. But the plan went wrong when he started to cut the horse, as it kicked him in the head killing him. The horse had wondered off and had been found by the rival horse trainer and then hidden. In these three short stories there are some big similarities, they all contain a murder they are either at the start of the story, end or both. The plots begin very close to the start of the stories this makes the readers intrigued sooner and therefore continue to read the stories. The odd murder is in The veiled lodger where the story is been told as past not present like The Speckled Band and The silver blaze. There are more similarities in The Speckled Band and The silver blaze because of this. For instance both the stories were solved by Holmes instead of Holmes been told the story, this could have a negative effect upon the reader because it is harder for them to become involved in the story as they already know the outcome. The characters in The veiled lodger and The Speckled Band have similarities between them, for example Helen and Mrs. Render both have a dominant male in there lifes who they fear. Helen goes behind Dr. Royllots back to see Holmes and does not confront Dr. Royllot. Mrs. Render also describes Mr. Render as being the devil. But there are still some similarities with The silver blaze, for example the victims wife in The silver blaze and Mrs. Render in The veiled lodger both have men which dont stay faithful to them. In The veiled lodger Mrs. Render is a middle aged widow, she got married young to the circus manager and found out too late it was a wrong decision because he physically abused her. This drove Mrs. Render to her limits and she planned his murder. She did this with Leonardo a lover of hers he was the strong man in the circus. He came up with the killing method but when the plan did go wrong he ran from the scene. When the other people heard Mrs. Render they came to help and Leonardo came to. This shows what judge of character Mrs. Render has, it is clear that she has a poor judge of character.

The Service Line Development

The Service Line Development At present time, there are many areas that are in high demand for patients in the service line area for completely new service lines. When following the strategic plan of implementation of the cardiovascular, cancer and orthopedic centers it will help to analyze the demand for the development of three new service lines. Please see below the elements necessary to perform such evaluation. How will position this three programs and centers (Cancer, Orthopedic and Cardio-Vascular), as an aggressive business competition for Trinity Community Hospital in the assigned market area. By reviewing the existing Trinity Community Hospital programs and services offered, that could serve as complementary components of the three new service lines. This will make accessible the most advanced medical approaches for diagnosing, treating and preventing disease elements that will end helping many people, we could say in the thousands. How will this three programs and centers (Cancer, Orthopedic and Cardio-Vascular), strengthen the outreach to be able to compete for great care and value-driven customers (patients), in the assigned market area. Most likely this will drive very strong increases in volume and at the same time will improved the financial performance. By performing a competitive analysis of similar programs (Cancer, orthopedic and Cardiovascular programs) in the assigned market area. To evaluate and analyzed the trends in the industry (healthcare, but specifically to Cancer, Orthopedic and Cardiovascular elements) and evaluate the demand in the defined market area for such specialty services. The demand to expand the service line is essential to increase performance of the organization and its future depends on the success of implementation of these three service lines (Cancer, Orthopedic and Cardio-Vascular). The demand for developing these service lines as a Regional Cancer Center, a Regional Orthopedic Center and finally a Regional Cardiovascular Center in the assigned market area is based in specialty services is as follows, by using information from the WGU case study, exactly from the five-years program strategic plan (PDF file): Goal 1: Developing a Regional Cancer Center. Strategy A: Offer Distinctive Clinical Programs and Services Multidisciplinary, disease-focused clinics: breast, GI, lung, prostate Comprehensive medical, surgical, radiation, support services Evidence-based treatment and access to leading clinical trials Strategy B: Emphasize Cancer Prevention and Control Community education Screening and risk assessment Outreach to underserved communities Strategy C: Enhance Service Access Fast-track scheduling Patient navigation Goal 2: Developing a Regional Orthopedic Center. Strategy A: Offer Distinctive Clinical Programs and Services Spine, total joint, hand Comprehensive rehab and support programs Best practices and treatment protocols Strategy B: Emphasize Prevention of Injury and Disease Community education Screening and risk assessment Outreach services to underserved communities Strategy C: Enhance Service Access Fast-track scheduling Coordination of services Goal 3: Developing a Regional Cardiovascular Center. Strategy A: Offer Distinctive Clinical Programs and Services Peripheral artery disease, heart failure, electrophysiology Cardiology for women Evidence-based treatment Strategy B: Emphasize Prevention and Control of Cardiovascular Disease Community Education Screening and risk assessment Outreach services to underserved communities Strategy C: Enhance Service Access Fast-track scheduling Coordination of services When looking at the above goals (three of them) and strategies, the demand for this three (Cancer, Orthopedic and Cardio-Vascular) service lines in the assigned market area will required to direct the focus on the following crucial elements: To guarantee that Trinity Community Hospital operations are conducted in an effective and competent manner. To help to differentiate the organization (Trinity Community Hospital), also to generate profits, and to improve the care of their patients, and document quality especially in this time of increased transparency.   Establishing a positive learning environment for the Trinity Community Hospital and their medical staff emphasizing on achievement and innovative strategies, which usually are used in very successful hospital around the country. To guarantee that patient care is consistently of high quality and that the Trinity Community Hospital environment is safe for patients, staff and visitors. To guarantee a high priority of service excellence for Trinity Community Hospital patients and staff. How to prioritize this three new service line strategies at Trinity Community Hospital. To aligned these three new service lines as an integrated group, to maximize the value across the continuum of care, decreasing internal organization competition, and improving the services performance and manageability as a whole.   2. ANALYZE HOW CURRENT INTERNATIONAL HEALTHCARE TRENDS COULD BE INCORPORATED INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW SERVICE LINE. There are many different international healthcare trends that can be incorporated into the development of the new service line. Some are listed below: The seeking and the accessing of health information. Increasingly health information available is becoming more personalized at the individual level. The generalized information on disease and the typical treatment responses over the internet, are becoming irrelevant to the consumer. Diversity of individual specific sources should include personalized medicine, the use of social media (people being able to express their feelings, their emotions, especially when they are relevant to the treatment), also the access to their electronic health records. The use of self help groups, disease specific. Following the trend that consumers are demanding more information transparency. We need to understand that the transparency of information in healthcare is becoming an ethical obligation. Some of them are: waiting list, cost, patient access, patient satisfaction measures, also patient safety measures (Hospital error rates, infection rates, etc). Using trends in home base service delivery. In our case Cancer, Ortho and Cardiovascular programs. This can be also performed at the customer (patient) home. Especially for patients that cannot drive, or cannot be transported to their appointments (treatments, consultations, etc) to Trinity Community Hospital. It could as is used in Australia, as the care continuum, which usually is initiate with internet-based information. This is a great element, especially for patients who are motivated towards receiving self care. In our case, two of the new service lines, Ortho and Cardiovascular can be very easily implemented in the home based service delivery. The use of advances in technology and also in medicine, as in many other different countries. When investing in the disease prevention element and treatment it can direct us to a better understanding of the disease. Todays day there is a technological growth, in home care based products, especially diagnostic tools as: Telemedicine, remote monitoring blood pressure, heart rate, skin temperature, etc. Microscopy added to cell phones. Regardless of many challenges during the adoption of telemedicine at various levels, a crucial development can be seen worldwide towards adopting telemedicine applications, tools and techniques.   Telemedicine has become a powerful element and has brought never seen dimensions to healthcare, not only by rendering therapeutic healthcare but also preventive care, supportive and educational.   Understand the changes in generational attitudes. We need to understand that the Baby Boomers, do think and behave differently from their children. The aging populations (Baby Boomers) will soon increased in the healthcare system and overwhelm it. When there are older generations involved, it can lead to increased number of individuals that suffer from chronic and very expensive diseases to treat, that will put pressure on the healthcare system in general. Presently, it has been identified that once healthcare reform takes effect, and everyone will have health coverage there will be a huge shortage of physicians to take care of the people. Focusing on preventatives and improving health before the aging population gets to this level, should be a vital element because the end result could be more cost effective, by not having so many members of the aging population with so many chronic diseases. Medical Cost that continue to rise in healthcare are never ending. By using the state of the art technological advances, at the same time with the cost of the aging population, these two items will have a combined cost that can affect spending of the healthcare system, and the delivery of the healthcare at nationwide. Focusing on the preventatives and the best up to date technology advances that lead to cost effectiveness, should be one of the most important focus of the healthcare system today. Follow the trend of the growth in complementary and alternative medicine. Usually this occurs without a high level of expending. One of the countries using this great and valuable methods, is Australia. The need for emotional support, the help with anxiety, with fear, the information and education, make the patients feel comfortable, with their medical problems and concerns. Focus on medicine that is evidence based is vital, instead of the old fashion process of trial and error given what the patient and doctor decide to try. Using research information with standard studies and protocols for treating illness is the best approach. Having physicians with the most up to date information and treatment is vital in the healthcare business. Having physicians keeping their education, to be able to keep their medical skills and medical knowledge up to date, is also vital. To allow the use of what is called the international private medical insurance (IPMI). Method extremely popular in many countries around the world (Specially in European countries). By doing this, it will allow Trinity Community Hospital to treat patients from another countries for any medical reason. Especially if we can offer them treatments for various medical problems, that would not exist in their countries, or it would be very expensive there too. Also it is extremely essential for people traveling to the USA, and suddenly finding themselves in situations requiring medical attention. Provide care to patients is not just for medical doctors anymore. There are many other types of healthcare practitioners that have college degrees to practice medicine that are not physicians, such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, etc. Since there is already a shortage of physicians in the healthcare business, by using these other type of practitioners as the ones listed above, this will help tremendously with the elevated cost of medicine, to focus on protocol standardization and latest technology, which will bring huge differences for the changes of healthcare not only for the present time, but for the coming future. Another trend it has to do with having influence of the payer over treatment of medical decisions. Due to the rising cost of healthcare the decisions need to be made by the payer, instead of the healthcare physician based upon ability to pay. Trinity Community Hospital is focusing on financials, regarding patient stay per day and making future decisions, based upon the lack of funding to invest. This already is taking direction towards the global trend of payers making the decisions of care based upon lack of stay or hospital admissions. Strengthening prevention and wellness. Our present health system, needs to put more emphasis on helping people to stay healthy. Our healthcare system requires stronger investment in wellness, as is done in many European countries. A great element for prevention is to put emphasis on vaccines and other serious health issues. This would help to decrease the cost of healthcare and chronic conditions in the future. We need to understand, that early detection and appropriate intervention, will maintain the people in an optimal health possible. When focusing on preventatives this in turn will decrease the amounts of expenditures needed for treatment in the future. When increasing services such as orthopedics, cardiovascular, and oncology this will help tremendously with prevention of diseases that are extremely costly during their treatment. Going to another countries for medical reasons, is very popular for many individuals around the world. As costs get cheaper for medical care in other countries people will travel for the cost savings benefit. Cost pressure forces people to seek healthcare treatment outside of our country, for the purpose of cost reduction that fits their finances. In that case by finding ways of bringing such services locally, this will promote business and looks for ways of cost effectiveness in the Trinity Community Hospital organization. 3. DISCUSS THE EXISTING PROGRAMS AND SERVICE LINES IN THE HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATION, THAT COULD SERVE AS COMPLEMENTARY COMPONENTS OF THE NEW SERVICE LINE. Presently the existing programs and service lines for Trinity Community Hospital are aligned as complimentary components of the new service line and will enhance the success of the new service lines for all three specialty areas. They are outlined below: The offering of another very important services as: Pulmonary medicine, internal medicine, neurology, thoracic surgery, gynecology, general surgery, otolaryngology and urology. Making sure that patient care is of a great quality and that the hospital environment is safe for patients, staff and visitors. The hospital reputation is considered very good. Keep offering excellence in service to patients and the staff. Making sure that hospital functioning is conducted in a competent, productive and successful approach. One of the greatest strength is the very competent, dedicated nursing staff, committed to outstanding patient care. An intensive care unit, with 14 beds. 20 operating rooms and a very good emergency department. Developing a positive learning environment for medical staff and non-medical staff, with attention on modernization and accomplishment. Having all the basic support services as physical therapy, laboratory, respiratory therapy, pharmacy and radiology. In addition to the usual and basic X-ray, the radiology department has one MRI scanner and two CT scanners. Also offers ultrasound services and nuclear medicine. Finally a PET scanner that is used twice a week. When analyzing the board members professions, personalities, and the involvement in the community, are also vital elements to success as complementary components for the new service line (Cancer, Ortho and Cardiovascular programs). The information below is from the WGU case study, exactly from the Trinity Community Hospital board profiles (PDF file): Dr. David Joint is an orthopedic surgeon, native of the community. He is planning to open a branch office near the hospital campus. from the description, it tells us that he is very known in the community, and it has a lot to say. In another words his position and opinion really counts in the community. Mr. Robert Holland holds a CPA degree. Has lived in the community for (5) five years. He is quite interested in national healthcare policy and legislation, especially when is related to healthcare finance. Mrs. Cathy Promo she holds an undergraduate degree in marketing. Lived in the community for about (7) seven years. She is quite involved with the local chamber of commerce and recognizes the importance of good healthcare services in attracting new business and industry to the area. Mrs. Promo strongly believes that an extensive marketing and advertising, could reverse Trinity Community Hospital declining utilization trend. Dr. Randy Sharp is a general surgeon. He has lived in the community for (15) fifteen years. His main interest is in cancer services. His group is planning to recruit a subspecialty-trained oncologic surgeon. Very similar situation as with Dr. David Joint. Dr. Sharps position and opinion really counts in the community too. Mrs. Maria Lopez holds an undergraduate degree in journalism. She has lived in the community for (9) nine years. She also owns an small newspaper that is quite popular within the Latino community. One of hers priorities, is to ensure that adequate healthcare services are available to all minority groups. Below we can also see some more complementary components, by using information from the WGU case study, exactly from the Trinity Community Hospital brochure (PDF file), page 1: Trinitys Commitment. We are committed to serving the community in a capacity that permits every patient to receive the care and support that they require. Quality and Safety. At Trinity Community Hospital we endeavor to provide high quality services while ensuring the safety of patients, visitors, and staff. Service Excellence. We will continue to strive to exceed the service expectations of our patients, visitors, employees, and physicians. Staff Achievement. We will provide opportunities for the enhancement of the skills and expertise of all staff members. Growth and Profitability. Striving to grow service volume, to operate efficiently, and generate sufficient capital for investment. The information below about more complementary components also comes from the WGU case study, exactly from the Trinity Community Hospital brochure (PDF file), pages 2 and 3: WHAT SETS US APART FROM THE REST OF THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY Trinity Community Hospital is a 150-bed, not-for-profit hospital offering: A broad range of medical, surgical, and support services to the community. Patient-friendly, pleasant environment that truly sets us apart. Facilitate a soothing environment, by using large windows, natural woods and tranquil views of an expansive landscape. Nourishing and delectable cuisine prepared and directed by a world renowned Russian dietitian. Providing exceptional care and services, through outstanding employees and medical staff members. Modern, high-tech laboratory, radiology, pharmacy, physical and respiratory departments. Surgery and endoscopy suites, with the newest digital equipment. Robotic surgery. Newly renovated patient rooms, with homelike ambience. Physician locater service, to help finding the right physician for your needs. 4. ANALYZE THE FINANCIAL AND OPERATING DATA TO DETERMINE THE FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY OF INSTITUTING THE NEW SERVICE LINE. The first three tables below, are the current utilization trend and revenue of the current year data, also shows the previous data for a year and two years prior; As we can see in every column (top to bottom) has decreased in every single hospital category. Under table two, the AR (accounts receivable), instead of decreasing, they also increased, making the hospital to wait longer to collect the ending balance. Anytime that the time increases above 50 days, this indicates a serious collection problem, which at the same time causes a significant pressure on the hospital cash flows (each one of the years, starting with the current to two years prior, are over 50 days. The only visible exceptions are Medicare, Medicaid, and Self Pay (See table three). The last table is predicted data with the new service lines being implemented within the organization and increase in utilization and revenue. When looking and paying attention, to the predicted increases based on the new service line in every column (with the exception of ALOS- Average length of stay, which by the way is a positive result, not a negative) there is a significant increase. And the revenue section shows that will help the organization to get out of the negative margin, to a nearly $30000000- million dollars positive margin. When looking at the prediction, we can determine a financial feasibility, if we institute the new service lines. This will bring dramatic increases in volume and improved the financial operations and performance for Trinity Community Hospital. When reviewing the predicted results, we can see that there is a crucial positive effect on the hospital revenue, which it will allow to invest capital in the new service lines, which at the same time will increase the services and supports the community is demanding. At the end, the most important issue, element is that it will make available the most advance approaches for preventing, treating different disease processes and diagnosing, which will impact thousands of people in the community and surroundings. 5. DISCUSS THE TARGET AND MARKETING REFERRAL SERVICES FOR PHYSICIANS. Describing below is a step by step plan, for marketing and referral services designed for the specialty physicians of Trinity Community Hospital. This will bring attention, and receive reputation at the same time from the community, specifically for services offered and rendered, which will increase their business, which creates an increase in revenue. This techniques will help to build name recognition and service awareness. Marketing referrals has many valuable advantages. it will bring patients (customer) at little or even not cost. One single referral could generate a series of leads, because of satisfied customers passing the word-of-mouth to other people they know. Also, this kind of referrals are more trusting people, most likely not skeptical of the hospital, because they are usually confident in the person, friend that refereed them. the result is that this leads are much easier to bring to the hospital business, as potential patients. An extremely important element in the healthcare business, is because is considered a very personal and private service, that from the beginning relies on trust, bonds and many times personal recommendations. Trinity Community Hospital must develop a planed and active approach that is based on many diverse marketing principles, as the ones described below. Put emphasis on the foundation: A well-defined idea of the specialty practice vision and the elements that must be establish, for a profitable and successful practice. Explain and simplify the vision is key to the goal of a profitable and successful specialty practice, as the new service lines at Trinity Community Hospital. To audit the current referral program for Trinity Community Hospital. make an inventory of the current referral system. We need to ask ourselves, how effective are the current means of creating referrals?. What percentage of our patients has been obtained through a referral?. What percent of increase we think we could reasonably achieve?. Do we know the current satisfaction level of our patients?. Such evaluation will allow us to have an inventory of the referral programs weaknesses and strengths. Developing and putting in place the marketing plan: Concentrate on a goal for medical marketing checklist and determine the medical specialty programs that will be offered, which in our case are Oncology, Ortho and Cardiovascular. Create a checklist for the chosen goals. The checklist will concentrate on direct marketing advantage to physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners in our community with faith and assurance. When creating this kind of marketing plan, this will make the specialty practices much effective, valuable, productive and profitable. Attract referrals for the business: One of the most important elements in business is to stay in communication with the medical community. Marketing is all about selling the business, and in order to do that, we need to create presentations to other medical professionals in the community, in order to establish professionalism and credibility. Initially, we need to start with researching the needs of directing ourselves to other medical professionals, and finding out what are their expectations. It should be diverse, balance but powerful, with plenty of resources. People from all the aspects of the healthcare industry. Reach out to others by writing letters introducing the business practice and services offered, this information should included progress reports to be able to show the evidence to the medical community of the demand and service. Making progress and connections with the medical community: Develop strategies for the hospital business, which include several types of presentations to the medical community to show the outreach of services that are available to the community. To know the most important people in this business, with whom discuss about our business and whom are the decision makers. When a connection is established, then setting up the patient care program, will be based upon the diagnosis. Then we begin with the word-of-mouth marketing element, which usually gets the business more and more referrals from other medical offices. A very important, I will say crucial element, is to do not forget to thank them for sending the referrals. A thank you letter or a gift certificate will do. When using this method of marketing referral for specialty physicians, this plan will continue to do several things, first it will help patients with serious diagnosis and the treatment of serious medical conditions. Second, it will also help to meet the needs of diverse medical professionals. Third, it will build a long-lasting and trusting relationship. By the end, this strategy will be well worth the effort.

Truman Capotes In Cold Blood: Novel vs Movie Essay -- In Cold Blood Es

The book, â€Å"In Cold Blood†, is a nonfiction story by Truman Capote. This book presents one of the worst murders in history. It was a best seller worldwide, and turned into a successful movie. As usual the movie does not stand up to the book. If you want more knowledge of the townspeople, victims and more insight into the trial, more background details of the murders, you should read the book. If you are interested in history and a good murder mystery all in the confines of a book cover, read In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. While reading the book â€Å"In Cold Blood† you are introduced to the Clutter family one by one. You learn that Herb Clutter is the head of the house. He is well liked and respected by the townspeople. Mr. Clutter was a prosperous farmer. As the reader, you learn that Bonnie Clutter, Herb Clutter’s, wife is a recluse due to fainting spells. This caused her to stay close to home, inside a lot. Nancy is the daughter of Herb and Bonnie, and she is popular with her peers and liked throughout the town. The last of the Clutter family to be introduced to us is Kenyon, the son of Herb and Bonnie and Nancy’s brother. These are the victims of the awful murders. You get to know them all. In the movie they are humanized, but in the book you get to know them better. The movie shows us a very disturbed Perry Smith and a cunning, want to get rich quick, Dick Hickock. While the book details Perry’s life in the juvenile detention center, his life in the convent, and the closeness he shared with his sister Barbara. The movie closely mirrored this, and you see great detail of Perry Smith’s childhood. Mr. Capote sets the stage and the fill of the town nicely, by describing in detail the drive into town. He sets the ... ...ted Gindin, James. â€Å"Harvest of a Quiet Eye: The Novel of Compassion.† Contemporary Literaray Criticism. Vol. 3. Ed. Carolyn Riley. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1975. 100. Hollowell, John. â€Å"Truman Capote’s Nonfiction Novel.† Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 19. Ed. Sharon R. Gunton. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1975. 84. â€Å"Literary Classics.† (Mar. 18, 1999): n. pag. Online. Available: http://www.bomc.com. â€Å"Manaly Analysis: In Cold Blood†. (Mar. 18, 1999): n. pag. Online. Available: http://www.showcase.com. Nance, William L. â€Å"The Worlds of Truman Capote.† Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 13. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1975. 137-139. Whittington-Egan Richard. â€Å"Needle-Pointed Penman.† Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 8. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Gale Research company, 1975. 133.

Handling the Brain Essay -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Handling the Brain The initial premise of this web search was to determine what differences, if any, were known to exist in the brain of the ambidextrous individual. An actual classification of "ambidexterity" seems to have been all but eliminated, while the explanation of the term, "handedness", has become increasingly muddled. Beyond superstitions and mysticism, in its earliest history an individuals favoritism of the left or right hand proved significant mainly to those clinicians who utilized this physical clue of handedness as an indicator of brain lateralization (2). Lateralization in general "refers to the concept that a given function is controlled preferentially by one side of the brain or body (5). Brain lateralization further implicates the functional specialization of the two cerebral hemispheres - the left and right - which may be distinct in the localization of neural mechanisms for particular functions (3). The corpus callosum serves as the physical and functional connection between these two cerebral hemispheres. Each hemisphere receives sensory information and controls movement on the side of the body opposite its location. An intact corpus callosum insures communication between the two hemispheres to build a full understanding of actions and perception. In certain extreme cases of severe epileptic seizures a "split-brain operation" is necessary, severing the corpus callosum, which serves to greatly reduce seizure frequency but leaves the cerebral hemispheres to function virtually independently (6). "Handedness" then, has come to be considered - not merely the hand you favor for writing - but rather a possible indication of hemispheric language specialization. It was the French neurosurgeon, Paul... ... Interaction by John Gregory Hibbard http://monroe.lib.in.us/~bpmchi/Hibbard.html 2)handedness http://www.nurseminerva.co.uk/handedne.htm 3)Handedness and Brain Lateralization http://www.indiana.edu/~primate/brain.html 4)Scientific American: Ask the Experts: Biology http://www.sciam.com/missing.cfm 5) Evolution of Lateralization and a Role in Language http://n002bsel.bios.uic.edu/evolution/vertcns/lateralization/index.html 6)Splitting the Human Brain by Paul Pietsch http://www.php.indiana.edu/~pietsch/split-brain.html 7)Ambidexterity: Memory Power and Mindfulness - Ambidexterity Develops http://www.earthlink.net/error/404.html Further Investigation 8)TRY IT! Hemispheric Specialization http://www.cord.edu/faculty/covey/hemisphere.html 9)Left brain / Right Brain http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1892/hemisphr.htm

civil war1 :: essays papers

civil war1 [The following document comes from the Confederate Veteran, a magazine published throughout the South from the 1890s until the 1940s. It comes from Volume ? which contains writings from the year 1926, page 379.] If there ever was a hell on Earth, Elmira Prison was that hell, but it was not a hot one, for the thermometer was often 40 degrees below zero. There were about six thousand Confederate prisoners, mostly from Georgia and the Carolinas. We were housed in long prison buildings, say one hundred and twenty feet long and forty feet wide, three tiers of bunks against each wall. A big coal stove every thirty feet was always kept red hot; but for these stoves, the most of us would have frozen. Around each stove was a chalk mark, five feet from the stove, marking the distance we should keep, so that all could be warm. We were thinly clad and not half of us had even one blanket. Our rations were ten ounces of bread and two ounces of meat per day. My weight fell from 180 to 160 in a month. We invented all kinds of traps and deadfalls to catch rats. Every day Northern ladies came in the prison, some followed by dogs or cats, which the boys would slip aside and choke to death. The ribs of a stewed dog were delicious, and a broiled rat was superb. One day I was at the guardhouse when about thirty-five of our boys had on barreled shirts, guards marching them around. A barreled shirt was made by knocking out the head of a barrel then cutting a hole in the other head and putting it on the body. On these barreled shirts was written in big letters, "Stole a dog," "Stole a cat," "Stole a ration," "Stole a fur," etc. If a lady's fur was not fastened on, the boys would grab it, and some of them had been caught. All the Yankees soldiers were not cruel. The chalk marks were drawn around the stoves so that all could get some of the heat. One day a poor sick boy lay down near the chalk line and went to sleep. In his sleep he threw his leg over the chalk line. A big guard caught him by his shoulder and threw him against the wall, making his nose bleed. I popped my big fist against the guard's jaw, knocking him heels over head.

How to Become a Straight a Student

Contents Cover Page Title Page Introduction Part 1. Study Basics Step 1 Manage Your Time in Five Minutes a Day Step 2 Declare War on Procrastination Step 3 Choose When, Where, and How Long Part One Cheat Sheet Part 2. Quizzes and Exams Step 1 Take Smart Notes Step 2 Demote Your Assignments Step 3 Marshal Your Resources Step 4 Conquer the Material Step 5 Invest in â€Å"Academic Disaster Insurance† Step 6 Provide â€Å"A+† Answers The Plan in Action Part Two Cheat Sheet Part 3. Essays and Papers Step 1 Target a Titillating Topic Step 2 Conduct a Thesis-Hunting ExpeditionStep 3 Seek a Second Opinion Step 4 Research like a Machine Step 5 Craft a Powerful Story Step 6 Consult Your Expert Panel Step 7 Write Without the Agony Step 8 Fix, Don’t Fixate The Plan in Action Part Three Cheat Sheet Conclusion Acknowledgments Getting in is just the beginning Copyright Page Introduction â€Å"My friends always wondered why I was never in the library, but instead in the student center socializing, or at a party, or at an event. They said I made it ‘all look so easy. ’† Anna, a straight-A college studentThis is not your average college study guide. Unlike the titles next to it on the shelf, none of the advice presented here was devised by professors or self-proclaimed academic skills experts. I promise that you won’t find any mention of the Cornell note-taking method, mental map diagrams, or any other â€Å"optimal learning technique† crafted in an office or laboratory—environments far removed from the realities of typical college life. Instead, this book reveals—for the first time—the study habits used by real straight-A college tudents. All of the advice that follows was distilled from a series of interviews I conducted with a large group of top-scoring undergraduates. These participants were drawn predominantly from the Phi Beta Kappa rolls of some of the country’s most rigorous colleges and u niversities—including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia, Duke, Amherst, and Skidmore—and they were carefully chosen to represent a wide variety of academic concentrations. In each interview, I asked the student to detail his or her study habits.The questions ranged from the general (â€Å"How do you defeat the urge to procrastinate? †) to the specific (â€Å"What techniques or systems do you use to locate and organize sources for a research paper? †). If the questionnaire revealed the student to be a grind—someone who earns high grades simply by studying an excessive amount—I discarded the responses. I was interested only in students who improved their grades through smarter, more efficient study skills—not through longer hours and more painful study sessions. How did I know such students existed?I am one of them. When I arrived as a freshman at Dartmouth College, I had no idea how to prepare for exams or write coll ege-level papers. Like most students, I left high school believing that to study meant to reread your class notes and assignments as many times as possible and that paper writing required you to sit down in front of your computer and start typing until you finished. The problem, however, is that college is not high school. The material to be mastered is much more complicated and the professors have higher expectations.In the college environment, simple brute force study methods can end up requiring a lot of time and causing a lot of pain. Nevertheless, most students still rely on them. And this is why they find themselves regularly pulling all-nighters and developing an antagonistic attitude toward their courses. The taxing effects and spotty success of these methods also underlie the common belief that only geniuses and grinds can score top grades. When I first entered college, I shared in these beliefs. But soon I became dubious. It didn’t take long for me to decide that th ere had to be a better way to learn the material.The results of my studying using simple techniques varied widely—I’d spend all night hacking away at an essay and end up scoring a B-, or give what I thought was a frantic last-minute review for a quiz and score an A. I constantly felt like I was behind in my reading, and there always seemed to be new deadlines on the horizon that I had to scramble to meet. It was truly a chaotic existence. But when I looked around, all of my friends seemed to be having the same experience—and none of them seemed willing to question it. This didn’t sit right with me.I wasn’t content to work in long, painful stretches and then earn only slightly above-average grades for my efforts. I wanted to be exceptional. And I wanted to achieve this without having to sacrifice sleep or my social life. To many students, such a goal may sound hopelessly hubristic. But I’m an optimist by nature, and, observing the sorry state of my current study skills, I was convinced that I could do better. It took me most of my freshman year to construct, through repeated experimentation, a toolbox of sufficiently improved study habits.But once I had perfected them, the results were profound. Of the thirty-six courses I took between my sophomore and senior years of college, I scored exactly one A- and 35 perfect As. The most stunning piece of this transformation, however, was how much less time I had to spend on studying. As my strategies became more refined, the hours required were reduced. By my senior year it got to the point where, during finals periods, I would sometimes pretend to be heading off to the library just so I wouldn’t demoralize my roommates, who were preparing for yet another grim all-nighter.What was my secret? Efficiency. The simple truth is that the brute force techniques used by most students are incredibly inefficient. When it comes to exam preparation, passive review is not an effective way to learn complicated concepts. It’s also mentally draining, which further diminishes the rate at which you can absorb and internalize information. For paper writing, this same problem holds. When you approach the task without proper preparation, it becomes incredibly tiring and you can end up spinning your wheels.After a while, even the formation of coherent sentences becomes difficult and time intensive. In contrast, the techniques I came up with were so streamlined that I could learn more material than my classmates and actually spend less time studying. By eliminating stupid habits and wasted effort, I transformed exam prep and paper writing from a dreaded chore to a targeted activity. For a while, I was convinced that I was unique for having discovered such a smart approach to learning. But, alas, this illusion was soon shattered.It occurred during the winter of my senior year, when I was attending a ceremony celebrating my induction, along with thirty other classmat es, into Phi Beta Kappa. This group represented, more or less, the thirty students with the highest G. P. A. s out of my class of over a thousand. Accordingly, I had arrived at the venue prepared to spend the evening with some serious nerds. As it turns out, however, I was in for a surprise. Upon walking through the door that night, I was immediately struck by how many of the other students I knew socially.These were people who, given their level of visibility on campus, I never would have imagined were scoring straight As. They were magazine editors, frat boys, and crunchy environmentalists. I knew them from parties and campus clubs and through mutual friends. They were, for the most part, normal, well-rounded, and interesting—not at all the type of super-grind one might assume would occupy such an elite level of academic achievement. The lesson of that night was obvious: Perhaps I was not, in fact, as unique as I had first imagined.Maybe there were others out there who had discovered similar secrets to academic success. The writer instincts in me soon took over. Fascinated to know exactly how these seemingly normal students had done so well, I sent all of my fellow Phi Beta Kappas a survey about their study habits. Most were happy to share their methods and I quickly confirmed that my suspicions were true. Not only were many of them using innovative, homegrown study strategies, but many of these strategies were surprisingly similar to those that I had developed during the previous few years.At the time I had just finished editing the manuscript for my first book, How to Win at College, so I wasn’t exactly eager to get started right away with another massive writing project. But after seeing these initial survey responses, I knew I had stumbled onto something big. While most college students toil arduously through the study and paper-writing processes, there exists an elite group of undergrads who have discovered unconventional strategies for ea rning much higher grades in much less time. I wanted to share these secrets with other students, and thus the idea for this book was born.Soon I was sending out more questionnaires to more straight-A students at colleges around the country, until I gathered enough responses, from students with enough different backgrounds and majors, to distill the advice presented in this guide. In the pages that follow, you will discover the details of these often surprising study strategies. I’ve included examples and case studies throughout the book to demonstrate how to apply the advice in many different reallife academic situations. You will learn how to: †¢ Manage your time and deal with the urge to procrastinate. Take targeted notes in class. †¢ Handle reading assignments and problem sets with ease. †¢ Prepare efficiently for exams. †¢ Master the art of exam-taking. †¢ Write incisive critical analysis essays. †¢ Conduct thorough research. †¢ Write st andout term papers. Remember, this advice comes from real students and was honed, through trial and error, in real college classrooms. This distinction is important. It’s what separates this book from the many existing study guides that sit next to it on the bookstore shelf.As mentioned, most study guides are written either by professors or academic skills experts, many years separated from their own college experience. The result is that the authors of these guides are disconnected from the realities of undergraduate life. For example, How to Study, by college professors Allan Mundsack, James Deese, and Ellin K. Deese, suggests that students wake up at 7 A. M. each morning, go to sleep by 11 P. M. each night, and on many days schedule only a single hour of â€Å"recreation,† with the rest of the time dedicated to attending class, eating, or working.One gets the feeling that these professors haven’t spent much time socializing with students lately. Even their pl an for Friday—the biggest party night of the week—has the student working until 10 P. M. , taking a one-hour break, then turning in by eleven. Student Success Secrets, written by Eric Jensen, a learning expert and professional public speaker, offers equally out-of-touch suggestions. His tips to help you remember concepts learned from a reading assignment include â€Å"put it in a picture or poster—use intense colors,† â€Å"act out the material or do a fun role play in your own room,† or â€Å"create or redo a song; make a rap. Just try to imagine a sophisticated liberal arts major attempting to make a rap about her recent reading assignment concerning post-structuralist interpretations of pre-Victorian English literature! (Key question: What word rhymes with â€Å"Foucault†? ) The granddaddy of all unrealistic study guides, however, just might be What Smart Students Know, by Princeton Review cofounder Adam Robinson. In this best-selling gu ide, Robinson suggests—and I swear I am not making this up—that students approach a reading assignment as a twelve-step process! That’s right, twelve separate steps.Before you even crack the actual assignment, Robinson suggests that you jot down questions about the importance of the reading and then take notes on what you know about the topic, what it reminds you of, and what you want to learn. He then asks you, among other things, to read the assignment a total of three separate times, write and then rewrite your notes, represent the information in picture form, construct â€Å"question charts,† and devise mnemonics to help you memorize the concepts. Needless to say, this approach to a simple reading assignment is humorously unrealistic.I even did a little math. For a typical college-level liberal arts course, a student might be assigned an average of two hundred pages of reading a week. In his book, Robinson provides a one-page sample reading and descri bes twenty-three different questions that students might ask about it. At this rate of twenty-three questions per page, spending thirty seconds on each query, we would end up spending around forty hours a week (i. e. , a full-time job’s worth of time) simply completing one of the twelve steps on the reading assignments for just one class.Sounds like a great plan! These examples highlight the simple truth that the advice in most existing study guides—written by â€Å"experts,† not students—is often impractical and time consuming. How to Become a Straight-A Student, on the other hand, is the first guide based on the experiences of real college students, and it was written to provide an alternative to the other titles on the market. In the pages that follow, you will find homegrown strategies that are compatible with the demands of your day-to-day student life.They may not be as elaborate as the intricate systems devised by the â€Å"experts,† but the y’re easy to implement—and they get the job done. Best of all, when you start putting these strategies into practice, you will experience immediate results. Keep in mind: If you find a piece of advice that doesn’t quite fit your needs or circumstances, that’s okay. In fact, you should expect this. Each of the students I interviewed for this book had his or her own unique take on the best way to study. Follow their lead and, when stuck, experiment.Replace techniques you don’t like with ones that seem better. If these new techniques work, keep them; if they fail, replace them with something else. The key to improving your grades without becoming a grind cannot be found in any single study habit. It is, instead, rooted in the big picture decision to reject rote review once and for all and begin the flexible search for strategies that work better for you. Above all, remember that college is a multifaceted experience, of which grades are just one of man y important pieces.It’s my hope that this book will help you painlessly conquer this one piece so you can have more time and energy to explore all of the others—the friends, the unburdened idealism, the heroic beer consumption—that make these four years so rich. A common complaint I hear from students is that they never seem to have enough time to finish all of their work. They vent about how many hours they spend—late nights reviewing in the library, weekends sacrificed to paper writing—but no matter how hard they try, there always seems to be something else due.As Matthew, a straight-A student from Brown, explains, it’s easy for college students to become â€Å"stuck in a state of permanent catch-up. † Understandably, these students feel like they have reached their academic limit; they believe that unless they forgo sleep or any semblance of a social life, there are simply not enough hours in the day to stay on top of all their sch oolwork. Let’s start by getting one thing clear: This belief is false. The problem here is not the amount of available hours, but rather how each hour is spent. I know this from firsthand experience.While researching this book, I spent time with some of the country’s most accomplished students, and I can assure you that no matter how diligent you think you are, there is a Rhodes scholar out there who fits in three times the amount of work and activities you do and probably still manages to party harder than you would ever dare. I don’t mean to imply that everyone should aim to become a drunken Rhodes scholar (though it would certainly be fun to try); rather, my point is that a surprising amount of work, relaxation, and socializing can be extracted from a single twelve-hour day.A lack of time, therefore, isn’t enough to explain why so many students feel overwhelmed. So what does explain this phenomenon? The answer, as it turns out, has much more to do with how we work than what we’re trying to accomplish. As humans, our minds have evolved to prefer short-term tasks such as â€Å"run away from that lion† or â€Å"eat food. † Therefore, when you walk into the library on a Sunday morning with the goal of finishing all of your homework and writing a paper, your brain isn’t happy. The idea of spending eight consecutive hours trapped in a study carrel is dispiriting.Plus, it’s hard to focus for that long, so pretty soon fatigue will set in, your concentration will wander, and every distraction will suddenly seem impossibly appealing. Before you know it, the day will be over and you’ll realize that you haven’t accomplished much productive work at all. The next day, new assignments will pile onto those you didn’t finish on Sunday, and the tedious process starts all over again. Jason, a straight-A student from the University of Pennsylvania, uses the term â€Å"pseudo-working† to describe this common approach to studying.The pseudo-worker looks and feels like someone who is working hard—he or she spends a long time in the library and is not afraid to push on late into the night—but, because of a lack of focus and concentration, doesn’t actually accomplish much. This bad habit is endemic on most college campuses. For example, at Dartmouth there was a section of the main library that was open twenty-four hours a day, and the students I used to see in there late at night huddled in groups, gulping coffee and griping about their hardships, were definitely pseudo-working.The roommate who flips through her chemistry notes on the couch while watching TV is pseudo-working. The guy who brings three meals, a blanket, and six-pack of Red Bull to the study lounge in preparation for an all-day paper-writing marathon is also pseudo-working. By placing themselves in distracting environments and insisting on working in long tedious stretches, these stud ents are crippling their brain’s ability to think clearly and efficiently accomplish the task at hand. The result is fatigue headaches and lackluster outcomes. The bigger problem here is that most students don’t even realize that they’re pseudo-working.To them pseudo-work is work—it’s how they’ve always done it, and it’s how all of their friends do it. It never crosses their mind that there might be a better way. Straight-A students, on the other hand, know all about pseudo-work. They fear it, and for good reason. It not only wastes time, but it’s also mentally draining. There is just no way to be wellbalanced, happy, and academically successful if you’re regularly burning through your free hours in long, painful stretches of inefficient studying. The students I interviewed for this book emphasized again and again the importance of avoiding this trap.In fact, when asked what one skill was most important in becoming a non -grind straight-A student, most of them cited the ability to get work done quickly and with a minimum of wasted effort. So how do these students achieve this goal? A big part of the solution is timing—they gain efficiency by compressing work into focused bursts. To understand the power of this approach, consider the following simple formula: work accomplished = time spent x intensity of focus Pseudo-work features a very low intensity of focus. Therefore, to accomplish something by pseudo-working, you need to spend a lot of time.The straight-A approach, on the other hand, maximizes intensity in order to minimize time. For example, let’s rank intensity on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the most intense). Assume it takes ten hours to finish studying for a test by pseudo-working with a low intensity score of 3. According to our formula, this same amount of work can be accomplished in only three one-hour bursts, each with an intensity of 10. The work that took you all da y Sunday to complete could instead be finished by studying an hour after breakfast, an hour after lunch, and an hour after dinner—the rest of the day being free for you to relax!With this formula in mind, you can begin to understand why many straight-A students actually study less than their classmates: They replace long, low-intensity stretches of work with a small number of short, high-intensity sessions. Of course, this is not the whole story behind their success; what straight-A students actually do in these short bursts is also crucial—technique is just as important as timing. Part Two (Quizzes and Exams) and Part Three (Essays and Papers) of this book are dedicated to these technical details.But learning how to follow an efficient schedule, and banishing pseudo-work from your college experience for good, is a crucial first step toward your academic overhaul. To accomplish this transformation, however, you will need to gain control over your lifestyle—and t hat’s often no small task. For example, you will need to spread out the intense work sessions so that you have time in between to recharge. This requires basic time-management skills. You’re also going to have to overcome your urge to procrastinate, because scheduling your work is meaningless if you don’t actually work in the time you set aside. This requires self-motivation.Finally, to obtain the highest possible levels of intensity, you need to choose the right locations, times of day, and durations to study. If you aren’t careful about how you select these three factors, you can unintentionally sabotage your ability to focus. This requires a smart planning strategy. Part One will teach you how to satisfy these requirements. It begins with the presentation of a simple timemanagement system, customized for the busy college lifestyle. Don’t be frightened, the system is incredibly lightweight—it’s designed to require only five minutes a day of planning and can survive periods of neglect.Part One then continues with a collection of battle-tested strategies to help you fight procrastination. This advice comes straight from the experiences of real students and has been proven to work amid the chaos and distractions of the typical undergraduate lifestyle—it is simple, easy to apply, and surprisingly effective. This part concludes with a discussion of when during the day, where on campus, and for how long to study to maximize your productivity. The students interviewed for this book experimented extensively to find the right answers to these key questions, and, in this final step, I pass these answers on to you.Together, these basic skills are the foundation upon which all the advice in this book is built. Without them, you’ll be unable to implement the specific study techniques described in the parts that follow. Master them, however, and you will experience improvements in all aspects of your life†”not just grades. You’ll have more free time, you’ll get the sleep you crave, you’ll party harder, and you’ll be able to devote more energy to your extracurricular interests. So relax. You are about to take your first step toward a much more enjoyable and productive college experience. Step 1Manage Your Time in Five Minutes a Day Real straight-A students, like most reasonable students, hate time management. After all, college is supposed to be about intellectual curiosity, making new friends, and becoming obsessed with needlessly complicated drinking games. An overwhelming interest in time management is best left to harried business executives (or, perhaps, premeds). At the same time, however, you can’t abandon all attempts to keep tabs on your schedule. As mentioned in the introduction to Part One, all of the techniques described in this book require some ability to control your schedule.Ignore this skill, and you doom yourself to four long year s of playing catch-up with your work. As Doris, a straight-A student from Harvard, states: â€Å"Time management is critical—it’s a skill that you absolutely must develop over the course of your time at college. † Most students, however, misunderstand the purpose of time management—they believe it’s used only to cram as much work as possible into the day. But this is not the main motivation behind controlling your schedule. As it turns out, a little planning goes a long way toward reducing your daily stress levels. Having deadlines and bligations floating around in your mind is exhausting—it makes it impossible to completely relax, and, over time, can lead you down the path toward a breakdown. However, once you figure out what work needs to be done and when, it’s like a weight being lifted from your shoulders. The uncertainty vanishes: When you work, you can fully concentrate on the assignment in front of you, and when you relax, you can do so without any anxiety. â€Å"I don’t believe in giving up anything,† says Jenna, a straight-A student from Princeton. â€Å"Not my social life, not my extracurricular activities, not my academic success. Basic control over your schedule breeds balance. This is why time management, as Doris stated earlier, is the key to getting the most out of all aspects of your college experience. The goal of Step #1 is to present a time-management system that helps you achieve this stress-free balance without requiring you to sacrifice the spontaneity and excitement of college. Specifically, we present a system tailored to the typical undergraduate lifestyle that meets the following criteria: 1. Requires no more than five to ten minutes of effort in a single twenty-four-hour period. 2. Doesn’t force an unchangeable minute-by-minute schedule on your day. . Helps you remember, plan, and complete important tasks before the very last moment. 4. Can be quickly restarted af ter periods of neglect. We will cover the details of this system in a few simple steps and then conclude with a detailed case study so you can see how it works in a realistic setting. What You Need This system requires two pieces of equipment. 1. A calendar: It doesn’t matter what type of calendar, and it’s not something that you have to carry around with you. It can be Microsoft Outlook or iCal on your computer, a cheap day planner, or one of those advertisement-laden freebies they hand out at orientation.It just has to be something that you can reference every morning that has enough space to record at least a dozen items for each day. 2. A list: Some piece of writing material that you can update throughout the day. This you do have to carry around with you, so make it something simple, like a sheet of paper ripped out of a notebook each morning. The Basic Idea Record all of your to-dos and deadlines on your calendar. This becomes your master schedule, the one place that stores everything you need to do. The key to our system, however, is that you need to deal with your calendar only once every twenty-four hours.Each morning, you look at it to figure out what you should try to finish that day. Then, throughout the day, whenever you encounter a new to-do or deadline, simply jot it down on your list. The next morning, you can transfer this new stuff from your list onto your calendar, where it’s safe. And we’re back where we started. That’s it. Pretty simple, right? The whole system can be summarized in three easy steps: (1) Jot down new tasks and assignments on your list during the day; (2) next morning, transfer these new items from your list onto your calendar; and (3) then take a couple of minutes to plan your day.Now, we’ll examine these steps in a little more detail. In particular, we need some strategies for how to plan your day each morning using your calendar and what to do when unexpected events interfere and turn that plan upside down (trust me, this will happen more often than not). Update Your Calendar Each Morning This is where the magic happens. Every morning, spend a few minutes to update your calendar and figure out what you should try to accomplish. This is the only serious time-management thinking you have to do for the whole day, so the demand is pretty reasonable.This updating process should proceed as follows: Find your list from the day before. It will probably look something like the example described in Figure 1. Don’t worry too much about how this list is formatted; we will discuss that shortly. For now, focus on the â€Å"things to remember† column, which contains the new to-dos and deadlines that were jotted down throughout the day. Figure 1. Sample List Tuesday—1/24/06 Today’s Schedule †¢ 10:00 to 12:00 Econ class †¢ 12:00 to 1:00 Lunch with Rob †¢ 1:00 to 1:45 Government reading †¢ 2:00 to 4:00 Government class †¢ 4 :00 to 5:30 Finish government reading 5:30 to 6:30 Start French essay Things to Remember †¢ Econ study group, Thur. at 9 P. M. †¢ French quiz moved to Friday. †¢ Laundry †¢ Start researching summer internship opportunities. Transfer these new items onto your calendar. Write the deadlines on the appropriate dates, and write the todos on the days when you plan to complete them. Following the example of our sample list, you would first jot down the econ study group time under Thursday’s date and the French quiz under Friday’s date. You would then choose a day to do laundry and jot down a reminder under that date, and choose a day to start internship research and ot down a reminder under this date. You can move these items around on your calendar as many times as you want, so don’t worry too much about which date you initially choose for a new to-do. However, try to use some common sense. For example, if Wednesday afternoon and evening are packed with meetings and work, this might not be the best day to schedule doing your laundry. Similarly, if you have a big test Monday morning, don’t schedule a lot of annoying errands for Sunday; you’ll need your concentration for studying.If something is not especially time sensitive, such as the internship research example from above, don’t be afraid to put it on a day far in the future, at a point when you know you will be less busy—such as right after midterms or at the beginning of a new semester. Next, move the to-dos that you planned for yesterday, but didn’t complete, to new days on your calendar. In our sample list from Figure 1, the Today’s Schedule column describes to-dos planned from the day before. As you can see, in this example, all the to-dos were completed except the â€Å"Start French essay† task, so you would need to move this task to a new date.At this point, your calendar once again holds everything that you need to ge t done. Now it’s time to figure out your plan for the current day. Go ahead and trash yesterday’s list—it’s served its purpose—and grab a fresh sheet of paper to use as today’s list. Divide it into two columns, as shown in Figure 1, and label them Today’s Schedule and Things to Remember, respectively. Next, look at the calendar entry for the current day. It will probably contain a handful of appointments and todos. Your goal is to figure out how much of this work you can realistically accomplish.You might be tempted to simply copy all of these tasks into your Today’s Schedule column and then treat it as a simple to-do list for the day. Don’t do this! If you want to avoid getting overwhelmed by your work, you need to be smarter about your time. Here is what you should do instead: Try to label each of your to-dos for the day with a specific time period during which you are going to complete it. Be honest. Don’t reco rd that you are going to study for three hours starting at three if you know that you have a meeting at five. And be reasonable about how long things really take—don’t plan to read two hundred pages in one hour.For simplicity, group many little tasks (errands that take less than ten minutes) into one big block (for example: â€Å"10:00 to 10:45—mail letter, return library book, buy new deodorant, fill out transcript request form at registrar†). Leave plenty of time for breaks. Give yourself an hour for meals, not twenty minutes. And, if possible, end your day at an appropriate hour; don’t try to fit in work right up until sleep time because you need to be able to unwind and relax. In general—though it may seem counterintuitive—be pessimistic. The truth is: Things will come up.Don’t assume that every hour that looks free in the morning will stay free throughout the day. Remember, the goal here is not to squeeze everything into o ne day at all costs, but rather to find out how many of the tasks listed for the day you actually have time to accomplish. If you can’t fit all the to-dos into your schedule for the day, no problem! Simply move the remaining items onto the calendar entries for future dates. You can deal with them later. Your final step is to record the tasks you will have time for into the Today’s Schedule column of your list. As shown in Figure 1, label each task with its time.That’s it. You can now reference your list throughout the day to remind yourself of what you should be doing and when. But here’s the important point: The specific times on your schedule aren’t set in stone—they’re more of a suggestion. As we will discuss shortly, you will be free to move tasks around throughout the day, depending on your energy level and unexpected events that may arise. The main reason you break down your to-dos into time slots is to help you avoid the common student mistake of overestimating your free time. Many well-intentioned students use a simple to-do list to keep track of their daily obligations.But without time labeling, they have no idea how much they can actually accomplish, leading to an unrealistic plan. A twelve-hour day seems like a large amount of time, but when you account for meals and classes and meetings and breaks and socializing, your schedule suddenly becomes a lot tighter. The equation is simple: If you overestimate your free time, then you are likely to put off work until it’s too late. And this leads to all-nighters, panic attacks, and shoddy performance. A realistic sense of time is arguably one of the most important factors in succeeding as a student.After a week or two of time labeling your to-dos, you will be well along your way toward developing this crucial trait. Use the List During the Day As you move through your day, use the rough schedule recorded under the Today’s Schedule column to rem ind yourself what you should be doing. Keep in mind that the student lifestyle is, generally, quite unpredictable. Things will always come up at the last minute. Work will take longer than expected, your roommate will point you toward some absurd Web site that immediately demands an afternoon of your scrutiny—you know how it goes.So adjust your time labels as many times as needed. But don’t procrastinate excessively! The list you constructed in the morning should contain a reasonable amount of work, so if your schedule doesn’t become too unexpectedly crazy, you should be able to accomplish most, if not all, of these tasks. In general, if you’re completing most of what’s on your list at least five days out of seven, then you’re as productive as any student realistically needs to be. If not, don’t worry—the next section of Part One will teach you how to combat your urge to procrastinate.Remember, your list also serves another imp ortant purpose. During the day you will probably encounter various new to-dos and deadlines that need to be scheduled. For example, a professor might announce the date of an upcoming exam, or a friend might give you the date and time for an upcoming study group. The key is to get these obligations out of your head as soon as possible so your mind is not unnecessarily cluttered. Jot down a quick reminder on your list, in the Things to Remember column, as soon as they occur. This takes only a few seconds, and then you can forget about them.The actual scheduling of these tasks will take place the next morning; all you have to do for now is scribble a few words on a piece of scrap paper. Remember, to-dos and deadlines that exist only in your mind drain your energy, distract your attention, create stress, and are more likely to be forgotten. When you’re working, you should be able to concentrate on working, and when you’re relaxing, you should be able to enjoy relaxing. But you can’t devote 100 percent of your energy to any activity when you have important reminders bouncing around in your head.Few students have the energy to schedule every new piece of information that comes along during the day. Think about this for a moment: If it’s the middle of the afternoon, and you are hungry, and everyone is just getting up to leave at the end of a long class, when suddenly the professor yells out a notice that a paper topic is due the following week†¦you’re probably not going to have the energy to stop packing up, take out a calendar, think about what steps are involved in coming up with a paper topic, and then schedule each step on the appropriate days.It would be nice if you did, because then you could purge the deadline from your mind and be confident that it’s safely recorded in your calendar—but this is unrealistic. And it violates our original criterion that any timemanagement system should require only a few minu tes each day. That’s the power of the â€Å"things to remember† column of your list. You can’t expect yourself to be able to think seriously about time management at all points during your busy day. But the act of pulling out a piece of scrap paper from your pocket and quickly jotting down â€Å"anthro paper topic† requires minimal energy, no thinking, and barely any time.You don’t have to consider when to begin working on the paper topic, what steps are involved, or how many days it will require. You simply scribble down three words. The key is that the list is a trusted piece of storage. You are confident that tomorrow morning, when you’re doing your only time-management thinking for the day, you will see that reminder and record the appropriate steps in your calendar. Because of your list, the deadline will not be lost. It will be scheduled. Restarting After a Period of NeglectTo date, I have yet to have successfully followed any time-man agement system without interruption for longer than two months. I try, but inevitably I hit a rough patch. Typically, this happens during the few days following a really busy period—I’m so exhausted from the intensity of the preceding work that I find myself unable to even mention the word â€Å"to-do† without breaking into a cold sweat. This happens to everyone, and you can expect that periodically it will happen to you too. Don’t fear these occasions, and don’t let them make you feel like a failure.They’re normal. The key point is that these lapses are temporary. After a couple days of swearing off my calendar, I always find myself growing uncomfortable with the increasing number of obligations that are free floating in my mind. Before I know it, I’m back into the swing of using the system again, and no worse for wear. The same will be true for you. Once you have learned the power of feeling organized, you will have a hard time goin g long periods without it. Fortunately, the system described here is adaptable to these periods of neglect.If you skip a few days, all you need to do upon restarting is to dump all the to-dos and deadlines free floating in your mind onto a sheet of paper and then push these back onto your calendar for future dates. Case Study: A Monday with Stephen Even the simplest systems can come across as confusing when first described. So let’s go through a quick example that will show you how to put this system into practice. Stephen’s story is based upon the real-life college experiences of myself and the many students I interviewed. If you’re already at college, what follows will seem familiar.If you haven’t yet started your undergraduate career, don’t panic! Yes, Stephen has a lot on his plate. Notice, however, how he uses our system to keep control of his many obligations. Though he can’t finish everything in one day, he remains confident that ever ything that needs to get done will get done in time. As you read this example, imagine how Stephen’s stress might increase, and his efficiency decrease, if he didn’t have his list and calendar to guide his actions and capture the new to-dos and deadlines that constantly pop up. Monday Morning Stephen gets up early because he has class at 9:30 A.M. —a horrible thing. He grabs his calendar from his desk and roots around in his hamper to find the sheet of notebook paper that he used as yesterday’s list. He has only a couple of minutes before class, but that’s okay. Our system requires very little time. Figure 2 shows what Stephen finds recorded on his calendar for today. Figure 2. Stephen’s calendar entry for Monday Monday—3/11/07 †¢ Finish reading for Tuesday Gov class. †¢ Gift for Dad’s birthday †¢ First step of research for Gov paper—find books, Xerox relevant chapters. †¢ Pay cell phone bill. †¢ Return Mark’s CD. First half of Econ problem set (due Wed) †¢ Pick topic for Anthro paper (due tomorrow). †¢ Read five chapters from Anthro book (need to catch up for Friday’s quiz). †¢ Dinner with guys—7 P. M. —Molly’s †¢ Ill-conceived toga party—10 P. M. —Alpha Chi Figure 3. Stephen’s list from Sunday Sunday—3/10/07 Today’s Schedule †¢ 1:00 to 3:00—read article for Anthro. †¢ 3:00 to 6:00—write Government essay. †¢ 7:00 to 8:00—dinner with Sarah †¢ 9:00 to 10:00—edit Government essay. †¢ 10:00 to 11:00—start reading for Tuesday’s Government Things to Remember †¢ Call home. †¢ Start researching summer nternships. †¢ Create schedule for practicing guitar? class Figure 3 shows what he finds scrawled on yesterday’s list. There are several things to notice here. First, Stephen has a lot of work recorded on hi s calendar entry for today. More than he can probably accomplish in twelve hours, so some of these to-dos will need to be moved to other dates. Also notice Stephen’s schedule from the day before (Sunday). This is typical. A fun night on Saturday inevitably leads to a late start and a large workload on Sunday. Stephen was too ambitious with his planning, and by 10:00 P. M. e was burnt out from working on his essay and never got around to starting the Government reading he had scheduled. So this task will need to be carried over to today. Finally, notice how Stephen’s Things to Remember column from yesterday includes some long-term projects, such as â€Å"Create schedule for practicing guitar. † This is a great use of the list! If you jot down ideas for extracurricular and personal projects as they occur to you, they will get moved onto your calendar and therefore won’t be forgotten until you finally get around to doing something about them. Now let’ s see how Stephen gets a handle on all of this before class.What Does Stephen Do First? Stephen’s first step is to time label the tasks currently on his plate so he can determine how much he can actually get done. Between his calendar entry for today and the leftovers from yesterday’s list, Stephen has a lot of to-dos to schedule. His strategy is simple: He starts time labeling in order of importance until his schedule is full, and then moves the rest of the items to other days on the calendar. To effectively time label, however, he must first figure out how much free time he has available. Stephen quickly runs through the following in his head:I have class from 9:30 to 10:30, and another class from 11:00 to 12:00. It’s unlikely that I will get any work done between my 7:00 P. M. dinner and the Alpha Chi party that starts soon after. I should also try to squeeze in an hour or two for a predinner workout (have to look good in that toga), so I should aim to be don e with all of my work by 5:00. With his free time now identified, Stephen can begin to time label his to-dos. Here is his thought process: In between class, from 10:30 to 11:00, I can squeeze in my three small tasks—pay cell phone bill, buy a birthday gift for Dad, and return Mark’s CD.After my second class, I will need to get lunch, but then I should get right to work on my Government reading because it’s due tomorrow! Let’s see, I have three Government articles to read, which will realistically take two hours, so I will label this task with 1:00 to 3:00. Hmmmm, I am running out of time here. I need to start that Econ problem set because those suck, and it’s due Wednesday morning, so I’ll label that task with 3:00 to 4:30. Okay, I am down to my final half hour. What else has to get done? My Anthro paper topic is due tomorrow, so I will have to squeeze that in at 4:30 to 5:00. And that’s all I have time for.At this point, Stephen is a lmost done. All that’s left is taking care of the still-unscheduled to-dos by moving them to future dates. Remember, these include both the unscheduled tasks recorded for the current day and the â€Å"things to remember† items from yesterday’s list. On yesterday’s list I have a reminder to Call home†¦this week is so busy†¦okay, I’ll jot that down on the calendar entry for Friday, I’ll be more relaxed by then. I really don’t have time right now for these other two reminders—start internship research and create guitar schedule—so I’ll jot those down on the calendar entry for the first weekend after midterms are over.I should have more free time then. Okay, what’s left? The unlabeled items from today’s calendar entry. No problem. I can move the Anthro reading to tomorrow’s calendar entry, and then move the Government paper research to Wednesday—I can work on it after I hand in my Econ problem set. Done! That’s it. Stephen has finished all of his serious time-management thinking for the day. Before leaving for class, he rips out a fresh sheet of notebook paper to use for today’s list. He divides it into two columns and jots down the tasks he scheduled for the day. Figure 4 shows what Stephen’s list looks like as he bolts out the door.The entire process described above would realistically take only around three to five minutes to complete. The more you use this system, the more natural it becomes. Before you know it, updating your calendar and dashing off a daily schedule will become as routine as taking a morning shower. Remember, this is the only serious timemanagement thinking that Stephen has to do all day. Now he’s ready to face his Monday with his mind free from worry about tasks he’s forgetting or due dates that are looming. He knows he has scheduled all the tasks on his plate and that they will get done eventually.He has a flexible plan. And he can trust it. Figure 4. Stephen’s list on Monday morning Monday—3/11/07 Today’s Schedule †¢ 9:30 to 10:30 Class †¢ 10:30 to 11:00—Gift for Dad’s birthday, pay cell phone bill, return Mark’s CD. †¢ 11:00 to 12:00—Class †¢ 12:00 to 1:00 Lunch/Break †¢ 1:00 to 3:00 Do Government reading assignment. †¢ 3:00 to 4:30 Start work on Econ problem set. †¢ 4:30 to 5:00 Come up with topic for Anthro paper. †¢ 5:00 to 7:00 Get huge. †¢ 7:00 Dinner followed by inevitable embarrassment at toga party (Note to self: Flex a lot at party. ) Things to RememberNow let’s see how Stephen holds up†¦ During the Day on Monday The day starts off fine. Stephen successfully finishes the small tasks that he scheduled for 10:30. During his second class, he remembers that he has some overdue library books that need to be returned. No problem. Stephen whips the list out of his pocke t and jots down â€Å"Return books† under the â€Å"Things to Remember† column. A little later, the professor announces the date and time of the midterm—something else that needs to be scheduled. Again, no problem for Stephen. He adds â€Å"Sched. Gov midterm (4/5, 3 P. M. † to his list, and then leaves the classroom confident that these tasks will be scheduled appropriately tomorrow morning. After a leisurely lunch, Stephen hunkers down in the library to tackle his government reading. The articles are a little shorter than usual, so he finishes by 2:30, which is nice. As he leaves the library, however, Stephen runs into a friend who convinces him to tag along on a Wal-Mart run. To be honest, it didn’t take much convincing. College students, for some inexplicable reason, love Wal-Mart runs. After this (unavoidable) detour, Stephen gets back to campus by 3:30. Now he’s behind schedule.Quickly checking his e-mail, Stephen sees a message from a classmate asking if he wants to join a study group at 4:00 to work on the Econ problem set. Swiftly adapting, Stephen once again whips out his list and makes a couple of rapid changes to the Today’s Schedule column. He bumps up the Anthro paper topic work to start now, and then replaces his Econ problem set work with the study group that he just found out about. One of the big advantages of this system is its flexibility. Schedules will always change, but this the system makes it easy for you to regain your focus after getting sidetracked.Figure 5 shows the new state of Stephen’s list. Figure 5. Stephen’s list Monday afternoon Monday—3/11/07 Today’s Schedule †¢ 9:30 to 10:30—Class †¢ 10:30 to 11:00—Gift for Dad’s Return Mark’s CD. Things to Remember †¢ return books. †¢ Sched. Gov midterm birthday, Pay cell phone bill, (4/5, 3 P. M. ) †¢ 11:00 to 12:00—Class †¢ 12:00 to 1:00—Lu nch/Break †¢ 1:00 to 3:00—Do Government reading assignment. †¢ 3:30 to 4:00—Choose Anthro paper topic †¢ 4:00 to 5:00—Work with group on Econ problem set †¢ 5:00 to 7:00—Get huge. †¢ 7:00—Dinner followed by inevitable embarrassment at toga party. (Note to self: Flex a lot at party. )The Anthro work goes fine. Stephen finds a topic that he is happy with and then runs off to meet with his Econ group. During the meeting, the group agrees to meet again Tuesday morning to finish the problem set. Stephen quickly jots down â€Å"Econ group—10 A. M. † under Things to Remember and then heads off to the gym. He’s done with work for the day. The Aftermath Because he finished a lot of work during the morning and afternoon before the party, Stephen was able to really relax and have a good time that night. In addition, he successfully recorded all of the new to-dos and deadlines that cropped up during the day.Instead of bouncing around in his head and causing stress, they were safely placed in Stephen’s system and will be scheduled in due time. Most important, none of this required him to explicitly think about time management beyond the five minutes he spent planning that morning and the quick rescheduling he did in the afternoon. As suggested at the beginning of this case study, imagine for a moment what Stephen’s day might have been like without the simple time-management system. What if, instead, he’d employed the strategy used by most students and simply tried to remember what he needed to get done?It’s highly unlikely that the small tasks— returning a CD, buying a birthday gift, paying a bill—would have been completed. Without a schedule, people don’t like to do menial chores unless they’re 100 percent necessary. There’s also a good chance that he would have forgotten about the Anthro paper topic altogether after the last-minu te study group came up. What about the big-picture reminders from Sunday—calling home, scheduling internships, creating a guitarpracticing schedule? Those would have been pushed out of his head completely by the demands of near-future deadlines.Without a system to capture them, we can’t expect Stephen to remember long-term ideas for any extended period of time. Most important, without the system, Stephen would have completed much less schoolwork on Monday. The day would have focused, more or less, only on the Government reading, because that was the only big task actually due the next day. Without time labels, Stephen would have had a much hazier understanding of his free time, so he probably wouldn’t have started this reading until later in the afternoon (for the most part, students don’t like to start any work without a large block of free time ahead of them).Remember, however, that this assignment took a couple of hours to complete, so that means if St ephen had waited until the afternoon to start, he would have finished only this single task by 5:00, with the Econ problem set and Anthro paper topic likely falling by the wayside. Instead, Stephen ended up finishing six tasks by 5:00, leaving plenty of time for exercise and debauchery during the evening. As you can see from the case study, this simple time-management system, which requires only a few minutes of planning each day, made Stephen significantly more productive and significantly less stressed.It will do the same for you. In other words, five minutes every morning and a sheet of scrap paper in your pocket are enough to transform you from a stressed-out student struggling to get things done, into an organized, relaxed, finely tuned academic machine. If you remember one lesson from this book, it should be the lesson of this case study: A little organization goes a hell of a long way. Step 2 Declare War on Procrastination In the previous section we introduced a simple time-m anagement system to help you plan your day intelligently. That was the easy part.Anyone can spend five minutes to figure out what they should be doing. The real challenge is marshaling the motivation to actually do the work once it’s scheduled. Without some control over your schedule, you cannot be a happy and successful student—no matter how good your intentions. As you might expect, in conducting interviews for this book, I put a significant focus on the issue of procrastination. Anyone who makes straight As has clearly found a way to consistently get work done when it needs to be done, and I wanted to find out how. As it turns out, however, I was in for a surprise.Every student I interviewed was asked the following question: â€Å"How do you defeat procrastination? † As soon as the first responses were returned, it became clear that something was not quite right. I received answers such as: â€Å"I don’t. † â€Å"Rarely. † â€Å"I didnâ €™t. † â€Å"I don’t think that you can. † These were not the responses that I expected—it didn’t make sense! Everything else they told me about how they studied and wrote papers clearly indicated that these scholastic studs were kicking some very serious procrastinatory ass, so why were they all claiming they didn’t defeat procrastination?What was going on here? Fortunately, many students went on to qualify this first reaction, and it was in these qualifications that I began to figure out what they really meant. â€Å"I don’t think that you can,† was how Lee, a straight-A student from Columbia, began his answer, but he soon added: â€Å"You just have to try to limit it. † Ryan, a straight-A Dartmouth student, started by claiming, â€Å"Really, I don’t defeat procrastination. † But then he continued: â€Å"Or, at least, I don’t think I do†¦although, I suppose, compared to the majority of stu dents, I’m not as bad as I think. † I don’t know that I’ve yet defeated procrastination,† was how Christine, a straight-A Harvard student, began before concluding: â€Å"but I’ve found ways to make this inevitable tendency less destructive. † Over time, these extended responses began to paint a clear picture. When the straight-A students answered â€Å"I don’t defeat procrastination,† they really meant to say â€Å"I don’t defeat the urge to procrastinate. † And this makes perfect sense. To put it simply, some work just plain sucks, and you, like the straight-A students interviewed for this book, will want to procrastinate on this sucky work.It’s unavoidable. Therefore, the goal in this step is not to teach you how to love all work and never feel like procrastinating ever again. Instead, I’m going to describe some targeted strategies to help you sidestep this unavoidable urge when it arises†”not destroy it altogether. This is how straight-A students prevent procrastination from destabilizing their schedule. They don’t rely only on willpower and good intentions, but instead deploy an arsenal of specific, tested rules that help them short-circuit their natural desire to procrastinate.These students, of course, aren’t perfect, and they still occasionally put off work for no good reason. But overall their strategies made them significantly more effective at following a study plan then their peers—and this made all the difference. What follows are five anti-procrastination battle plans drawn directly from my straight-A interviews. These techniques are not theoretical; they are exhaustively used by real students to beat down procrastination again and again. Trust them. Put them into practice immediately. Make them into a habit. The effect will be immediate.You may never fully rid yourself of the urge to procrastinate, and that’s okay. But with t he right strategies in place, you can rid yourself of the fear that you’ll always give in to that urge. Procrastination Battle Plan #1: Keep a work progress journal Think about the last time that you procrastinated on something important. You can probably recall some of the wishy-washy excuses your mind concocted for delaying the work. Something along the lines of â€Å"I don’t have all the materials here with me now, but if I waited until tomorrow, I could get tarted right away with everything I need,† or â€Å"It’s getting late, and my concentration is waning, it would be a waste to start now, so I will wait to tackle this when I’m fresh in the morning. † Why are these excuses necessary? Why don’t we simply think: â€Å"This is boring, and I’m lazy, so I’m not going to do it,† which is much closer to the truth? The answer is that your ego is a powerful force. We procrastinate, but we don’t want to admit t o ourselves that we procrastinate. So we make excuses to ourselves to avoid the truth. A work progress journal is a simple tool that takes advantage of this reality to help you defeat procrastination.It works as follows: Buy a cheap spiral notebook, and keep it near your calendar. Each morning, when you work out your schedule for the day, quickly jot down in the notebook the date and the most important tasks that you are scheduled to get done. At the end of the day, if you’ve completed all of these tasks, simply jot down all completed. If you failed to complete some tasks, record this, along with a quick explanation. The system adds only an extra minute to your morning routine and requires only an extra minute each night before you go to sleep. It’s simple enough to turn into a habit.What’s amazing, however, is the journal’s immediate effect. Having to record, in ink, on paper, that you procrastinated over a task for no good reason is a powerful blow to y our ego. It might be easy to tell yourself a few weak excuses for putting off a tedious assignment, but when you have to record these same excuses on paper their foolishness is exposed. You can no longer get away with lame rationalizations. This is especially true if you continue to delay the same task day after day. After seeing all of those excuses pile up in your journal, there will be no escape from reality: You are being lazy!Your ego won’t like this truth, so it will kick-start your motivation in an effort to avoid it. The journal, in this way, acts like a personal drill sergeant, sitting on your shoulder and yelling into your ear: â€Å"Soldier, I want you to go get me a pillow, because I know I must be dreaming. I thought I just saw you consider not starting your paper this afternoon, and I knnnoooowwww you wouldn’t try to pull that crap with me standing right next to you! Now go grab your notes and get workin’ before I make you record your laziness in ink where everyone can see it! Many students, myself included, don’t keep a journal all the time, but use it to help them get through unusually busy periods. For example, my work progress journal was a key force in getting me through my senior fall semester, which involved classes, grad school applications, and the writing of my first book. Others have had great success with the journal to keep focused on their LSAT preparation while juggling the demands of regular class work. Some students go so far as to use the system with a friend, agreeing to review each other’s journal once a week.As Christine from Harvard suggests: â€Å"If you have a friend in the same class, check up on each other’s progress. † And even if you can’t find a willing journal partner, there are other ways to use friends to jumpstart your drive: â€Å"It helps to simply tell your roommates of your goals, and have them guilt-trip you into working. † Procrastination Battle Plan #2: Feed the Machine Low energy breeds procrastination. Most students know the feeling—your mind starts to feel sluggish, you begin to read whole pages of text without remembering a single word, and writing coherent notes becomes a Herculean task.It’s almost impossible to motivate yourself to stick to a schedule under these mental conditions. Accordingly, during long work periods, you need to feed your body the fuel it needs to perform at it