Sobruary Wrap-Up on a Roof - HackCollege Season 3, Episode 4

Chris and Kelly interview some fellow students about their Sobruary experience and Kelly explains how to get on roofs around campus.

Topics this week:

• A Calvin College student is suspended for a nasty Facebook message.
• Georgia Tech Students create an iPhone application for their university.
• Eight Maps ties Proposition 8 donors to their homes.
• Chris interviews two students, Tyler and Chelsea, about their Sobruary experiences.
• Kelly shows you how to get on a roof.

Green Tips for Campus Goers

Drop the Disposable

Refillable water bottles are awesome for two reasons. The first reason is you don’t have to waste your beer money by buying cases of water. The second reason is they help the environment by keeping water bottles out of landfills. Most hippies will tell you that the stainless steel canteens are the way to go but they can be kind of expensive. The CamelBak and Nalgene both make water bottles in various sizes and colors.

Going along with the idea of water bottles, refillable coffee mugs are pretty sweet too. They are helpful at keeping costs down even if you don’t brew your own joe. Coffee shops (mostly the ones that are chains) will offer a discount for refills. For instance, Einstein’s gives refills for one dollar if you buy their mug that came with a coffee, for two fifty.

The downside the non-disposable model is that you have to wash the bottles and mugs semi consistently. This makes it harder for us lazy ones (guilty as charged) but we should at least try, right?

Have a Plant

You can have a plant in your dorm or apartment on the cheap, most definitely. Just take that two liter of coke you used to mix your drinks last night and cut it in half. Not only can you use the bottom for a planter, but you can also use the top for filter.

Now, all you have to purchase is a little bit of topsoil and some seeds. I suggest buying mint. Mint smells nice and after you wash it pop it in your mouth and then you won’t have to buy the orbit anymore. Personification also helps to keep it in your mind thus helping keep it alive.

Walk and/or Bike

The latter three words, walk, run and bike are extremely healthy ways to get around. Not just because they are healthy for you, but also because they are healthy for the environment. So, why not walk to class instead of taking the bus or driving. If it is too far to walk, ride a bike.  If you don't have a bike, start a bike share at your school.

Controlling Your Inner Techie

It's hard to remember something as simple as turning you computer off at night. If you just turn off your computer you'll be saving an extremely large amount of energy. Also, if you phone can make it through the night without dying, don't charge it. It has a battery for a reason! Hey maybe if everyone turned their computer off at night and charged their phones less universities would lower tuition a little. I like to dream.

Finally, here's a carbon footprint calculator. Try it out, you might be surprised how much energy you use.

How do you stay green at college? Comment below or email me at mike [at] hackcollege [dot] com.

Going to Power Shift?

Image Courtesy: 1 SkyHey all, I was wondering if anyone was heading to DC for Power Shift. I'm going to be there on Saturday and Sunday. It should be real good time. The Roots are playing and Speaker Nancy Pelosi is going to be giving a keynote address a long with many others. It would be nice to see some readers. During the weekend I'll put up some greenish college hacking posts.

If you are going hit me up at mike@hackcollege.com.

Acing the Final Stretch

Whether you started the semester strong or weak, it is most important that you finish strong. This is the time where students and teachers (at the detriment of their students) rush to get everything done during the final weeks of class. Spring fever is in full swing, set off by a taste of freedom known as spring break. During this time of finishing term papers and studying for finals there is a propensity for burn outs.  Here are a few tips to manage the final part of the year and avoid the dreaded burn out:

It's never too late to make a plan

All is not lost if you kamikazeed your way through your pre-spring break academics. When you decide to make a plan, don't multitask while doing it. Sit down with all your syllabi out or on your computer screen. There are a couple of ways you can make a plan. Calendars are usually the best bet.  A good thing to add to you calendar is create date where you should start focusing on assignments not just their due dates. Another way you can manage your end of the semester tasks is by creating a list with the most important assignments at the top descending down to the least important.

Don't be afraid to take a personal day

Most college classes don't take attendance and even if they do, professors usually give you some slack. So, if you feel a burn out coming on take a day and do nothing. If you are going to do something, and you haven't made a plan yet, make one. Lack of planning was probably the cause of this, so using your time to make an action plan to help you rock socks and avoid and another, at least before the semester lets out.

On the personal day don't pig out. Eat healthy. Try not to stay in bed all day unless you're sick. Enjoy some simple pleasures. If something is really bothering you, take the day to talk about it. Vent, by either writing something (poetry, a narrative, even a letter) or call someone you can talk to about anything.

Know when you get your best work done

There are some points of the day where you are more productive than others. The key is to identifiy them and use them for actual work and not for games. For instance, I know I can sit in front of a book longer during the day than if I crack it open at 10 pm. So the trick is that you need to start knowing yourself and how you work. College isn't about the 9 to 5, be abstract with your schedule!

What are your end of the semester strategies? Comment below or email me at mike@hackcollege.com.

5 Quick and Dirty Anti-Procrastination Tips

1. Leave the house. Go to a working environment, It it may be the library, coffee shop or a designated study area on campus. Regardless, leave the distractions behind and make it hard to lose focus. 

2. Disconnect. Get off Facebook, Twitter and turn off your cell phone. These time sinks are useless, yet the ever updating aspect make them impossible to pull your eyes away from. Most coffee shops make you pay for WiFi, take advantage of this fact. Is Facebook really worth 5 dollars?

3. Isolate. Put on your headphones, put in some ear plugs, listen to white noise. By blocking your hearing, you eliminate a great deal of distractions. The feeling of isolation will help you get your work done.

4. Get dressed. Act like you mean business, if you’re wearing comfy sweats and slippers are you really giving off the productive vibe? Take a shower, do your hair, get dressed for the day, eat breakfast and get in the working mood.

5. Just do it. Don’t set timelines, you and I both know you won’t start that essay in fifteen minutes. Start immediately, the only difference between starting now and in a few minutes is the continuation of the procrastination loop you’ve been in all day. You’ve got work to do, just do it.

GTD Has Never Been So Sexy

The new task management application Things is beautiful.  Not just because it's designed seamlessly with OS X 10.5 Leopard but more because there is beauty in its functionality.  There are so many ways for you and others to get things done. Things also won MacWorld's 2009 Best in Show award.

Most college students are flying by the seat of their pants.  Things allows you to catch the ideas you have on the fly with quick task shortcut. This is awesome cause it can let you get back to what you were doing.  In the quick to do you can direct it to your inbox or you can save it to a project or area of responsibility. You can also add related sites, documents or presentations to go along with the task. This allows for you to quickly get at the presentations you may need to study for a test or for a project you're working on.

The areas of responsibility portion I thought was really nice. I'm involved in many things including HackCollege so, being able to focus on those tasks is really helpful. Being able to separate classes, activites and other life tasks will leave you with a clear sense of mind. 

Each semester, we all have huge projects that might take the duration to complete. Things lets the user create projects, and divide them into smaller tasks. The "Teammate" function keeps your classmates involved, provided they have Things. Having people in the know about your tasks can act as another reminder because it is definitely easier to get on someone elses case, rather than your own.

Like OmniFocus, it does sync with iCal. Unfortunately for those who use mail, Things doesn't sync with mail.  You can take Things with you via an iPhone app. It's setup just like the desktop app's sidebar and allow you to view and add to dos. This is a good compliment that help you capture your tasks as you think of them and not just while you have a computer in front of you.

All that glitters is not gold though.  The price tag is kind of hefty for college students.  It is hard for me to shell out $50 when I could do almost the same thing on Remember the Milk. But, if you have the means to get this program, do it. Also, it doesn't have a time of day function, where you could put in the time something's due. And as Chris said, a lot of what students have for homework is short term. In that way it's kind of not for students.

Do you prefer OmniFocus, Things, or another GTD Application? Comment below or email me at mike@hackcollege.com.

Prep for Spring Break and Get Things Done - HackCollege Season 3, Episode 3

Chris and Kelly start thinking about a spring break in Cancun to escape from the dreary Los Angeles Weather. Topics this week:

• JuicyCampus is gone for good.
• YouTube begins offering video downloads, and a few free lectures.
• Gina Trapani resigns from Liferhacker and starts a new blog called Smarterware.
• Chris sits down for an interview with Ashley, an STA branch manager, to talk about hacking spring break.
• Chris takes it to the chalkboard and explains exactly what GTD is and how to use it as a student.

GTD on Campus: Who To Talk To

Photo Courtesy: GawkerRanting on your blog about how bad the food in the dining hall is will not make it any better. However there are other ways you can change the food on your campus as well as many other things. These organizations, are a great resource for you to fix things but also to get involved.

Dorm Life

The governing body in college dorms is the Residence Hall Association or RHA.  Each residence hall usually has meetings where students can come voice their concerns and stay abreast of events going on around campus. They handle everything from making sure there's urinal cakes in the community bathrooms to giving advice on how to deal with a noisy neighbor.

The Food

Food on most college campuses has a reputation of being sub-par.  Their task is not that easy though; imagine feeding thousands of people. Despite that, most of us are paying thousands for the food. So if your food is below your standards, investagate whether you have a committee that holds meetings for students to talk with the heads of the company that services the school.

Commuting

Sometimes people that commute get left out of being on top of the same information the students that reside in the dorms do. Many universities employ a commuter association.  This fills a gap because, last time I checked, commuters are students too. Besides having a purpose to help students with their direct problems, they also try (like RHA) to keep people in the know about events on campus.

Student Life

A lot of colleges have Student Life committees. The goal of these committees is to make sure they are providing the best possible experience for you. You are paying them an exorbitent amount of money, right? This applies to more than general student life. Some majors also have a student life committee that holds meetings.   

If you don't have these committees at your school, don't be afraid to create them. Universities welcome the birth of new organizations and invite students to create their own. Also it shouldn't be that troublesome to get members, especially if you are creating it in lieu of a problem. Plus, if you do create a goup, that will look extremely good on your resume.  It shows great leadership and poise.

How do you fix things on your campus? Comment below or email me at mike@hackcollege.com.