Book Review: Learning Outside the Lines

   Learning Outside the Lines may be a book meant for college students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) but can be applied to any student who wants to be successful in college. It's a great guide for those who have been recently diagnosed with any learning disorder and how to navigate your way through the college life frenziness.
  The second section of the book is where I concentrated on reading the most. The authors guide you through note-taking, class discussions, writing papers, and doing well on exams. The book is very realistic since the authors wrote the book based on their experiences at Brown University. The book is set up for quick and easy reading with lots of bullet points for those of us that want to get what we need out of it and move on. Yes, built for short attention spans!
  I learned that I was making my system far more complex than it should be. Color-coding is a definite must and it will take some trial and error to figure our what works and what doesn't. I find a few simple steps will save a lot of time. Digging into the syllabus of your class is a must and so is better time management. I take each class syllabus that first day and plug in all the major tests and assignments into my calendar. If you are paper-based, use pencil. If you are computer-based, it will be easy to add and delete as you go along. I use paper-based in class because I don't always have my electronics on me to toss it into my Google+ calendar. I set aside time each day to add to the computer what is written on the paper-based calendar. Then I look at the upcoming month, estimate how long it will take for me to study and complete major assignments and I will schedule tasks that lead to the completion of each assignment. I also throw in an extra day on major assignments that allows for room to breath if I have a Murphy's Law day in which nothing is going right. I have been using my system since Spring semester and it was far more successful than the previous semester!
  Look this book up in your local library or head to your favorite bookstore and pick it up. Well worth the time and money invested!