You and Your Environment

1.       
Imagine you are
preparing to start a session of study.

2.       
How do you feel?
(Refer back to Activity 1 if you want to.)

3.       
Write down five
or six adjectives to describe your state of mind at the moment. (Write longer
notes if you want to.)

4.       
Now look at the
list.

5.       
Which words or
phrases are positive? (Write ‘P’ next to
these.)

6.       
Which words are
negative? (Write ‘N’ next to
these.)

7.       
Look at any
positive words. No problems here! You want more of these!

8.       
Look at any
negative words. Think about the reasons why you feel this way.

9.       
Can you replace
any negative words with positive ones, and so improve your self-image?

1.       
Write a brief
description (if you like drawing you could draw a picture as well or instead)
of the place you normally use for studying.

2.       
Now write a brief
description (or draw a picture) of your imaginary perfect place for study.

3.       
Compare the two
descriptions or pictures. What are the differences? Are there luxuries in the
imaginary description or picture that you don’t really need? If so, leave out
these details.

4.       
Now think of
practical ways of improving your existing study place to make it more like your
ideal one.

Here’s another, related
activity.

1.       
Make a list of all
the equipment you need to be able to study effectively at home. (You don’t need
to include equipment that is provided for you, such as test tubes in a
chemistry laboratory, or a dead rat for dissection in Biology.)

2.       
When you’ve
finished, compare your list to my list, which appears at the very end of this
chapter.

3.       
Don’t look at my
list until you’ve completed your own!