practical wisdom to help seminary students avoid burnout and finish well
Today is Monday, September 08th, 2008
We’re all very well acquainted with the problem of procrastination. Putting off things that we do not enjoy or are dreading is a very human temptation, but is completely self-destructive.
Here are a few practical tips on overcoming procrastination. Some of these tips will work well for you, others won’t. Pick and choose as you will.
Don’t [...]
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March 12th, 2008 | Mark | 1 comment | Continued
It’s mid-semester, and lots of projects and tests are coming due. Final exams and papers are not that far off, and I’m sure you feel the crunch coming.
With that in mind, we’re going to talk about reclaiming desperately needed time by eliminating the things that waste it.
The Enemy’s main strategy for people in ministry is [...]
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March 11th, 2008 | Mark | 0 comments | Continued
Learning to say no is an important survival skill for ministry. People will ask you to do all sorts of things. because you’re nice. You’re in ministry! How could you say no?
This will suck your life away if you’re not careful. We must defend our own borders.
Of course, most of us in ministry ARE nice, [...]
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February 15th, 2008 | Mark | 1 comment | Continued
Part one was addressed to the grade nerds. Today, I speak to the rest of you.
No one else may care what your grades are in seminary…. but you should.
(Fair warning. Those who know me know that one of my finger wagging episodes is only moments away.)
You should care about your grades, to the degree that [...]
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February 6th, 2008 | Mark | 0 comments | Continued
In seminary, I was a grade-nerd. It started early in my academic career. I was in the gifted program from 3rd grade through high school. Once I discovered that I had academic gifts, I found I liked achieving well in that arena. And my parents never settled for less than I could do. In high [...]
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February 4th, 2008 | Mark | 0 comments | Continued
Tony over at Said at Southern noticed our discussion here, and set up a poll on whether all your seminary classes are worthy of your best attention.
I say no. What do you say? Take the poll.
I’m really curious to see the results.
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January 31st, 2008 | Mark | 0 comments | Continued
Here are the questions you need to ask and answer at the beginning of each class:
1. Will this be among the 20% of most valuable classes, to which I should devote my best energy, or will it be one of the 80% that are (comparatively) low-value?
Many things go into this determination. Some classes you will [...]
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January 30th, 2008 | Mark | 0 comments | Continued
Back to planning your study. Again, I mention that our key idea here is triage. If you have time to devote full attention to every class (and your ministry and your job and your marriage and your health), then knock yourself out. If you’re one of the rest of us who has to let something [...]
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January 28th, 2008 | Mark | 3 comments | Continued
So if my top 20% of value came in 18 hours of classes, then surely I had a bottom 20%, too?
You bet I did. Here they are:
Old and New Testament (Four classes, 12 hrs) – Here the culprit was poor instructors. I had dithering graduate students for two of the four classes, and a stuffed [...]
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January 17th, 2008 | Mark | 5 comments | Continued
The reasons for the value of a class can vary widely. Some factors can be:
High-value books as part of assigned reading
High-value lectures – good information
High-value assignments which help you learn critical skills
High-value professors whose teaching, life and/or personal example are impactful
If the 80/20 principle holds true, then the highest value of my 92 hour M. [...]
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January 15th, 2008 | Mark | 4 comments | Continued
"You already know what you are going to regret when you are on your death bed why not work on ...
Thanks for the link! I'm benefiting from your blog as well. Great thoughts and helpful advice on managing ... Great thoughts and comments here. As a seminary student, I have had to learn how to moderately speed read. ...
Excellent point. I don't deny that there are things lost when you read less than every page of the ...
As a prof, let me add one equation to the discussion (which by the way, I also teach a similar ...
Good thoughts again. Thanks, as always, Mark.
A couple of thoughts I might add in:
~For one, expect that you will ...
I just wanted to thank y'all for all of your great posts. They have been very helpful, and have ...
Well said.
The whole of 1 Cor. 8:1-3 seems to tell more of the story, as “knowledge puffs up, but ... Amen again. Great post.
A wise leader once told me that, "work expands to fill the time allowed it." What I ... Ditto on Shaun's comment.
Also, it's too late now for summer-- but as Christmas break approaches, you might also consider ...
