Gearfire - Tips for Students

The Frugal Student: Get Microsoft Office 2010 for $80 The Frugal Student is a weekly column on personal finance for students, brought to you by Chuck over at The Thrifty Lifestyle. Check out TheThriftyLifestyle.com for more frugal tips! Money is often tight in college, and so students have developed many creative ways to save money. Unfortunately between productivity software like Microsoft Office and media software like Photoshop, computer software is often a big expense for students. Luckily software...

Achieving Balance in The New Term

Many, many moons ago, I wrote an article here on Gearfire about balance being the key to success as a student. One thing I never really went over though, is how to achieve that balance. I was young, and didn’t really know what to say on the topic. So, I spent many, many hours over the past many, many moons, doing my own personal research on how one goes about walking the middle path. At this point, I’d say that...

Powernap to Improve Focus & Concentration

First of all, this post isn’t about HOW TO powernap. It is about how to USE a powernap. You probably all know already how to powernap (or supercharge nap, whatever you call it). Probably not the coffee trick, but I will keep that for later. Do you also know how to USE the powernap? ‘What do you mean, you just take a nap right when you are feeling tired?’ Indeed. But not only when you are feeling tired. Big problem...

Flickr Showcase: Organization Systems to Draw Insp...

The year is quickly coming to a close. We’re in the very last of the double digits of the number of days left of the year until we’re at 2010. Whew! Say that last sentence 20 times fast! If anything even vageuly related to “get organized with how I use my time” is on your New Year’s resolution list, well then congratuations. You’ve taken the first brave, bold step towards doing so by coming...

Tips for Waking Up More Easily

How To Wake Up Waking up is one of the hardest things to do in life. Nobody likes to wake up early, everybody likes to snooze. Waking up easy is an illusion, you think. I have reviewed a couple of ways to wake up and made a small selection of ways that might work! Put your alarm outside of arm’s reach And old trick. Already used in the dark ages. They put the rooster outside, so when it started to crow, they needed to...

This is the Music You Should Really Be Listening T...

Don’t get me wrong- I also enjoy having Lil’ Wayne and Kesha in the background while I study. But let’s all be honest with each other- anything on a top 40 countdown is not conducive to major academic accomplishments. It’s been scientifically proven that the best music to listen to while studying is classical baroque music. I know it’s scientifically proven, because I read it on Wikipedia. True...

Scanning the Skyline: How Far In The Future Should...

Summary: In this post, I discuss my struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder, and explore the arguments pro and con a well planned out life. ********************************** I was recently diagnosed with OCD (that is, obsessive compulsive disorder). I’m hardly ashamed, or particularly shocked in fact. A little confused perhaps, but otherwise, the diagnosis has been a serious wake up call. The only way I can...

Your Non-Academic Pre-University To-Do List (Hyphe...

I’ve just finished packing for university and for the first time in 6 years, my things are all in boxes. I moved around a lot as a kid, but for the first time ever, I’ll be moving alone. I’m off to the University of Waterloo to major in Honours Environment and Business. (Told ya’ I’d make it in!) I’d be lying to you if I said I was particularly sad about that- I was hardly happy with my...

Balancing School and Sports

As we race steadily on to the start of this next school year, it can never hurt to think a little about what our schedule will be like for the next few months. We have to keep track of classes, study sessions, working, social lives, and all sorts of extracurricular activities. One major time commitment is if one plays a sport (or two, or three…). No matter at what level – intramural, club, or varsity –...