Preparation for Learning

Before you begin your course project, set aside 30 minutes to organize your work for the first week. After testing your approach, you can make adjustments in the second and subsequent weeks.

This assignment is especially important for those who have not participated in a multi-month training program for a long time. Treat studying this course as a regular workout for your brain, during which your thinking will be reprogrammed. Therefore, pay close attention to the assignments, and it is recommended that you describe your thoughts (hypotheses) for each task in a few words—this will help you start thinking through writing. For example, you might respond to the second assignment as follows: “I want to study the course in the morning before work for 30 minutes, then dedicate 1 hour during the day, and another 30 minutes in the evening. To do this, I will start shifting my evening wakeful time to morning study time: I will go to bed 15 minutes earlier in the evening, and by getting up earlier, I will start studying for at least 15 minutes a day and gradually increase this to 30 minutes.”

1. Describe your expectations for the course. You may list work-related and personal challenges, as well as things you would like to improve about yourself. By completing this assignment in writing, you will increase your chances of successfully finishing the course, and it will also be useful to compare your expectations as you progress through the course and when preparing for the final assessment.
2. Adjust your daily routine to include studying in the course. Find 1–2 hours each day during the first week of study, literally blocking this time in your personal calendar. Write your hypothesis following the example above. Revisit it after a week and add a note below with any adjustments to your initial hypothesis.
3. Choose a time tracking tool to monitor the time you dedicate to the course (ideally 2–4 Pomodoros per day, each lasting 25–30 minutes). For example, in the Focus To Do smartphone app, there is an Aisystant group you can join using the code: JNSYL. Create a project in your tracker called “My Learning.” Start using a ritual for activating the tracker: when you turn it on, think about the fact that you are now taking on the role of a student, and by the end of the Pomodoro, you should have a completed section (pages read), educational notes compiled, or some work artifacts for your project. Try not to study without activating the Pomodoro tracker and following the ritual! Write down how you understand this important student ritual, and if needed, read the post in the Aisystant club: https://systemsworld.club/t/zabyvaete-vklyuchat-treker-pomodoro-pochemu-eto-vazhno-i-kak-postavit-privychku/11580
4. Register in Coda (for example, using this link: https://dash.partnerstack.com/invite/47d92fe146214dec904c286c31f77015) or another similar program if you would like to model in a professional modeling tool.
5. Organize your workspace so that nothing distracts you while studying the course. Ideally, choose a well-ventilated room, a comfortable chair, and a screen that allows you to split it into two parts: on one side, you study the course, and on the other, you take notes and model tables. Try to develop a ritual: you sit at your workspace, turn on the Pomodoro timer, prepare to take on the role of a student, and create various work artifacts.
6. Explain to yourself that while studying the course, you are not just taking notes, but are required to record your thoughts by compiling educational notes. If you do not yet know how to take notes (if you do not have your own knowledge base), we recommend for now writing your thoughts in the “Questions for Review and Further Study” cells (this subsection is found in each section before the “Homework” subsection). To do this, choose the most appropriate question that is somehow related to your thought, or write your thought in the cell with the last item “My notes on the section studied.” This way, as you gradually study the section, you will collect answers to all the questions, rather than writing them from scratch after reading the entire section.

Try to read the section within the first three days of the study week, and dedicate the remaining time to modeling and completing the homework assignment. Reserve the last day before the training session with the instructor (or the 6th day of the week) as a backup. If you plan everything correctly, you will be able to use this day to review the material you have studied, help your classmates, comment on drafts in the Aisystant club (not just those of your classmates), or formulate questions for the instructor.