Why everything is a three course meal
#130 - and it's not because I'm hungry all the time
Hi there,
I’ve just done my (retrospective) budget and have been reminded of how expensive London is - especially the travel! I’ve spent more so far this month on the Tube/bus than I would for a term’s bus pass in Birmingham 🤯
Another week of meeting new people and having new experiences, albeit a quieter one. The week ahead is very light on ‘contact hours’ as I prepare for a test on Friday - yes, already! Feeling ok about it, and will feel better with some work.
Highlight of the week: cricket training this morning. Batted much better than it usually goes, with a few big shots and only getting out once! With the good bowling (one wicket right at the end!) and the music during the nets, it was a good way to spend my Sunday morning🏏
Once again, we have a few stories linking together.
I. On Thursday, I went to a great event by Imperial’s Investment Society, explaining the different terms in the banking and finance industry, and how they all fit in together.
Following my own advice of setting yourself up to be opportune and lucky, I had copies of my CV in my bag. I managed to get some advice on my CV (which turns out was desperately needed) and made a good first impression, both useful ahead of the spring week application season.
However, I’ve only managed to get started on updating the layout of my CV, the weekend has flown by and another week beckons. I didn’t find make the time to do it properly.
II. One thing to get used to at university is making the most out of lectures. Their style is quite different to the classroom lessons I have engaged in, for just the small time frame of 13 years. (list of how they are different is in the footnotes, for those interested)1
To keep up with the fast pace, I’ve been making sure (as per advice) to briefly read over the lecture notes beforehand, so I half understand what’s going on. However, I’m finding that it is very important to go back over the lecture notes of a day, especially because you won’t always understand things live in a lecture (and often you’re not supposed to)
Again, you need to make time for both the pre-reading and the reviewing.
III. I’m really enjoying cooking, more than I have before. Maybe it’s because I’m in charge of what I cook and what ingredients I can buy, but it has been wonderful to cook a wide variety of dishes (albeit at the opportunity cost of other things which need doing 😬)
However, here’s another life lesson from uni so far - IT TAKES SO LONG IN THE KITCHEN! Beyond the cooking, there’s the bringing spices/’cupboard’ stuff that doesn’t fit in the kitchen, then chopping up ingredients, then the cooking, washing up, putting away dishes and tidying up 😰 I’m off to have dinner and make Tandoori Chicken after writing this post, and I bet I will spend an hour in the kitchen.
Clearly, the act of ‘having dinner’ is actually 4 courses: preparing, cooking, eating and then washing up.
These 3 examples are pretty real-life examples of how the time an activity takes up in your day is beyond the activity itself - there’s time before and time after, a “3 course meal”. With this blog post, it is the ideation, the writing and the publicising.
Some takeaways for me from this thought:
Whenever you commit to something, think about the other 2 courses. If I’m signing up to a webinar, will I actually be able to make the most out of it by researching the company beforehand and then following up on my notes later? (because what’s the point of doing it, if you can’t semi-properly?)
Schedule the follow-up time for larger events; if it’s a bigger thing like a networking event or a careers fair, plan in advance when you will go through all the clutter (physical leaflets, digital mailing list signups and similar) so that you make your efforts to attend worth it.
Is there a way to batch these, or perhaps interleave them with work? I’m a fan of batching things where I can (e.g. replying to messages and ironing clothes) so maybe I have a couple of hours each week where I do all these follow-ups. Similarly, as I rebuild my attention span after a long summer, perhaps these could be quick wins in my ‘breaks’, both getting stuff done whilst taking a breather from whatever hard maths I’m trying to do? (For context, this week, we used 5 lines to prove 1+1=2…you were right, Mr Bradley 😭)
Who doesn’t love a proper three-course meal? It turns out our life is filled with them, except we waste some of the starters and desserts because we don’t leave ourselves with enough room in our tummies. Remember to think about what comes before and after an activity, as they could make the middle sweeter. As with any good story, there is a beginning, middle and end to everything.
What a beautiful ending, proud of that. And now for our resources (which I heard this week is the favourite part of a friend and reader, who’s gotten into their uni’s blogging society - well done!)
Podcast of the week🎙️
Modern Wisdom: #847 - The Unstoppable Power Of Reframing Your Experiences - Derek Sivers
Wasn’t able to listen to much this week, but here is one I enjoyed
What I’m grateful for this week 🙏
A new university friend, James, for lending me his black shoes to sing in the choir, at the Royal Albert Hall!
Quote of the week 💬
All things are difficult before they are easy. - Thomas Fuller
And one such difficult thing is my maths course. Of course, I will work hard nonetheless and smash the test on Friday ahead of a weekend back home!
Adi
- It’s on you to stay focused - there are 300 people, and the lecturer isn’t going to tell you to be quiet
- Surprisingly, people aren’t silent for large parts of it - not sure if that’s an Imperial vs Oxbridge thing, or just how it is
- It’s easier to get distracted - because I have my laptop and iPad open
- You’re not expected/you don’t understand things live - you need to revisit the lecture notes (as well as previewing them)