Baz Luhrmann says his life is \u201ca circus run like an army,\u201d which might be the perfect amalgam for being a thinker, creator and doer \u2013 three requirements for any college student.\u00a0 By conducting oneself in a structured manner, there is time to think, to create and to execute, essentials for surviving on campus.<\/p>\n
Whether you like his work or not, this Baz-brilliance captures an important part of my Carpe College!<\/i><\/b> <\/a>message about time management for college students.\u00a0 You need to keep your regular, daily, walking around life in order as a means of freeing your mind to think big and be creative.\u00a0 Or, as put more elegantly and succinctly in Amy Wallace\u2019s NYT magazine piece, Deep Inside Baz Luhrmann\u2019s Creative Chaos<\/i><\/a>, \u201cexternal order creates internal possibility.\u201d\u00a0 External order creates internal possibility.\u00a0 That sounds nice.\u00a0 It\u2019s elegant because of the truth contained therein.\u00a0 In Carpe College!<\/a>,<\/i><\/b> I talk about using a planner so you don\u2019t need to keep your mundane appointments and course assignments organized in your head and how doing so, in turn, frees your mind to think about bigger and better things.\u00a0 I suggest that college students develop their own EMO (Effectiveness M.O.) that can involve any combination of electronic calendars, white boards, post-it notes or school-supplied planners.\u00a0 Luhrmann takes this to the nth degree with his \u201cnine huge calendars tacked to a white wall,\u201d but the point is that he\u2019s developed an EMO that works for him.\u00a0 That is, it affords him the time and space he needs to think and create and execute.<\/p>\n I like Luhrmann\u2019s style in this regard, and it\u2019s best illustrated by his underpants.\u00a0 Yes, underpants!\u00a0 According to the Wallace piece, he has nearly identical closets in Sydney and New York and gets frustrated if he must wonder \u2018Where are the underpants? They\u2019re supposed to be in Drawer No. 6.\u201d\u00a0 A similar approach applies to his bathrooms.\u00a0 \u201cAs I\u2019m going through the routine, I don\u2019t have to think,\u201d he said, adding that this leaves more room for creativity.\u00a0 \u2018The mind is unlocking something.\u201d\u00a0 What he really means by \u201cI don\u2019t have to think\u201d is that he gets to think about the things he wants to think about, not \u201cWhere is the underwear?\u201d*<\/p>\n While Luhrmann\u2019s approach may appear to venture into OCD-land, it clearly works for him.\u00a0 And any college student can find an Effectiveness M.O. that works, as well.\u00a0 Now that we are into the second half of the school year, most first-year students should be well on their way to fine-tuning an approach that works.\u00a0 By June it should be a system that\u2019s been tested and proven, one that provides comfort and confidence coming out of their first year that they can handle what\u2019s to come for the rest of their college career.<\/p>\n And\u2026 they should be able to find their underwear.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n * This reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from my Latin teachers:\u00a0 \u201cSemper ubi sub ubi.\u201d\u00a0 (Always wear underwear \u2013 LOOSELY translated**)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Baz Luhrmann says his life is \u201ca circus run like an army,\u201d which might be the perfect amalgam for being a thinker, creator and doer \u2013 three requirements for any college student.\u00a0 By conducting oneself in a structured manner, there is time to think, to create and to execute, essentials for surviving on campus. Whether you like his work or … Continue Reading