CONTRIBUTOR'S CORNER– Netflix: Your New Studying Tool
Roberto Muñoz
Disclaimer: This article is the opinion of the author and does not reflect the opinion of the Student Consultants, Student Academic and Career Services, or the College of Business and Economics.
My winter break consisted of sleeping in and watching
shows/movies on Netflix for the most part. Aside from working, I did not do
anything that was really productive. I promised myself that I would read some
books and try to get ready for my future classes, but instead I re-watched most
of The Walking Dead seasons and some movies such as Anchorman 2 and Hitch.
Needless to say, my attempts at being productive were hampered by my obsession
with Netflix.
For a while now, many of my friends had been telling me to watch the AMC drama Breaking Bad (I know I am late to the party). I finally listened to their advice and made the mistake of beginning it three days before classes started; I was hooked! I managed to get through three of the five seasons by the first day of class. As you all might assume, I could not leave the show halfway through; I had to get to the ending!
This being my last semester at Towson, I want to make sure that I do everything possible to obtain outstanding grades. Although it was only the first week of classes, I wanted to start getting ahead with my readings and some of the assignments on the syllabi. You can see how this would have been a problem taking into account my intense need to see how Breaking Bad ends. I decided to use the reward system, which I’m sure many of you have used in the past.
The reward system consists of working hard for a certain period of time and then rewarding yourself with something that you enjoy; this encourages you to actually do what you have to do always keeping in mind that you will receive something in the end. In my case it was Breaking Bad. Since I had a lot to read, I decided to read for one or two hours and reward myself with an episode of Breaking Bad. At that pace, I finished the show on the first week of classes while reading about five chapters altogether for my classes.
I would recommend trying this method. Look for an interesting show and reward yourself with one episode every certain amount of time. I have tried to multitask in the past by watching the shows while studying or doing assignments, but that is not as effective since you do not focus on either or.
So in conclusion, just because school started, it doesn’t mean you have to stop watching Netflix. Use it to your advantage! In the meantime, I will start watching Sons of Anarchy. What other shows or movies on Netflix do you recommend?
For a while now, many of my friends had been telling me to watch the AMC drama Breaking Bad (I know I am late to the party). I finally listened to their advice and made the mistake of beginning it three days before classes started; I was hooked! I managed to get through three of the five seasons by the first day of class. As you all might assume, I could not leave the show halfway through; I had to get to the ending!
This being my last semester at Towson, I want to make sure that I do everything possible to obtain outstanding grades. Although it was only the first week of classes, I wanted to start getting ahead with my readings and some of the assignments on the syllabi. You can see how this would have been a problem taking into account my intense need to see how Breaking Bad ends. I decided to use the reward system, which I’m sure many of you have used in the past.
The reward system consists of working hard for a certain period of time and then rewarding yourself with something that you enjoy; this encourages you to actually do what you have to do always keeping in mind that you will receive something in the end. In my case it was Breaking Bad. Since I had a lot to read, I decided to read for one or two hours and reward myself with an episode of Breaking Bad. At that pace, I finished the show on the first week of classes while reading about five chapters altogether for my classes.
I would recommend trying this method. Look for an interesting show and reward yourself with one episode every certain amount of time. I have tried to multitask in the past by watching the shows while studying or doing assignments, but that is not as effective since you do not focus on either or.
So in conclusion, just because school started, it doesn’t mean you have to stop watching Netflix. Use it to your advantage! In the meantime, I will start watching Sons of Anarchy. What other shows or movies on Netflix do you recommend?