List The Ten Most Important Things You Learned in School
That's the topic in my 2008 Planner (or Non-Planner) for the Creative Procrastinator. The page is actually wedged between this week and next, but a creative procrastinator can be forgiven for thumbing ahead. Remember: "Procrastinators avoid one thing by doing another; it's much more productive than doing nothing." (p. 1)
This is not the simple topic you might think, by the way. I've spent a lot of time in school. It took me 17 years to earn a four-year degree -- and soon afterward, I returned to school to earn the right to go to school every day. So, many things I've learned "in" school, I've learned from the opposite side of the desk. Then there's the organizational challenges here. Do I list the things I've learned chronologically? In order of importance? And my continuing problem: What if I have learned more than ten equally important things? What happens then? The instructions say "Ten"... but what if I learned that if there's an A+ to be had, doing more than required is one way to get it?
I've decided to simply list them. When I'm looking for something to organize -- that is, when I need something to do to avoid having to do something else -- I'll create a timeline or flowchart here. Or alphabetize the list. Or count the words and list the points in ascending and descending order.
The Ten Most Important Things I Learned in School
1. Any time you have the chance, regardless of perceived need, use the restroom.
2. If there's a prize for napping, it probably isn't a really cool prize.
3. Not everything you do in school or in life is worth taping to the refrigerator.
4. The difference between FAIL and ZERO can be up to 59 points.
5. Teachers are older and better educated than students, but not necessarily more mature or smarter.
6. No teacher wants to hear Number 5.
7. Two things that are stupid to do in a group: Piano lessons and showers.
8. Scientific thought is most threatened by the limitations of the Scientific method.
9. If you want to use your Foreign Language forever, take a language with popular songs and plenty of menu items.
10. High school counselors are to mental health what high school cafeterias are to food.
11. "Open campus" is a more appealing concept when you're 16 with a crowd of friends than when you're grown-up with a 45-minute lunch, standing in line behind a group of 16-year-olds.