Greetings fellow academics

Wow is this blog late!!  Those who enjoy the ramblings from Kuwait have had to wait a wee bit longer than usual and for that I’m sorry. As with the beginning of anything new whether it be a New Year, new job or new family members (Danielle and I just became Grand Parents again!!!!!!) the ‘disposable’ hours in a day just seem to evaporate. This led me to consider how we apportion out our time daily. In order to get a good handle on this we need to be able to have an expectation on what is realistically achievable given our own individual circumstances.

I am finding allocating enough time to my studies difficult. The most efficient way I have found to try and resolve this is to organize study sessions and get into a regular routine. Therein lies the problem, life out here in Kuwait is anything but routine!!

So, how do we create a routine? This is perhaps the hardest thing to conquer in being a ‘part time student’. My memory from my university days has become ‘rose tinted’ and clouded with nostalgia as looking back on it doesn’t seem to me that it was that difficult although I know it was. Regular lectures, a study program handed to you on a plate, the biggest issue being making your grant last to the end of the month! This is where Perception comes into play and how we can loose sight of what’s around us if we focus too heavily on one particular part.

Sometimes I think it would be much easier if everyone was blessed with the same sense of perception. Routines would be easy, time management a doddle, submissions ready days in advance…..ah utopia.

As we know from daily life this is not so but maybe a wee look at Perception might help us along the way. There are several definitions of Perception but basically for the purposes of this blog we look at it as the difference being:

Perception: the difference between Expectation and Reality

Let me give you some examples:

Example 1: It is easy to focus solely on the course assessment by either obsessing about the impending assessment date or ones ability to accurately express your thoughts onto paper for submission. By doing this we are missing the overall benefit of what the entire course content has to offer and in particular apply those lessons learnt into our daily work environment.

Expectation – Fully understanding the subject matter
Reality – We focus our studying to pass the test

Example 2: A problem with attack pilots (which can be fatal) occurs when they are fixated on a particular target. This phenomenon usually takes place during air to air engagements or when attacking ground targets such as buildings or bridges when in difficult surroundings. When ‘chasing’ a target you can become almost completely oblivious to your surroundings e.g. if in a dive you overly focus on the target it is easy to miss the multiple warnings both visual and aural telling you of other targets or worse the proximity of the aircraft to the ground! It’s called Target Fixation. You may hit the target (passing assessment questions) but fly yourself right into the ground (miss this big picture and everything around you).

Expectation – Destroy the Target
Reality – Focus is on the objective ahead not your surroundings

Example 3: If tailgating (following the car in front too closely) was an Olympic sport then drivers in Kuwait would win gold medals in every category!! Without a word of exaggeration it is not unusual here to have someone behind you less than 12 inches from your rear bumper at 120 km per hour!! I have even been ‘nudged’ on one occasion by somebody in a Range Rover! My drive home from the Air Base each day is like watching the Daytona 500! We tend to fixate on the cars brake lights in front of us and have no clue what others are doing around us. We have all at one time or another I suspect driven too close to the car in front for the speed we are traveling due to our perception of the ability to stop in time can get us into bother.

Expectation – Being able to stop in time
Reality – A trip to the body shop!

Summary

So we have seen 3 examples of a lack of perception but what about positive perception?

Positive perception can be summed up as when our expectations and reality are in synchronization. When we take a step back from any of the 3 examples above they seem to be simple problems to cure right? The same is true for getting the most out of our training course. It is necessary to take a step back from time to time regain our focus and look at the overall course objectives rather than fixate on the actual qualification. We are advancing in our careers, amalgamating our existing experience with the valuable information gained through the entire course material and interaction with each other rather than the short term satisfaction of passing a test. When we look back on this experience in a few years (just as I mentioned above about my university days) we want to be able to enjoy the benefit that the overall knowledge gained has given us and not stare in bewilderment at the certificate on the wall.

Andrew is currently studying for his Masters Entry Diploma in Management (University of Wales) with RDI.

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