As well as making improvements to your general lifestyle and cutting back on your commitments to secure some time for yourself, you can try some specific relaxation techniques to help you unwind. Meditation is an ancient practice that is aimed at calming your mind and helping you become at peace with yourself. Try just sitting quietly while being aware of your breathing.  As thoughts pop into you head, try to return your mind’s focus to your steady breathing. Alternatively, focus on an object you have placed in front of you, or you could try to visualise something calming, like a gentle sea. You might find it hard at first but you will improve the more you practice meditation. If you find it hard to stick with the meditation you could practice some relaxed deep breathing. Sit in a comfortable chair which supports your head, or lie down flat with your palms up and your legs a little apart. Fill up your lungs without forcing them, breathing in through your nose. Count to five as you breathe in.  Breathe out through your mouth, slowly counting to five again. Repeat this with a regular and controlled rhythm. Breathe without pausing or holding your breathe, and keep doing this until you feel calm and relaxed. Try to do this for three to five minutes, two or three times daily. If you have some more time then you can try practicing a deep muscle relaxation session. This will take around twenty minutes and it stretches and relaxes different muscles which releases tension from your body and mind. Once you have a warm and quiet place, sit or lie down and concentrate on steady breathing. Going through each in turn you will release the tension from your face, neck, shoulders, chest, arms, legs, wrists and hands. Repeat each exercise a couple of times before moving on.  Begin by pushing together your eyebrows, as if you were frowning, hold for a few seconds and then release. Next move onto the neck by gently tilting the head forward, with your chin down towards your chest, holding for a few seconds, before lifting your head back up. Pull your shoulders up towards your ears, hold there, then relax them. For your chest, breathe slowly and deeply into your diaphragm then breathe out slowly. Allow your belly to deflate as the air is exhaled. Then stretch your arms away from your body, reaching forward and holding, before relaxing. With your legs stretched out, push your toes away from your body, pull them back towards your body, and then relax. Finally stretch your wrists by pulling your hand up towards you, stretching the fingers and thumbs and holding before relaxing.

Summary: Try out some meditation. Do some relaxed deep breathing. Attempt deep muscle relaxation.


Take time to read over the essay question or guidelines and think about what the assignment is asking you to do. You should underline any keywords such as describe, compare, contrast, explain, argue, or propose. You should also underline any central themes or ideas that the assignment asks you to discuss such as freedom, family, defeat, love, etc. Always ask your professor if you don't understand the assignment. It's important to have a clear idea of what they want before you start working on the assignment. Your instructor is your primary audience for the essay, so you will need to consider your instructor’s needs and expectations before you write. Some basic things that your instructor will need and expect from you may include:  A well-detailed answer that satisfies the assignment requirements A clear and direct piece of writing that is easy to follow A polished paper with no minor errors, such as typos or misspellings After considering your instructor’s expectations, take some time to think about how you can accomplish these broad goals. Consider what you will need to include in your essay.  For example, if you are tasked with writing about a character in a book, then you will need to provide lots of details about that character. This will probably require rereading some passages of your book as well as revisiting your notes from class.  To ensure that your paper is easy to follow, you'll need to make sure that there's a logical order to your essay. Do this by creating an outline and checking your work for logic. Start early and give yourself lots of time for revision. Try to complete your first draft about one week before the paper is due. Invention exercises can help you to draw out details that you already know, which can give you a great jump start on writing your essay. Some useful invention exercises include:   Freewriting. Write as much as you can without stopping. If you can’t think of anything, write “I can’t think of anything to write,” until something comes to mind. After you finish, go over what've written and underline or highlight any useful information for your essay.  Listing. Make a list of all of the details and information that are relevant to the essay prompt. After you have listed everything that you can think of, read over it and circle the most important information for your essay.  Clustering. Write your topic in the middle of the page, then branch out with other connected ideas. Circle the ideas and connect them to the main one with lines. Keep going until you can't do any more. If you have been asked to conduct research for your paper, then you will want to do this before you begin drafting as well. Use your library’s databases and other resources to find the best information possible for your paper.  Good sources to use for English essays include books, articles from scholarly journals, articles from trustworthy news sources (NY Times, Wall Street Journal, etc.), and government or university sponsored web pages. Many instructors include “research quality” in their grading criteria, so including poor sources, such as blogs, may result in a poor grade. If you are not sure if a source is of good quality, ask your instructor or a librarian.

Summary: Analyze the topic or essay question. Consider your audience. Think about what you will need to include. Develop your ideas. Research your topic if necessary.


It will take a few moments before the DVDs content will appear on your screen. Just click on the DVD icon placed in the sidebar. Handbrake will scan the contents of your DVD. After scanning is complete, you will be able to view the details of the DVD (ranging from the size of the DVD and the total length of the DVD). Once you click on any option present in Apple’s preset menu, the format will turn into an MP4 file.
Summary: Insert your DVD into the optical drive of your MAC. Select source for ripping. Click on “Universal” if you want to place the DVD in iTunes. Press on “Start” to begin the ripping process.