The Summer of 2008, I made a decision that I wouldn't buy a single text book for Graduate School. While I was obligated to buy one during my last semester of school (only one), I graduated with high honors without purchasing a single text book. How did I do it? How did I manage to read the information needed in order to pass all my classes and courses?
I'll tell you, Google! Google today is my number one resource and I think we need to harness it's power for all it's uses. I managed to learn everything I needed to get through academia by searching Google; going through Google scholar; reading articles; Google books; etc. My message to you is that there is so many resources out there that are available FOR FREE that you are doing yourself a disservice if you are not using them already.
Currently, right now in my training, I'm logging about 6-7 hours of cardio a week in preparation for my wedding (I'm a dweeb). I probably also average about 2 hours in my car a week between traveling to the gym and running errands around town.
THIS IS VITAL TIME! I have about 9-10 hours a week of dead time that I utilize to the fullest. My number one secret is Audiobooks. I've listened to so many different audiobooks between doing cardio and driving around town. Sure maybe Black Eyed Peas would sound better on my runs, but the difference is that I'm being productive.
During my runs I'm listening to books on business, on training, on physiology, coaching, training, sports, etc. I've listened to more books than I've probably read. True Story! And my secret is, I've obtained these resources for free! It's easy and it's all accessible via Google. All you have to do is search a little bit and you can find damn near anything. That's the secret people! I encourage you to re-read this next sentence. Everything you want to know in the world, is available from Google.
In 2004, when I was a freshman in college, I made it my mission to digest every bit of information about strength training that was on the net. In my process it delivered me to every corner of the internet. Message boards, bulletin boards, blogs, articles, scholarly papers, white papers, live-chats, etc.
I encourage everyone, young to old, start harnessing the power of Google. It's the most powerful entity on the internet today. It's also absolutely free to your using.