APP 1: YOUR MIND’S SITE SELECTOR
Just about everyone who’s ever been in a classroom has faced this basic problem: How do you pay attention to the teacher when there are much more interesting things to think about? The Site Selector solves this problem. When you use your Site Selector, you click on the “Teacher Site” and turn off other sites. In short, the Site Selector enables you to block out distractions so you can focus.
The next few Apps—Apps 2 through 5—help you with thinking and working hard. In psychology terms, this is called controlling mental effort.
Probably, you’ve been told to “work harder.” But, probably no one has actually shown you how to do that. The next four Apps make working hard a lot easier.
APP 2: YOUR MIND’S PIZZA CUTTER
This App cuts large, intimidating tasks down to size. If you have a lot of homework or a huge project, you “pizza-cut” it into smaller slices. That makes it a lot easier to handle. Pizza-cutting is especially useful when you feel overwhelmed. Sometimes your workload might seem so huge, you just can’t bring yourself to start it. But when you cut it down to size, it becomes much more approachable.
APP 3: YOUR MIND’S VIDEO SCREEN
When facing work that feels hard or pointless, you use Your Mind’s Video Screen to visualize the benefits of working. These might include getting good grades or overcoming a challenge. In this way, you see reasons to work and goals to strive for.
APP 4: YOUR MIND’S CHEERLEADER
This App is used for self-cheering—giving yourself messages that encourage you to keep trying and to keep going. When not using this App, you’re at risk for self-booing—giving yourself discouraging messages. When you do that, you’re more likely to give up.
APP 5: YOUR MIND’S PIGGY BANK
This App gets at the basic question of why you do work in the first place. Why should you do something that feels difficult and boring, like staying home and studying for a math test, instead of doing something fun? The reason is because doing schoolwork is saving and investing in your future. When you choose work over fun, you’re putting off small rewards now in return for large payoffs later. This is called delaying gratification, and Your Mind’s Piggy Bank helps you do it.
APP 6: YOUR MIND’S ACTIVATOR
Have you ever studied for a test and thought you “got it” only to do a lot worse on the test than you expected? Often, the reason is you didn’t study actively enough. For many tests, it’s not enough to just read over notes or chapters. You have to do something with the information. For instance, summarize it in your own words, predict test questions and answer them, and make examples of what you’ve learned. You use Your Mind’s Activator to control how actively you think. When preparing for tests, you crank it up to a level where you can study actively and really get it.
APP 7: YOUR MIND’S WORKBENCH
Your Mental Workbench is a place for holding several things in mind while thinking about something else. It’s also called working memory—same App, different brand name. To follow instructions, for instance, you need to hold the instructions in mind while thinking about how to do each step. When reading, it’s trouble if you forget one paragraph while reading the next. You also have to remember how to spell words while thinking about how to use them in a sentence. You use your Mental Workbench for just about everything at school.
APP 8: YOUR MIND’S SPEEDOMETER
This App helps you balance speed with accuracy when working. With work that’s clear or easy for you, you go full speed ahead. When things get tricky, you slow down and proceed more carefully. Without using Your Mind’s Speedometer, you risk working at the wrong speed. You may go too quickly, making careless mistakes in your haste (think 90 mph down a narrow street). Or you may work too slowly, proceeding so carefully that it takes forever (think 20 mph cross country).
APP 9: YOUR MIND’S CALENDAR
So much to do, so little time. For example, if you stay after school for sports practice, you may get home too late to study enough. If you study more, you don’t have time to practice your sport and stay in shape. Perhaps you could squeeze in sports and studying, but that wouldn’t leave time for friends. What about band, scouts, and tae kwon do? Your Mind’s Calendar is used for managing time. It helps you balance what to do with when to do it. Use it for making schedules and sticking to them, planning ahead, and prioritizing.
APP 10: YOUR MIND’S OBSERVER
This App is used for watching yourself. With Your Mind’s Observer, you can ask yourself, “How am I doing?” and “How did I do?” Then, if you don’t like the answers to those questions, you can change what you’re doing. With schoolwork, you use Your Mind’s Observer to check your work and see what needs correcting. If you don’t use it, you could make the same mistakes again and again.
Your Mind’s Observer is even more useful socially. You watch others’ reactions to what you say and do, then adjust based on how they react. For example, say you tell a joke and no one laughs. Your Mind’s Observer advises you that the joke didn’t work and that you ought to give it up. Without this App, you could keep telling the same bad joke over and over, unaware that it’s not working.