Small changes to your work style that lead to big results
So, you’ve read about the brain, you know what your study persona is, you know your primary learning strength, and you’re ready to get down to work. Even more important than study tricks and learning strengths, however, is your study environment. If the setup isn’t right, you’re going to waste a lot of time and learn very little (even if you use the amazing study tricks you’ll learn about in the next chapter). Fortunately, it only takes a few changes to your study setup to help your brain work for you so that you study more efficiently and, therefore, spend less time studying.
The hardest part of studying for most people is actually the first part: sitting down. Granted, there are at least eight other things you’d rather be doing right now, like having your teeth cleaned. The best thing you can do for yourself, then, is to work to your strengths so that you can get the studying over with and make a date with your favorite hygienist. Here are a couple of suggestions to get you and your surroundings ready to study smarter and study less.
DECIDE ON A TIME AND PLACE where you can study every day after school. Since the good TV shows tend to come on later in the evening, it’s wise to get your work done before then. Or, better yet, record the shows so you can watch them when your work is done (and save time by skipping through commercials). The absolute best place to study is at a table or desk. Don’t EVEN try to read in bed—your brain has been programmed that the bed is where you sleep, and trying to convince it otherwise is futile. The couch is another no-no for the same reason. Train your brain to know the difference between work time and play time by studying in places that make your brain snap to attention Oh! … this talented body of mine wants me to learn something. Also, make sure your desk has good lighting to prevent eyestrain and headaches.
KEEP NECESSARY MATERIALS AT YOUR STUDY SPOT (such as extra pencil lead, a dictionary, water, and pistachios) so they are waiting for you when you need them. If planning ahead is not your forte, do a quick inventory and write a neon sticky note at the end of your study session if it looks like you’re running low on something. In my formerly ill-prepared days, I spent seemingly half my time running things up and down the stairs because they weren’t in the place I needed them when it was time to get my work done; it was great exercise but not great efficiency. Believe me, this is a smarter way to go.
ELIMINATE AS MANY DISTRACTIONS AS POSSIBLE by turning off your cell phone and steering clear of chats when you’re trying to study; otherwise, every time Betty pings you you’ll lose your place in The Odyssey and have to go back and reread the section. The same goes for avoiding email, YouTube, surfing, and all online “in-your-friends’-business-every-second” sites. You know the ones I mean. Give yourself the freedom and space to socially check out for a couple hours so you can get some work done. Your friends will understand, and if they don’t … well … maybe they aren’t such great friends. On the other hand, who knows. Maybe your study hour will inspire your friends to do the same. Stranger things have happened.
If your work requires you to use a computer, as is often the case, refrain from opening your favorite browser tabs or logging into your social networks until your work is done, so that they don’t sit on-screen flashing their ads and invitations to chat, tempting you to take “just a five-second break.” During my stint as an editor, I once had a slow day at work, so I logged onto a chat room; two hours of random conversations with strangers later, I was shocked to see the time stamp, especially since I had hardly gotten a thing done. Sheesh, those are two hours of my life I’ll never get back.
As much as it may pain you, turn off the television and all music. Your brain will be able to work much faster if it’s not (subconsciously) concentrating so hard to block out the noise or images. My students would frequently insist that listening to music while they studied actually helped them study, so I’ll let you in on the same secret I told them: you may think listening to music helps you study more efficiently, but what it actually does is help pass the time, making it seem like you’ve studied quickly when you’ve actually been sitting there longer than you should have because you’re being lulled by the tunes. My students would typically acknowledge that point but persist, saying that listening to music helped them survive the evening. That may be. However, I ask you—as I did them—this question: would you rather spend four hours studying poorly with music or two and a half hours in silence with the remaining hour and a half to use however you like? Those numbers are just an estimate, but you get the idea. Hopefully you’ll opt for efficiency and shut off the tunes.
DRESS FOR THE OCCASION, which may require your disbelief for a moment. Scientists have actually discovered an honest-to-goodness Mr. Rogers Syndrome showing that people who wear clothes that relate to their goals perform better. Remember when Mr. Rogers came home for the afternoon and changed from his work coat into his comfy sweater to tell us stories? That was a signal that playtime had started, and he always changed back into the coat when he headed back to work. Give it a try. I found it startling how much it improved my ability to focus when I donned my study uniform. (Nope, I’m not going to tell you what it was … that one I’ll keep to myself.)
When you were just a “bun in the oven” in the first few months of life, your brain grew at the rate of 250,000 neurons a minute. Way to go, baby.
A great example of how this can have the opposite affect is Pajama Day at school. Think back on how hard it was to focus when you were sitting at your desk in flannels or how goofy your classmates may have been behaving. I’ll be honest, as a teacher it was one of my least favorite days during Spirit Week because my students carried on as though class was one big slumber party. It was nearly impossible to get anything done.
Please understand, I’m not recommending you go out and buy a wool cardigan for your study hour; just that you change out of your Doctor Dentons into something that signals you’re about to get down to business. Think of study clothes as one of those flashing construction signs on the side of the road that signals “Work in Progress.” While you’ll want to wear something comfortable, pajamas or sweats are a bad idea.… They communicate sleep and lounging, which is not what you’re about to do. At the same time, your study uniform doesn’t need to look like something straight off a prep school campus; it’s up to you to discern the prop or attire that works best for you.
I had one student, Becca, who reluctantly agreed to test out this concept by wearing an inexpensive pair of wire glasses with no prescription in the lenses because she thought they might make her feel smart, studious, and potentially more focused. She only wore the specs when she studied at home, but even with that she told me after a few weeks that her grades had jumped from C to B and B to A simply by incorporating the glasses and a few other setup strategies into her homework routine. Weird, I know. But it works.
If dressing up isn’t your gig, a study ritual is also a possibility. Mr. Rogers sang “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” at the beginning of every episode. You could incorporate your own brain-stimulating theme song, such as listening to classical music right before (as opposed to during) your study session to get your head in the game. Aaron Copland was a favorite in my classroom, if you’re looking for suggestions.
Remember, our brains love patterns and structure, so providing a routine for studying will help your focus and productivity more than you may initially give it credit. As a parallel example, many professional athletes profess to have their own unique pre-game rituals that they swear by to help them get on their game faces before leaving the locker room, saying they can’t be 110 percent without them. Whatever your opponent, hopefully you’ve found a study space that is quiet and maybe even private so that if you decide to wear a lab coat because it makes writing chemistry reports easier, you won’t feel like a big geek.
About three full soda cans worth of blood flow through the brain every minute. Talk about going right to your head.
PUT YOUR GOALS WHERE YOU CAN SEE THEM to help them seem more achievable. Maybe seeing our goals all the time helps our minds stay focused on achieving them. Maybe it helps our will keep wanting them. Whatever the reason, it works.
Let me emphasize that goals need to be both specific and realistic. An example of a bad goal would be “get good grades” not because it isn’t a good thing to want but because it’s hard to measure improvement. “Get an A in Chemistry this quarter” is a much better goal because it is clear—how realistic that may be is for you to decide. A friend of mine once taped pieces of paper all over her room with A’s on them to remind her to keep her expectations high; another taped Monopoly money by his desk, since his goal was to make grades that could lead to an immediate boost in his allowance, as well as future entrance to a great college and a strong degree. Neither was a specific goal, but both were certainly motivational, which is better than nothing. Obviously, “winning the lottery” flunks on both accounts.
The idea is to remind yourself why you’re working so hard so that your goals seem achievable. Be sure to set long-term goals (such as the Monopoly money representing the college degree) and short-term goals (like “Get an A on my research paper,” or “Finish the novel by Friday”) that get you closer to your long-term goals so you have something in the distant future to aim for as well as more frequent reasons to celebrate. Celebrating every short-term goal you reach builds a sense of satisfaction that will help you stay motivated and keep working toward your long-term goals.
So, take a moment to set a few specific, realistic short- and long-term goals, and then hang them up where you will bump into them frequently or when you may need them most—inside your locker door, beside your bed, or at the sink where you brush your teeth.
The key to your success is taking control of your schedule so that you are choosing when and how to complete assignments in a way that maximizes your time, instead of surviving with that terrible feeling of always being behind. Planning ahead is much easier than it may sound.
YOU WIN A PRIZE! After completing one of your short-term goals, you should absolutely reward yourself. Depending on your budget and taste buds, that reward could be anything—a DQ Peanut Buster Parfait (my personal favorite), a night out at the movies, a neck massage, a new color of nail polish, a new basketball net, that mechanical pencil you’ve been dreaming about, a full day off from studying, or a sticky star taped to your bulletin board. (I awarded myself one for tenacity when I was in a particularly tough spot a few years ago and it’s still hanging on my bulletin board to encourage me over the next speed bump.) Do what will encourage you most.
Keep your prizes small so that you can award them to yourself as needed without breaking the bank. If you have a stressful week full of deadlines or exams, you might need a couple extra rewards in there to keep you going. At the same time, other weeks might not need any at all. As long as you don’t go broke by throwing a party every time you finish a page in your calculus textbook (moderation is key here), you may find this to be one of your favorite study strategies.
TAKE A BREAK. No, you didn’t just misread that heading. (Wahoo! Prizes and study breaks? This is the best study guide ever!) The best thing to do when you have a big evening of studying ahead of you is not to try and finish everything in one sitting; you will either go crazy and be locked in a rubber room on test day or zone out and remember nothing. Instead, every twenty to thirty minutes (or when you feel really antsy) get up from your desk and do something totally unrelated to class work for about five minutes. If you’ve been working on the computer, you’ll want your break to be something totally non-techie, the big reason being that it helps prevent eyestrain. (Just ask your ophthalmologist.) Don’t do like I did with my chat room at work, expecting your brain will automatically keep track of the time (oops)—be sure you set a timer or you might end up taking a twenty-minute break instead (nuts). Great five-minute breaks might be as follows:
A group of students from my freshman English class really loved the pedicure study break idea, and every time I passed back an exam where they had scored well they would proudly wiggle their newly painted toes and giggle “it worked!” Incidentally, Becca (fake-glasses-girl from earlier) was part of the pedi-painted pack.
PACE YOURSELF. Fundamental to all these environmental face-lifts is the assumption that during your study time you will actually know what to study. If I didn’t know that was due today is your worst nightmare—or daily reality—meet your salvation. Of all the study setups we’ve discussed, there is one that is absolutely not optional: the assignment calendar.
It’s true that challenging your brain to remember important details without writing them down is a super exercise to keep your mind sharp. Folks nearing retirement age are encouraged to maintain mental lists, as well as work on sudoku puzzles and all other sorts of brain games, to ward off Alzheimer’s and dementia. Even though I’m nowhere near the age of owning my own pink stucco villa, I like to write a grocery list and then leave it at home when I go to the market as a way of testing my memory. Okay, maybe I just forgot the list, but rather than kicking myself down the dairy aisle it makes it feel like more of a game.
All that said, with something as critical as a due date, playing mind games is not a wise plan.
Trying to remember unwritten details is great for security codes, locker combinations, and website passwords—but not homework assignments. So, head off to an office supply store and pick up a spiral calendar notebook. My favorite kind is the 8 × 10-inch type where, when you open it up, you see the full month of September at once, with each day being at least an inch squared. (You will want the squares to be at least that size so you can fit everything in.) I use the term calendar as opposed to assignment book for a specific reason. First off, you’ll want something thin. Assignment books are getting bulkier all the time, with special sections for phone numbers, addresses, time zones, and a bunch of other useless pages. Try to avoid the paper trap. You already have enough books in your bag to send your chiropractor to Fiji, so let’s lighten the load and keep this book thin. Because a calendar has only twelve months, and an assignment book is often organized by weeks, you’re looking at twelve pages as opposed to fifty-two—a big difference.
The second reason I recommend a month-per-page calendar versus a weekly assignment book is because, for some reason, teachers have an odd penchant for scheduling tests and essays due Monday. (I include myself in this category, much to my shame.) If your assignment book only shows one week at a time, you will think your weekend is free and clear and find yourself sitting in class Monday morning, flipping the page over to a new week and—*GASP*!—staring at those awful words: Due Today. Talk about nightmares. There is also the added benefit that if you have one month on a page and can see the whole thing at once, it will be easier to manage your time strategically by working ahead. A quick glance at the calendar will show you that you have a soccer tournament in three weekends and a paper due the Monday after. However, because you are seeing it now—three whole weeks in advance—you have time to get the paper done a week early so you can spend the rest of the time polishing your cleats. And gloating.
It’s estimated that the human brain racks up 70,000 thoughts in an average day. I wonder if that number doubles during homecoming week.
Of course, a calendar is only helpful if it’s within easy reach. The trick is to keep it in your bag at all times so you know where to find it—especially toward the end of class when teachers tend to shout out upcoming deadlines as the bell rings. That way you have a place (other than your hand) to jot down those critical dates. Some teachers like to sprinkle deadlines in with their notes as they lecture, so it might be extra smart to pull your calendar out with your notebook at the beginning of class. This is another bonus of your month-at-once booklet being thin—it can lie under your notebook quite comfortably and fit into your front backpack pocket easily without sacrificing space or making your hand wobble on your desk while you take notes.
Writing down the assignment is only the first half of the solution; be sure you understand what it means before you leave the classroom. Getting a passing grade is near impossible when you’re confused. Most teachers will be happy to provide an excuse to your next class if the explanation makes you late, assuming you were attentive during class. If yours isn’t willing or gives you grief about it, just show him this chapter where I suggest he provide an excuse and hopefully he’ll go along with it—peer pressure works at all ages. Of course, if you slept through class or weren’t paying attention the first time around, I’m going to be of little help to you.
Less is sometimes more when it comes to keeping your focus. If you sit down to a biology chapter with the intention that it will take you all night to read it, then it will take you all night to read it. But, if you tell your brain “I’m going to read as much of this chapter as possible in the next twenty minutes and then go walk the dog,” you’ll be amazed at how focused you are, and at how many more pages you’re able to get through. The dog will also be impressed when you tell him what you learned about cell division while you stroll around the block.
A good night’s sleep (meaning at least seven uninterrupted hours) is critical to setting yourself up for success. Pulling all-nighters or working past midnight may make you sound like Student of the Year, but it will actually cripple your attempts to do well on tomorrow’s test. Scientists discovered this when they tracked the brain impulses of rats as they learned their way around a maze, and then tracked the brain impulses of these same rats as they slept. It turns out that once the rats slipped into a deep sleep, their brains actually re-sent many of the same impulses they had sent while learning the maze earlier in the day—their brains were reviewing while snoozing! Fortunately for humans, our brains use sleep in a similar way—talk about getting your cheese and eating it too. The point is, don’t let your study time interfere with your bedtime. Sleeping off what you just learned is practically as important as the time you spent learning it, which is a fabulous incentive to hit the sack. Of course, there’s nothing more insomnia inspiring than a looming deadline. If you’re the type of person who has consistent trouble falling asleep before big deadlines, talk with your doctor about recommending some sleep therapies or medications.
Did you know that more electrical impulses are generated in one day by a single human brain than by all the telephones in the world? No wonder E.T. wanted to phone home.
I promised a free review, so here you go.
1. Give myself some space. This will help me to form good study habits and be more efficient with my time.
2. It’s all about timing.
3. Be realistic and stay positive about how much I am actually able to accomplish so I’ll work with more drive and less drag.
4. Catch some Zzzzs and keep to a healthy bedtime so that my brain has time to sort and review what I’ve just studied.
THE DEADLINE DAREDEVIL
