Time Management

Find out how and when you work most effectively and maximize this. This will require noticing your energy levels and productivity. I like to work in cafes, where there is some background noise, and find I I am most productive in the morning after a good breakfast and yoga. If you study at home, create an area dedicated to studying that is tidy and clutter-free. It is also useful to know how you spend your time. How much time do you spend working, studying, social media, commuting, exercising, etc.?

Schedules

Create a daily, weekly and term-long schedule to remain organized. This will also decrease feelings of being overwhelmed as you will know what to expect and can plan and manage your time more effectively. You can use an app, features on your phone/computer/email or a diary. Habits can be both positive and negative, as anyone who has tried to break a habit is aware of. Create powerful positive habits to reinforce your intentions for study success.

Getting Started

Getting started can be the most challenging part, and I procrastinate, often on my phone! I have found it useful to work on some art for a few minutes to centre myself and increase my focus. Then, prioritize goals by ranking them from most important/urgent to least. It can also help to approach a few easy tasks first to feel a sense of accomplishment and then move onto larger more complex tasks. I find it very rewarding and motivating to check things off my list in my diary.

Pomodoro Technique

This technique involves focusing on a task for twenty-five minutes and then taking a five-minute break.

Your break can be a time for a reward: tech break, treat, mini-yoga session, eye close, etc.

Motivation

It can be difficult to motivate ourselves. There are two basic types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation comes from within us and is based on our own desire for growth, whereas extrinsic motivation is based on external factors such as approval from family/friends/employers, money, grades, etc. When I think about exercising, I know that using exercise videos help me focus because they have a set start and finish and don't require me having to plan a routine. Look for systems that structure and support your goals.

For some fun extrinsic writing motivation in the form of a cute animal pic for every hundred words written: https://writtenkitten.co/

Flow

Entering into a state of flow occurs when attention is so immersed in the task that time and external circumstances seem to disappear. Feelings of intense satisfaction, connection and focus occur.

Image source: https://integratedlistening.com/in-the-zone-flow/

Cell Phones

The average attention span for the notoriously ill-focused goldfish is nine seconds, but according to a new study from Microsoft Corp., people now generally lose concentration after eight seconds, highlighting the effects of an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain. Researchers in Canada surveyed 2,000 participants and studied the brain activity of 112 people. Microsoft found that since the year 2000 (or about when the mobile revolution began) the average attention span dropped from 12 seconds to eight seconds.

From: http://time.com/3858309/attention-spans-goldfish/

Psychologists found we check in online less than every fifteen minutes, and it takes almost twenty-five minutes to return to our original task. Using phones for personal purposes at work account for over five hours per week. Human brains have not evolved to absorb the vast amounts of information being consumed online, and it is therefore essential to take a tech-free break every ninety minutes.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-your-smartphone-could-be-ruining-your-career-2017-03-31

According to Common Sense Media, 59 percent of parents say their children are “addicted” to their screens, while 66 percent say their kids spend too much time on screens. Mobile media time for zero-to-eight year-olds has tripled between 2013 and 2017, from an average of 15 minutes per day to 48 minutes per day. Tweens spend an average of four hours and 36 minutes of screen time per day, while teens spend an average of six hours and 40 minutes on a screen.

From: https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/realistic-screen-time-solutions-kids-their-parents-ncna850056