Good start would be to stop spending hours and hours on MacRumors.
Whooohhoooo.. Easy partner, lets not get all crazy now!
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How do you focus on homework and studying?
- Thread starter piatti
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Whooohhoooo.. Easy partner, lets not get all crazy now!
Online hw is the worst. And it seems like all university classes are migrating towards online...almost everything. HW, handouts, PPTs, quizzes..etc. Even the non online classes use some type of class portal (we use BlackBoard here).
So when you're working on something, it's SO easy to just migrate over to the FB/twitter/MR/Google tab and you end up losing hours of time lol.
However, when I'm under a time crunch, nothing can distract me. I'm a hard core procrastinator because for some reason that works with me. I work better under the pressure of trying to get it done. And i seem to retain more information when im trying to work quickly, I have no idea why.
So when you're working on something, it's SO easy to just migrate over to the FB/twitter/MR/Google tab and you end up losing hours of time lol.
However, when I'm under a time crunch, nothing can distract me. I'm a hard core procrastinator because for some reason that works with me. I work better under the pressure of trying to get it done. And i seem to retain more information when im trying to work quickly, I have no idea why.
I'm the same way and its unfortunate. Give me pressure and I'll crank out something awesome but its hard for me to work slowly at something.
I remember what happens when I stall and then have to do homework at like 10:00 and keep staying up, and it gets me to do it.
Thanks for that link!
Mostly I just listen to music (game soundtracks, ambient electronic), sip on a 2 litre bottle of mineral water. That really gets me in the zone. Also being in the dark helps me. I prefer doing the bulk of my work at night when nobody else is awake or can distract me.
I prefer Volvic (low bicarb content) but I guess any would do. Water in general helps me focus better.
I believe the artist Mondrian used to wake in the morning, dress in a suit, walk around his house, come back in, get changed into his painting clothes and paint. Then, when he had finished, he would get changed back into the suit, walk round the house in the opposite direction and then go back in. So he tried to divorce the two things. It worked for him obviously, but I think the key is you need to develop some kind of technique that works for you and enables you to get into the 'working zone' easily.
I was pretty good at this myself until recently, until partner and infant started trying to involve me in all sorts of household issues. I'm working at home on Thursday and frankly I think I am going to go to the library in town. It is the only way I will be able to get focussed without distraction.
I was pretty good at this myself until recently, until partner and infant started trying to involve me in all sorts of household issues. I'm working at home on Thursday and frankly I think I am going to go to the library in town. It is the only way I will be able to get focussed without distraction.
It was pretty good. I only used it in my last semester of college when senioritis was easily trumping 3 final papers and 5 finals in 9 days. There was either an issue of black listing too many websites or websites using http and https (like Facebook) where sometimes a blacklisted site could slip through, but it really did the trick.
I also had to blacklist everything, though. It got to the point where I would read every new story on BBC at 3am because I didn't want to write my paper, heh.
Try the pomodoro technique:
http://lifehacker.com/5377906/the-pomodoro-technique-fights-deadline-anxiety-with-a-timer
It did wonders for me, really simple idea, really effective though.
http://lifehacker.com/5377906/the-pomodoro-technique-fights-deadline-anxiety-with-a-timer
It did wonders for me, really simple idea, really effective though.
I will pickup an author I keep hearing references to and try reading their work. I first did this with John Steinbeck, "Of Mice and Men" and quickly went through every book he ever wrote. Before this I hated reading and thought everything was boring, it was just the novels I had to read for English class that were boring. Now I enjoy reading novels, mainly those written between the 1850's and 1960's. Most newer books just waste a lot of space describing scenery and other useless fluff (Steven King). Older books just don't have the style of a modern novel.
By the way I cannot recommend Steinbeck enough. He is quite possibly the greatest writer I have ever read. "Of Mice and Men" is a great one to start out with but "The Grapes of Wrath" really shines. The only book I did not like was "To a God Unknown". However, Ernest Hemingway with "A Farewell to Arms" and James Clavell with "Shogun" provide some stiff competition for Steinbeck.