Throughout the pandemic millions of people have been forced to work from home, myself included. Many people have found that working from home has made the fight against procrastination harder than ever. Stress levels are already high with growing trepidation about the world around us and so the last thing we need is a worryingly long list of uncompleted tasks and emails from worried teachers or co-workers. It can be difficult to focus but here are some of the techniques I have developed while working at home as well methods rigorously tested and backed by science that I decided to try out. Some of these are quite bizarre, but often those are the best ones…
Ground Rules
Everything needed for you to be a healthy human is vital to keep when you are working. To put it simply this is:
- Exercise
- Sleep
- Healthy diet
- A clean and tidy workspace
During a time of extreme stress prioritizing your health is prioritizing your work. Choosing good grades or a pay raise over your physical and mental health is both counterproductive and unsustainable. Sleep is often something that falls into deficit when we feel stressed but quality sleep is particularly vital when working. Not only does it help us feel refreshed but sleep is vital in creating memories. To convert a short-term memory to a long-term memory three processes need to happen, the last process is called consolidation and it only happens while we sleep. This process is so important that one of the major sleep theories suggests that the reason for sleep is to let us process the information we have acquired during the day.
Technique One: Environment
Our environment is vital in helping our brains distinguish the times where we should be working as opposed to resting, eating, and socializing. Our homes are not as one-dimensional as an office which is reserved predominantly for working and so it can be hard to train your brain to work in a place like your bedroom where you are used to using it for resting.
But here are some ways you can adapt your workspace:
- Face your desk to a wall/ away from your bed
- Have a study lamp at your desk, turn it on whenever you study, and turn it off when you start to lose motivation. In an experiment carried out at Hawaii university students that started to use a study lamp at the start of a term were on average one grade point higher the next term than students in the control group that didn’t use a lamp.
- Chew a particular flavor of gum when you are working or light a candle. This technique is good for separating your study area from the rest of your room and also at triggering memories. Smells and tastes can help trigger memories as they bypass the thalamus and go straight to the brain’s smell center- the olfactory bulb which is directly connected to the amygdala and hippocampus which are areas of high processing when it comes to memories. After trying this out I can tell you it works, now whenever I taste bubblegum all my chemistry flashcards start to come right back to me.
Technique Two: Tricking your brain
Something I like to do to trick my brain into thinking I’m motivated and focused before I start studying is write a message to a friend saying something like “smashed it, that meeting went really well” or “ tried as hard as I could.” But I don’t send it before I have done the meeting, practice paper, or whatever I’m doing. When I then do the task I am determined to be able to send that text after. Honestly sometimes writing the text to yourself can be just as helpful. This technique is also something you could apply to job interviews or a driving test and many others. Obviously with this one don’t annoy your friends!
Technique Three: The Pomodoro technique
The Pomodoro Technique has been circling the internet and so I decided to try it out. The technique requires that you study for 25 minutes and then take a break for 5 minutes. After about four pomodoros, you take a longer break of 15 to 20 minutes. This technique works because typically a person is only able to retain their highest level of productivity for about 25 minutes and the 5-minute break is usually enough to restore your momentum. The timer also creates a sense of urgency to get the task done. Trying it out I found it was good for recall but I preferred longer chunks for essays or longer pieces of writing. I was able to find what time frame worked best for me by timing myself working and when I began to feel as though I was no longer taking anything in I stopped and recorded the time, which was about 30 minutes. This technique also showed me how much you can get done if you just have a spare 15 minutes here and there, even if that is on the way to the shops. Why don’t you try recording yourself explaining a concept you need to know and listen to it while weighing your potatoes?
Technique Four: Effective Breaks
Taking breaks is as much a part of studying as studying itself. As the Pomodoro effect shows, it’s key to rebooting your productivity. However, it’s hard to think of a reward for all your productivity during Covid. Try planning before you work what your break will be to motivate yourself (unless this is going to distract you). After you have finished working get up out of your chair, turn off the lamp and leave your room.
Here are some other things you should try:
- Call a friend (make sure you tell them you can only talk for a few minutes)
- Dancing along to your favorite song
- Stroking a pet
- Getting a snack and a drink
- Talking to a family member
Technique Five: The Generation effect (this applies more to studying for an exam)
This is very useful when studying content for an exam. For this, you need to test yourself, but you do this before you know the material… so yes you will probably get a lot of it wrong. However, there is a reason for this, it means that when you get the answers wrong and you're later shown the correct answer your brain goes through hyper-correcting. This means that you are more likely to remember the correct answer mainly due to the embarrassment felt when you get the answer wrong.
Technique Six: Dream Board
If you’re lacking an incentive for studying in the first place something that really helps me is a dream board. I have this as the background on my phone and my laptop to remind me why I am working so hard and also to put me in a good mood for all the achievements I can look forward to in my life ahead post-pandemic!
But overall be kind to yourself. It’s hard to stay motivated week after week. Sometimes it is simply better to listen to yourself, take the day off and start again another day :)
