It’s September and, for many, it feels like the beginning of a new year. The cooler weather seems to usher in a new start, time to get serious and get down to business after the summer fun. We tell ourselves that it is time to address our ever expanding “to do” list, and tackle the things we have been putting off. We all have “those things”. Some people want to change careers, get physically fit, start a business, write a novel, or release an album. We all have those things we have been meaning to do for some time, and are putting off. It all comes down to procrastination. What can we do about it? Here are some thoughts to help stop procrastination.
Be strategic. According to Tim Pychyl, professor, Carleton University, procrastination is a self-regulation failure, or what we used to call a failure of will power. We often do not want to do the task on our list; we want to feel good now, so we ignore the task. It takes a lot of willpower to address certain tasks, and willpower is like a muscle; we can wear it out. To deal with the issue, we have to be strategic. More often than not reaching our goals comes down to creating specific intentions that tell us when and how to act. General, vague intentions rarely get implemented. To move into action we need to develop specific plans. Your recipe will look something like: “When X, I do Y and that gets me Z.” The bottom line is to quit making vague goal intentions and create a specific, strategic approach.
Similarly, Calvin Newport, professor at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, and author of How To Win At College, proposes that procrastination is our mind’s way of telling us it does not see a smart plan. When we procrastinate, it is because either the goals do not make sense, or we do not have a believable way of accomplishing it. Successful, productive people gather evidence and take their time to set goals. They know what is involved. When we make a commitment that comes from deep understanding of the challenge, we do not have to rely only on willpower, and that leads to success.
Know when to take a break. Sometimes boosting our willpower can be a matter of looking after our sleep, nutrition and physical exercise. According to Piers Steel, professor at the University of Calgary and author of The Procrastination Equation, the brain is not designed to deal with perpetual temptation, but that is the world we live in. Willpower is an exhaustible resource that can be renewed through rest. When we have to say “no” all the time, it means we have less willpower for the next “no”. Listen to your body’s physical cues and take a break when you need it.
Use the progress principle. Use the power of small wins to propel us forward. People are more creative and productive when they are feeling positive about their environment and work. What’s important is making progress on small wins. According to Teresa Amabile, professor of business administration at the Harvard Business School, even if the progress is small, the incremental steps can provide a boost to our intrinsic motivation and positive emotions. Setting up small wins that we can achieve at various stages as we move towards our goal can set up a feedback loop that can help move us forward. Creativity and feeling productive feed on each other. The more productive we feel, the more creative we will feel, and these feelings will propel us forward.
References:
Amabile, Teresa. The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement and Creativity at Work. Harvard Business Review Press, August 2011
Newport, Calvin. How to Win at College: Surprising Secrets for Success from the Country’s Top Students. Broadway, 2005
Pychyl, T.A., & Flett, G.L. (2012). Procrastination and self-regulatory failure: An introduction to the special issue. Journal of Rational-Emotive and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy. DOI: 10.1007/s10942-012-0149-5
Steel, Piers. The Procrastination Equation: How to Stop Putting Things off and Start Getting Stuff Done. Random House of Canada, July 2012.
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Evoke Learning Presents a workshop for students
This workshop will help students understand the basic principals of how people learn best and how they can use this knowledge to increase the effectiveness of their own note taking and study skills. Students will learn to get the most out of their note-taking and study time.
Select this link to email us for more information or to book a workshop.
For: Students from grade 7-12
Select this link for the flyer past workshop (October 27, 2012 – PDF document)
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Experts offer suggestions for students on how to compensate for their disorder
By Jenifer Goodwin
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Aug. 17 (HealthDay News) — For students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, making the transition to college can be especially difficult. But by adopting certain strategies, such as sticking to a structured daily schedule and tapping into the university’s disability support services, freshman with ADHD can do well, according to experts and teens with the condition.
“The ones who are going to do best are those who come to college prepared, who are aware of their weaknesses and have some strategies for compensating,” said Kristy Morgan, a recent Kansas State University doctoral graduate in student affairs and higher education who conducted in-depth interviews with eight college freshman with ADHD about what they learned from the experience.
Certain themes emerged.
While most students said they got through high school without having to study much, they found college classes much tougher — and most felt they didn’t have the study skills to handle it.
“They were able to get through junior high and high school pretty well, and get good enough grades to get into college,” Morgan said. “Then they got to college. They were finding they had to study very independently, and there were less in-class opportunities for test prep, and it was more difficult.”
Students with ADHD also said they looked forward to the “freedom” of a less regimented college schedule, yet they found it more difficult to manage their time without the structure that high school provides.
“In many households, teenagers with ADHD rely to varying degrees on their parents to help in terms of time management and organization, helping to prioritize, keeping their things organized, staying focused on deadlines and making sure they strike an appropriate balance between leisure and studies,” said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York. “When they go to college, pretty much most of that is out the window.”
Particularly for kids who are prone to immediate gratification or have difficulties with impulsivity, college offers endless distraction, Adesman said. “They may be prone to indulge in one form of distraction or another. It could be relaxing and not studying, or drinking and partying,” Adesman said.
And even though many universities have disability support services that students with ADHD can turn to for extra help, only two of the eight students had done so. The other six said they either weren’t aware such a service was available, or they hadn’t gotten around to asking for assistance, which can include tutoring or test-taking accommodations, such as taking exams in quiet, distraction-free rooms.
Some students may have also shied away from seeking the extra support because of “embarrassment or shame, not wanting to be different from others in the class, or they had misperceptions about what those services involved,” Morgan said.
Despite the challenges, five of the eight students were having a successful freshman year, Morgan said.
To help students with ADHD make the transition to college, the experts offered teens and parents these tips:
- Get educated about ADHD: While some children outgrow ADHD, symptoms — which include inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity beyond what’s normally seen given a child’s age and development — often persist into adulthood. Yet most of the students interviewed had significant misperceptions about ADHD. Most said they thought they would have outgrown it, even though about 80 percent of people with ADHD don’t, Morgan said. Before teens leave for college, parents — perhaps with a pediatrician or psychologist — should make sure their teens understand what ADHD is and the ongoing challenges they should expect, Morgan said.
- Develop study strategies: Pretty much everyone procrastinates sometimes, but for students with ADHD, this trait can be extreme. In college, where an entire grade may depend on one paper or on one or two exams, staying on top of the work is especially important. One strategy to deal with this is developing a plan, for example, read one chapter each night, or arrange to study at the same time every day, and stick to it.
- Set a schedule: Inconsistent daily schedules themselves also pose challenges for teens with ADHD. College students may have a class at 8 a.m., then another at 3 p.m., then a totally different schedule on another day. How to make use of all that free time, and not while away the hours playing ultimate frisbee on the quad? Again, students should develop a schedule and abide by it.
- Contact disability support services: Many colleges have resources for students with disabilities ranging from physical impairments to dyslexia, and, ADHD. These services are provided discreetly, Morgan said. However, students will have to fill out certain forms or paperwork in order to access the services, and following through with that can be challenging for kids with ADHD. She urges college students with ADHD to make it a priority.
- Continue taking medications: Take ADHD medications as prescribed, Adesman said. He also advises students not to tell their roommates or friends that they take stimulants for ADHD. Stimulants are sometimes abused by students without ADHD who believe the drugs will help them focus. Kids with ADHD may be pressured to share their pills, which is against the law, Adesman said.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health has more on ADHD.
SOURCES: Kristy Morgan, Ph.D., Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan., doctoral dissertation, Kansas State University; Andrew Adesman, M.D., chief, developmental and behavioral pediatrics, Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York, New Hyde Park, N.Y.
Last Updated: Aug. 17, 2012
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
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We have all been given the advice to take a break and go for a walk when we are putting in long hours, or feeling the stress of our workload. Turns out that a walk in the park may have even more beneficial results than we thought. Beyond helping us improve our physical fitness, the most powerful benefits of a walk in the park may be cognitive. A study by Marc Berman, a research fellow at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest in Toronto, found that a 50-minute walk in a woodland park improves cognition.
The reasons seem to lie in the distinction between two types of attention, voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary attention involves our conscious decision to focus on something, in contrast to involuntary attention where something grabs our attention. The ability to direct voluntary attention is critical in our daily lives, especially when we live in busy cities, and is easily fatigued. As Alan Logan, a New York-based naturopathic doctor suggests, “A world of distraction is not without costs to mental energy. It talks a huge amount of effort to stay on task in the modern digital world. There’s an entire network of brain activity that’s dedicated exclusively to putting on the brakes, so we can stay focused.”
When we go for a walk in the park, we give our voluntary attention a break, and allow our mind to wander and be engaged involuntarily by our surroundings. Parks tend to be less crowded and busy than city sidewalks. There are less honking horns and traffic lights; the things that constantly force us to use our voluntary attention to react or block them out, leaving us more cognitively depleted. Japanese scientists in the 1990’s found that a 40-minute walk in nature lowered cortisol levels, improved sleep and reduced psychological stress. A University of Rochester study showed that 20 minutes in a green setting was advantageous to health and vitality. Another study in the Journal of Environmental Science & Technology revealed mental health benefits after just five minutes in green space.
Air quality may also play a beneficial role. Exposure to polluted air can trigger lung and heart problems, and chronic exposure has been linked to cognitive decline. Even downtown parks and riverside bike path are likely to have significantly better air quality than busy city streets. The level of vehicle emissions just 200 meters away from a road is four times lower than it is on the sidewalk next to the road.
It is ironic that all this information and research is coming at a time when we are more disconnected from nature than ever. Even when we take a break, our attention is often diverted by the phone or gadget in our pocket. However, the take-way point here is that when we are overwhelmed and struggling to complete our work, the answer is not to keep plugging away, but to take a 20-minute walk. In all likelihood, you will get the work done just as quickly and probably better.
References:
https://www.chatelaine.com/health/fitness/how-nature-can-benefit-your-health-and-happiness/
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/05/29/parks-green-space-cities-health.html
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