Fast switching, a skill so smooth, so suave, that most people never even know it exists. And their lives are worse without it. Audiences admire James Bond emerging from a hotel, hopping into an Aston Martin, then suddenly car-fighting ten motorbike-terrorists without ever realizing that his most amazing skill wasn’t combat driving or hiding heat-seeking missiles behind his headlights. It was leaving his room without an extra half-hour of checking his phone and having to go back because he’d forgotten his keys.
The ability to swiftly switch between tasks frees up more time for all them. And there is nothing students need more than time. Time is your most treasured resource. Don’t waste it on nothing. Note that “nothing” isn’t taking a break. Taking a break is everything! It’s one of the most important study strategies there is. Deliberately deciding to take an hour off, kick off the shoes, and relax with some reading/Netflix/Fortnite is more important than most things on Earth.
The “nothing” we mean is mindless non-work that sneaks in as we switch between tasks. Fiddling around because you’ve forgotten something. Checking your phone “for a second” before getting down to work, then it’s thirty minutes later. Vaguely defocused doodling while convincing yourself you’re getting ready for all the great study you’ll do. Just as soon as you’ve got the right music. And the comfy seat. Where’s my good pen. Oh, I’ll get a drink. Now it’s an hour later and I’ve achieved nothing.
This happens because we don’t want to work and, much worse, we don’t want to admit we’re taking a break. So we end up doing neither. Instead of learning the next chapter, or enjoying a new episode, we end up sort of scrolling social media feeds over a desk of notes without even replying to anyone because we’re “not really” online.
Break out of this bad habit! Blast into the next task! Or decide you’re definitely not working and enjoy yourself hour! If you’re working, work. If you’re chilling, chill. Missing a pen? Don’t have your favourite music? No worries, no delays, just get on with whatever you can study right now. Resist those siren calls to swim off into oceans of distraction. The ones which leave you feeling washed up hours later without anything done.
This isn’t just study; this is a full-on life skill. Probably the most applicable you’ll ever learn. People pay for entire mindfulness courses, yogic retreats, they throw out everything they own and start sleeping on scratchy straw mats trying to understand each moment instead of wasting their time on mental clutter. You get to do it while earning a degree!
The ability to swiftly switch between tasks frees up more time for all them. And there is nothing students need more than time. Time is your most treasured resource. Don’t waste it on nothing. Note that “nothing” isn’t taking a break. Taking a break is everything! It’s one of the most important study strategies there is. Deliberately deciding to take an hour off, kick off the shoes, and relax with some reading/Netflix/Fortnite is more important than most things on Earth.
Time is your most treasured resource.
The “nothing” we mean is mindless non-work that sneaks in as we switch between tasks. Fiddling around because you’ve forgotten something. Checking your phone “for a second” before getting down to work, then it’s thirty minutes later. Vaguely defocused doodling while convincing yourself you’re getting ready for all the great study you’ll do. Just as soon as you’ve got the right music. And the comfy seat. Where’s my good pen. Oh, I’ll get a drink. Now it’s an hour later and I’ve achieved nothing.
This happens because we don’t want to work and, much worse, we don’t want to admit we’re taking a break. So we end up doing neither. Instead of learning the next chapter, or enjoying a new episode, we end up sort of scrolling social media feeds over a desk of notes without even replying to anyone because we’re “not really” online.
Break out of this bad habit! Blast into the next task! Or decide you’re definitely not working and enjoy yourself hour! If you’re working, work. If you’re chilling, chill. Missing a pen? Don’t have your favourite music? No worries, no delays, just get on with whatever you can study right now. Resist those siren calls to swim off into oceans of distraction. The ones which leave you feeling washed up hours later without anything done.
This isn’t just study; this is a full-on life skill. Probably the most applicable you’ll ever learn. People pay for entire mindfulness courses, yogic retreats, they throw out everything they own and start sleeping on scratchy straw mats trying to understand each moment instead of wasting their time on mental clutter. You get to do it while earning a degree!
