
Have you ever been working on an assignment when… *BAM*… you find yourself on Facebook whittling away the few hours you had to write it?
Yes?
Of course you have, even the President] has found himself distracted by the entertaining things in life.
The real question is: How do you avoid it? How do you keep yourself from watching that twentieth video on YouTube? From playing video games with your best friends?
What do you need to keep the distractions at bay?
You need a plan and a strategy
Thinking ahead is a good place to start in finding not only what distracts you, but why. Understanding why is important. Learning to spot out when you’re being distracted and understanding why, makes it easy to find your distractions, plan for them, and implement a strategy to defeat them.
Why do you respond to texts, calls, and Facebook while you study?
Because the phone beeps every time I get a message, and Facebook is always open in my browser.
Limiting your technology. To defeat those nagging blinks and bloops by turning your cell phone off, shutting the internet down on your computer, and closing all unnecessary programs. Keeping them out for good.
Why do you end up hanging out with friends when trying to research for a project?
Because their always coming over to see what I am doing.
Managing your space and time. Keep your friends and family from barging in every ten minutes by telling them that you are taking a few hours today to finish your work. There will be plenty of time later to hang out. And put on the finishing touches with a closed to signify you are busy and need time to work.
Why do I play video games while I try to study in my room?
Because they are visible from where I sit, enticing me to play when I am bored.
Simply finding a place away from distractions with peace and quiet is the sometimes the best thing you can do. A place perfect for setting the work atmosphere and away from it all. Stopping those pesky video games from staring you down from across the room. Here’s looking at you Xbox One…
Why do you avoid studying in the first place?
Because there are irritating parts I just don’t want to do and keep putting off.
Doing the irritating things first to get them out of the way or doing the easy things first to get you motivated for the hard parts. By spotting what irritates you and outlining what you need to do, can smooth out the rough patches to make the assignment easy and painless. Making avoiding your studies into defeating your studies.
But what do with all that pent up tension after completing your assignment and keeping your distractions at bay?
You indulge yourself of course. You use those distractions as the best reward you ever received because you got your work done and you deserve it.