GRE Smart Books with Neil: A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even if you Flunked Algebra) by Barbara Oakley – Part 2
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Hi, my name is Neil, and I’m a chronic procrastinator. And if you’re reading this, chances are, so are you.
As a long-time GRE teacher, I’ve worked with way too many students who mistakenly believe they can “cram” for the GRE. In my experience, most students who put off their GRE work until the last week before the test wind up with the same score (or if they’re overtired, far worse). The GRE tests your test-taking skill, and like any skill (sports, music, chess, juggling) the GRE requires daily focused practice in order to improve. If you procrastinate, your score won’t go anywhere.
Last week, I reviewed and recommended Barbara Oakley’s book, A Mind For Numbers: how to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra) and summarized some of her advice about two states of thinking: Diffuse vs. Focused Mode. This week, I’d like to give you some more of her excellent advice–this time about overcoming the deadly habit of procrastination.
“Keep in mind that when you procrastinate, you are leaving yourself only enough time to do superficial focused-mode learning.” Oakley, Barbara. A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra)
1) Understand why you procrastinate
According to Oakley, “We procrastinate about things that make us feel uncomfortable.” For mathphobes, the thought of studying or doing math problems actually activates the pain centers of the brain. Oakley writes, “But there’s something important to note. It was the anticipation that was painful. When the mathphobes actually did math, the pain disappeared.”
We all have tasks that make us anxious and uncomfortable to contemplate. Therefore, we go do something else to ease the pain: check our iPhones, scroll through Facebook, open the fridge, start a computer game. These distractions are very good at giving us temporary pleasure (yay, the dopamine pings of Facebook and chocolate), therefore rewarding our brains for doing everything but the one thing we should be doing. In this way, procrastination becomes like a drug addiction, “It offers temporary excitement and relief from boring reality.”
2) Form new habits
According to Oakley’s research, both good and bad habits have four components:
The Cue: The trigger that launches you into your habitual behavior. (Passing the fridge, hearing a Facebook message come in, glancing at your to-do list.
The Routine: The habitual behavior you perform when you see the cue. (Opening the fridge, checking Facebook for an hour, or actually doing something productive from your to-do list.)
The Reward: The pleasure you receive from performing that behavior. (Drugs, alcohol, and bad foods are wonderful at this). For good habits, the satisfaction of completion can be a powerful reward in itself.
The Belief: Whatever mindset you have that locks you into that habit. To change a habit, you’ll need to change your underlying belief.
In order to change a bad habit or acquire a new one, you have to alter as many of the above components as you can.
Remove bad cues: Lock yourself out of Facebook. Leave your phone in the other room. Study somewhere without internet access.
Change the behavior: If you’re used to checking Facebook first thing in the morning, force yourself to do 10-25 minutes of focused GRE work before you turn on the computer. At first this will be very difficult to do, but over time the cue (morning coffee) will trigger a positive habit (opening a GRE book).
Reward yourself: Promise yourself good things (a snack, a peek at Facebook, a TV show) ONLY after you’ve done 25 minutes of GRE work. Pat yourself on the back for your efforts, too! Soon you’ll associate the behavior with the reward.
Change the belief: According to Oakley, “It’s easy to delude yourself that the most profitable use of any given moment is surfing the web for information instead of reading the textbook or doing the assigned problems.” So you have to change that belief, and you have to believe that you are capable of change. “Belief that your new system works is what can get you through.”
3) Try a “Pomodoro”
The name “Pomodoro technique” was coined Francisco Cirillo in the 1980s. (Cirillo used a kitchen timer shaped like a tomato, and Pomodoro is Italian for tomato.) The technique is simple: Remove all your distractions and bad cues (iPhone, computer, etc.) and set a timer for 25 minutes. For those 25 minutes, focus on your work and ignore all other distractions. If you find yourself drifting, get back to work! Oakley writes, “You’ll be amazed at how productive a focused twenty-five-minute stint can be— especially when you’re just focusing on the work itself, not on finishing.” After 25 minutes, give yourself a reward and pat yourself on the back. Two pomodoro session a day can make a massive difference to your GRE score without overtaxing your mental resources. You may find it difficult to focus at first, but within a few days, the 25 minutes will breeze by. (Search any app store to find lots of Pomodoro timer apps for your smartphone and desktop).
4) Focus on process, not product
It’s hard, but you have to stop thinking about your score and just worry about the time you need to put in. According to Oakley, “Process means the flow of time and the habits and actions associated with that flow of time. To prevent procrastination, you want to avoid concentrating on product. Instead, your attention should be on building processes— habits— that coincidentally allow you to do the unpleasant tasks that need to be done.”
Neil’s summary:
Try it! You may never completely get over all of your procrastination habits, but you can make incremental changes that will improve your GRE score, if not your whole life. Set a timer for 25 minutes, go make some flashcards or knock out a handful of QC questions, and tell me how it went. By the way, Oakly doesn’t say this explicitly, but I highly recommend that you put your pomodoro times in your calendar in advance and set your calendar app to remind you to get to work (remember, you need a CUE!).
Have fun! 📝
Find Neil’s musings helpful? Most do. Don’t forget that you can join him twice monthly for a free hour and a half study session in Mondays with Neil.
When not onstage telling jokes, Neil Thornton loves teaching you to beat the GRE and GMAT. Since 1991, he’s coached thousands of students through the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT, and SAT, and trained instructors all over the United States. He scored 780 on the GMAT, a perfect 170Q/170V score on the GRE, and a 99th percentile score on the LSAT. Check out Neil’s upcoming GRE course offerings here or join him for a free online study session twice monthly in Mondays with Neil.