"A Spoonful of Sugar" or, "Battling Ascetism"

Hello! Ready for more Tips and Tricks?  I will warn you, first, that I have two different versions of this section in my head, and I don't know which will come out, so be prepared for some interesting writing.

Today's Subject: Reward and Motivation.

I have a confession to make: I have a tendency towards Ascetism, which (if I'm using it correctly) is basically the idea that being miserable builds character/holiness, and so deliberately making yourself miserable is a good thing.  Or, in my case, removing everything I enjoy will make me more motivated to do things I hate.  Wait...

See an issue in that sentence?  Why on earth would getting rid of every bit of enjoyment make me want to do something I hate?  It's not going to make me like the things I hate more, it's just going to get rid of all the stuff I like and make me miserable.  And, for ascetists out there, misery is not what builds character, it's learning to persevere and find joy WITHIN/ DESPITE the misery that builds character, and there is plenty of misery out there to learn on/in without you adding more for yourself. 

I'm serious.  After nearly 23 years of testing this philosophy, I have found that I am more motivated and more likely to get things done, accomplish tasks quickly and clearly with a good attitude, when I'm cheerful/ happy.  So making myself miserable is not helping.  Conclusion: Do more of what I enjoy, and use that to power me through the stuff I hate/really don't want to do right now.  Mary Poppins has known this for years:

"A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go dowwwn, medicine go down..."

So, practically speaking, what does this look like?

• Take time for things you enjoy.  Especially when you're stressed.  I know this sound counter-intuitive - "you have three assignments and two major tests due in a 3 day period and you want me to stop and do a fun thing?  I don't have time!  Fun things are extras!"  No, they're not: they are Sanity Necessities.  By all means, study and work on your projects.  Work on them straight through the evening.  And then, at 10 pm tonight, quit.  Watch TV, read your current novel, text your friends, play Minecraft.  This is your time to enjoy yourself, no Work allowed.  You will awake more charged and refreshed tomorrow morning than if you had tried to pull an all-nighter, and with a better ability to get things done tomorrow. (I know, because I tested it.)

• Brain Breaks and Body Breaks

              Your body is not created to sit at a desk (or anything else) and work on one thing for six hours straight.  It simply WILL NOT FUNCTION that way.  You need breaks for your brain to recharge.  There are two kinds: Brain Breaks and Body Breaks.

     Body breaks are because you have a body that was built to move.  We are descended from hunters and farmers, people who are continually moving throughout the day.  You will work more effectively if you get up and move around every so often.  Generally, if I find myself pacing for the third time in a row when I'm supposed to be reading biochemistry, my body probably needs a movement break.  This would be a good time to take a walk, run though my old dance warm ups, or something similar, since I'm not getting studying done anyway.  This generally works better than interrupting myself during a focus-streak because my "get up and move" timer went off.

     Brain Breaks are because the biochemistry of your brain was not designed (or evolved, take your pick) to focus on one thing for hours at a time (unless it's something you really love, and even then, you're pushing it).  It needs a chance to stop and do something else, preferably something fun.  This would be a good time to spend 15 minutes (DO set a timer for this one!) on YouTube, or 30 minutes on that novel you've been waiting for.  Simply sitting and staring at the wall while you eat lunch (ie, absence of work) does not count as a Brain Break.  You need to recharge your brain, not simply quit using it.  Instead, read that hilarious webcomic while you eat, or find a group of friends you can hang out with (<- THIS IS A HUGE DEAL FOR FOCUS AND MOTIVATION, I CANNOT STRESS IT ENOUGH).

    Ideally, if you can combine your brain and body breaks, that IS the most efficient way to do it.  Let me know if you do - I'm still working on that part.

   These breaks will recharge your "grunt work tolerance" and let you power through things that have to be done.

• Charge During Use

Just as charging your cellphone overnight does not guarantee it will make it through the next day, sometimes B&B breaks aren't enough.  You're working on something so tedious, or so pressing, that a B&B simply won't cover it - much like the way your phone battery drops and dies when you try to stream videos.  This is when you break out the equivalent of your charging cable: your favorite epic study music, or turn what you are learning into a game.  I also find that colored pens and markers help - bright colors are far more fun and cheerful than boring, gray pencil lead, and can keep me focused and cheerful.

• Games

        Technically these fall under "Charge During Use", but it's a big category.  If you can turn something tedious into a game, it's much more fun and you are much more likely to do it well and quickly.  This is why I like doing online quizzes for rote-memory material.  Other people get more creative (I seem to recall Nerf dart vocabulary matching while growing up), but my favorite method is to award Points.  You see, I am a very prize-motivated person, so if every correct answer (or flashcard) is 2 points, and every 100 points is a dollar I can spend at the bookstore, you'd be surprised how much money I can earn - uh, I mean stuff I can get done - in an hour.

IF you are going to go with a reward system, though, make sure you follow through.  If $15.00 means a trip to the bookstore TAKE THE TIME TO TAKE THE TRIP.  The reward system only works as long as the small-child part of your brain believes it's actually going to get its reward.  You don't have to use the bookstore, though.  Every 5 points could be 5 minutes on Star Wars: Battlefront II, or a completed Evolution and Ecology reading could be worth a donut at Tim Horton's.  JUST MAKE SURE YOU FOLLOW THROUGH (and please, if you've earned it, you have no reason to feel guilty about the time or money you are spending on your prize.  Remember that). 

The other key to using a reward system, though, is the make the prizes frequent and feel attainable.  A donut when I finish my research paper is not enough for such a large, long task, and it's not going to motivate me.  A donut when I finish the Introduction, however, IS an attainable reward. This is why I tend to go with the points system - if every section I finish is worth 50 cents (or, if I'm desperate, a dollar), then I can go on and on, as long as I mark down all the cash I'm racking up, and actually follow through with the bookstore trip.  You, however, are creative, and I'm sure you can come up with a cheaper-yet-effective reward system.  If you do, please let me know.

Ok, I'm outta time for today (and words, actually), so I wish you all well!  Keep working hard!

~ Megan