Just do it! How to save your mind from degradation and effectively study at home?

The topic of today's article will touch the hearts of many. We will talk about a problem that can come to every home. About a terrible disease that spares no one and equally affects the poor and the rich, the old and the young, women and men. It is easy to get infected with this disease, but it is almost impossible to get rid of it completely. Until recently, this disease was considered incurable, but today the best CodeGym scientists will give hope for salvation to all patients. You probably already guessed what kind of disease we are talking about. That's right, it's procrastination. Today, when millions of people around the world are trying to stay at home, few pay attention to the new wave of the procrastination epidemic, the consequences of which, in the form of projects not ready for deadlines, lack of progress in studies and constantly postponed until tomorrow, many will face. We have previously published a selection of good services for combating procrastination and planning training (we advise you to read this material if you missed it), and today we will talk about how to learn to overcome procrastination in order to be more effective in work and study.

Procrastination and the ability to focus

If you regularly have trouble getting yourself to finally sit down to work or school and then do it for long enough, you're not alone. The fact is that in the modern world, the ability to concentrate on a task and solve it without being distracted by anything else becomes just the same superpower, which is becoming less and less common. In 2013, experts from Microsoft Canada conducted a study to measure the extent to which the ability to pay attention is actually developed in ordinary people. The results of the study were somewhat shocking. Scientists have determined the average time during which people manage to fully concentrate on a task without being distracted by anything else. It turned out, According to the study, if back in 2000 the average focus of attention for people was 12 seconds, then in 2013 it decreased to 8 seconds. If this discovery didn't strike you as alarming, it's worth adding that, according to studies, aquarium goldfish are able to concentrate on average for about 9 seconds. That is, the average person in terms of the level of possession of this skill is slightly inferior to an aquarium fish. Why is our ability to focus on anything declining at such a terrifying rate? That's right: it's your internets, smartphones, applications for them and social networks that are to blame, and wearable gadgets, Internet of things devices and other newfangled inventions are already coming to their aid, which will aggressively compete for our attention, taking it away from really important tasks and preventing us from being productive.

Ability to focus

If you know how to focus effectively, you can get the desired result faster. It is a fact. And if you think that problems with the ability to concentrate for a long time are not about you, then think again: there is a high probability that you will procrastinate right now while reading this article. But don't get upset. With CodeGym, even procrastination can be beneficial. The main thing is to read the article to the end and try to apply this information in real life.

What keeps you from focusing?

Humans have two types of focus: scattered attention and directed attention. Distracted attention is used when we are doing several things at the same time (or trying to do) - for example, cooking, talking on the phone and watching YouTube. Naturally, in this case, the brain has to distribute energy between each type of activity, as a result of which we quickly get tired, and the result of our activity is often not the most impressive. Moreover, scattered attention turns on not only when a person consciously tries to use multitasking, but also in those cases when something distracts him from the primary task. Directed attention, on the other hand, is when you are completely focused on one task while ignoring everything else. It is it that brings the result in the form of a job well done or constant progress in learning something.

How to improve your ability to focus effectively

Fortunately, as mentioned at the beginning, procrastination is not a death sentence, and the ability to manage your focus and concentrate on really important tasks can be learned. Let's talk about how to do it.

• Remove the things that interfere with your concentration.

  The easiest way to help yourself focus on work, school, or whatever else you need to be doing instead of all the things that actually take up your time is to eliminate the distractions that get in the way.

  Who is the main villain, taking our time and preventing us from doing important things? That's right, it's a phone. Therefore, while working, it makes sense not only to put it on silent mode, turn off vibration, etc., but also put your mobile device away so as not to succumb to the temptation to check new messages or reply to someone in the messenger.

• Health and physiology.

  It may seem surprising to some, but physical condition also has a significant impact on your ability to focus. To really work effectively, at least over the long haul, you need to keep your body in optimal working condition. How to achieve this? Here, alas, there will be no secret revelations or breakthrough discoveries of scientists: you need to get enough sleep (7-9 hours a day are considered the norm), eat right (vegetables, fruits, and that’s all) and do physical exercises (at least short walks and light gymnastics ).

• The ability to concentrate is a skill ...

  Also, do not forget that the ability to focus attention is a skill like any other, which means that it can be “pumped.” How to do it? Regular practice and nothing more. Start small and aim for continuous improvement.

• ...But it's also a habit.

  Effective work and learning can be made a habit. To do this, again, it is enough to practice regularly. If you force yourself to engage in self-study, albeit not for long, but every day, then over time it will become a habit and the need to resort to willpower to sit down to study will disappear. It is believed that the formation of any habit, on average, takes about 2 months - in just 2 months of conscious effort, you can form a habit that will benefit you for the rest of your life.

• Proper and regular rest.

  As you know, prolonged focusing of attention is a very energy-consuming process, so taking breaks between work and giving yourself a break is also important. But you need to do it right: do not switch to other irritants like your phone or entertainment content on the Web during a break, because their consumption continues to rob you of valuable energy. It is better to turn to maybe not the most exciting, but effective ways to restore mental energy - meditation, walking, simple physical exercises help the best.

What is stopping you from learning effectively? Dopamine

Why most of us have no particular difficulty in surfing the Internet for several hours without stopping, chatting on social networks or watching YouTube, while it already seems difficult to concentrate on learning for half an hour or a couple of hours to work on our business idea task? Obviously, you say, the first type of activity requires much less dedication and energy. But why then do some individuals not experience particular problems in order to work and achieve their goals, while for others the process does not go beyond plans and laudable intentions to do something? It's all about dopamine - a neurotransmitter produced in the brain, Dopamineis one of the chemical factors of internal reinforcement (EFF) and is an important part of the “reward system” of the brain, because it causes a feeling of pleasure (or satisfaction), which affects the processes of motivation and learning. It is the level of dopamine that determines how strong your motivation is to learn programming or launch your startup., For example. Our brain prioritizes this or that activity depending on how much dopamine it receives as a result. Accordingly, the more dopamine is released as a result of a particular activity, the more our brain tends to repeat it. That is why, on a subconscious level, we are ready to sit for hours on social networks or play video games: such activities lead to the rapid release of dopamine, while work or study do not provide instant rewards and therefore have less effect on the production of this important neurotransmitter. The life of a modern person is filled with stimulants that cause a rapid production of dopamine: all Internet services, from news portals to dating applications, and media resources function in such a way that

Dopamine Detox

The release of dopamine somehow reinforces any of our activities that the brain perceives as beneficial, including satisfaction of basic needs for food and drink, sleep, and, of course, sex. This is where the concept of addiction comes into play. With an increase in the level of dopamine secreted by the brain, the mechanisms responsible for adaptation are turned on, and the body begins to perceive the new level as normal. This is how addiction is formed - subconsciously we strive to spend time and energy on those activities that give the most dopamine, and work or study are off our list of priorities, since the reward for this activity does not come immediately.

Where can I find motivation to work on myself, self-development and study new areas of knowledge?

A dopamine detox or a dopamine diet is a way to significantly increase your productivity and become more efficient, which is not yet well known in RuNet, but is actively gaining popularity in the English-speaking segment of the Web. The bottom line is quite simple: we deliberately limit ourselves to activities that lead to an increased release of dopamine for a limited period of time. For example, once a week for the whole day we completely refuse any entertainment activities, including using social networks or watching the latest news, and on other days we allocate only a certain limited period of time for them (an hour or two per day). This "diet" helps break the vicious cycle of addiction to activities that lead to the release of increased levels of dopamine.

Epilogue

Well, if you've made it to the end of this article, you have reason to be modestly optimistic - chances are your ability to pay attention is better developed than most people. We hope that the tips and techniques in this article will help you overcome procrastination and take your efficiency to the next level. If you know of other effective ways to combat procrastination and improve your ability to concentrate, write in the comments.