Page 100 - A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

processes, because it can march mindlessly along. It’s far easier to enlist a
friendly zombie habit to help with a process than to help with a product.

X MARKS THE SPOT!

“It’s a good idea to mark the objective of your daily reading assignment with a bookmark
(or Post-it note). This gives immediate feedback on progress—you are more motivated
when you can see the finish line!”

—Forrest Newman, Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Sacramento City College

Break Your Work into Bite-Sized Pieces—Then Work Intently,

but Briefly

The “Pomodoro” is a technique that’s been developed
to help you focus your attention over a short period of
time. Pomodoro is Italian for “tomato”—Francesco
Cirillo, who originally developed this time-
management system in the 1980s, used a tomato-shaped

timer. In the Pomodoro technique, you set a timer for
twenty-five minutes. (You were introduced earlier to
this idea in one of the “Now You Try!” challenges in chapter 2.) Once the timer
starts ticking, you’re on the clock. No sneaking off to web surf, chat on the
phone, or instant-message your buddies. What’s nice about doing a Pomodoro is
that if you’re working around friends or family, you can tell them about the
technique. Then, if they happen to interrupt you, all you need to do is mention

that you’re “doing a Pomodoro” or “on the clock,” and it gives a friendly reason
for them to leave you alone.
You may object that it is stressful being under the timer. But researchers
have found something fascinating and counterintuitive. If you learn under mild
stress, you can handle greater stress much more easily. For example, as
researcher Sian Beilock describes in her book Choke, golfers who practice

putting in front of others aren’t fazed later on when they have to perform before
an audience in competitions. In the same way, if you get used to figuring things
out under a mild time crunch, you are much less likely to choke later, when you