Page 104 - A Mind For Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science

Ignorance Is Bliss

Next time you feel the urge to check your messages, pause and examine the feeling.
Acknowledge it. Then ignore it.
Practice ignoring distractions. It is a far more powerful technique than trying to will
yourself to not feel those distractions in the first place.

SUMMING IT UP

A little bit of work on something that feels painful can ultimately be
very beneficial.
Habits such as procrastination have four parts:
The cue
The routine
The reward
The belief

Change a habit by responding differently to a cue, or even avoiding
that cue altogether. Reward and belief make the change long-lasting.
Focus on the process (the way you spend your time) instead of the
product (what you want to accomplish).
Use the twenty-five-minute Pomodoro to stay productive for brief
periods. Then reward yourself after each successful period of focused

attention.
Be sure to schedule free time to nurture your diffuse mode.
Mental contrasting is a powerful motivating technique—think about
the worst aspects of your present or past experiences and contrast these
with the upbeat vision of your future.
Multitasking means that you are not able to make full, rich
connections in your thinking, because the part of your brain that helps

make connections is constantly being pulled away before neural
connections can be firmed up.

PAUSE AND RECALL

If you feel muzzy or featherbrained as you’re trying to look away and
recall a key idea, or you find yourself rereading the same paragraphs
over and over again, try doing a few situps, pushups, or jumping jacks.