My Goals

Throughout my entire academic career, I’ve struggled with managing and focusing on my assignments. I always had the tendency to start assignments on the day they were due and barely turning assignments in before the deadline. Even when I started working on my assignments, I struggled to stay focused on completing the assignments. I decided that I needed to change my habits and find a way to complete my assignments before the deadline. I also needed to figure out a method to help me focus on my assignments and minimize distractions.

For the rest of the semester, I’m making it my goal to use the time blocking method and the do-not-disturb mode on my phone to help me focus and complete assignments one day before the due date. With the strategies that I learned from book, I feel confident that I will be able to accomplish this goal.

Strategies From HyperFocus

The book I chose for this project is Hyperfocus: How to manage your attention in a world of distraction (Bailey, 2018). I felt that this book had the potential to teach me some ways to manage my time and stay focused on my tasks

Hyperfocus is extremely relatable to my current situation as the author talks about how he struggled with finding ways to focus on what he needed to do on a day-to-day basis. As a result, he has a list of methods that teach you how to identify what’s distracting you and how to limit those distractions. This is perfect for me as identifying the problem was the start that I needed to help me take the next steps towards limiting my distractions

Strategies

One of the methods in the book that Bailey (2018) talked about is the setting specific intentions. Setting specific intentions often leads to a higher chance of success. Bailey (2018) references a study done by Peter Gollwitzer about the importance of setting intentions and how implementing intentions into our lives can help us stay focused.

Implementation intentions is making a very detailed plan on how you want to achieve what you want to achieve. Goals need plans, ideally plans that include when, where, and which kind of action to move towards the goal (Bailey 2018, pg. 66)

I decided to try this by using the time blocking method and setting aside a specific time block to exclusively work on schoolwork. One of the obstacles I ran into was my schedule suddenly changing and having to figure out a new time block to work on schoolwork. I didn’t have a specific solution other than just figuring out on the fly how to work around changes and setting new times to sit down and work on schoolwork.

Another strategy that Bailey (2018) talks about is identifying distractions and removing them from your work environment.

If you identify all of the distractions in your immediate environment and remove them, then your brain has no choice than but to work on that task (Bailey 2018, pg. 83).

My phone has always been a huge distraction for me when working on any task. I’ve grown to become addicted to being on my phone all the time whether it’s for work or if I just want to mindlessly scroll for entertainment. I decided to put my phone on do not disturb mode when I’m working on an assignment. Occasionally, I’ll still get on my phone for important things such as my parents calling me or my boss texting me about work related things.

What I like and didn’t like…

Setting intentions and blocking out time to specifically work on homework sounds like a good idea on paper. However, if you’re a busy person like me where your schedule is constantly changing throughout the day it can be difficult to stick to this schedule. The nice thing about time blocking is that there is some flexibility. If I had something come up, I could easily move my time for school work to a earlier or later time. That way, I’m still working the set amount of time for school work but at my convenience.

I found that setting my phone on do not disturb was extremely beneficial for me. It was super easy to turn on do not disturb and place my phone out of my sight. This allowed me to get in the zone a lot easier. My only drawback to this strategy was that I still received notifications from my parents and bosses occasionally, which ultimately led to some small distractions.

Tracking

To set my specific intentions I used my calendar to create a time block for when I wanted to sit down and work on my assignments. This helps me plan out my day accordingly and gives me ample time to focus on my assignments. I’ll create my schedule the day before, so I have a better idea of what’s coming up and the best time for me to set aside for schoolwork. To keep track of my goal of turning in assignments one day before the due date, I’ll log all of my assignments throughout the week and note when I started it, the due date, and whether or not I turned it in one day before the due date.

When I start an assignment and put my phone on do not disturb, I tracked what assignment I’m working, when I started it, when it’s due and log whether I completed it one day before the due date. Additionally, I tracked my phone activity by monitoring how long my phone was on do not disturb and noting any times that I was on my phone and for how long.

Major takeaways

When you’re trying to balance school, work, and life, it can be hard to adjust to changes in your schedule. Learning how to adjust on the fly to these changes can be difficult to overcome. However, having a solid plan to work off makes it easier to adjust. Setting specific intentions is helpful when you have a million things going on as it gives you time to focus on one thing during a certain timespan. Working with intentions is a good way to keep my mind focused on one single task, rather than letting my mind wander and worry about other tasks that I need to get done.

Breaking habits such as checking on my phone regularly is hard to do but in the long run it’s extremely beneficial and gradually becomes easier as it becomes a new habit. I’ve learned that taking the first steps to eliminating distractions is identifying your distractions. I thought my phone was preventing me from accomplishing what I needed to get done in a timely manner. From there it’s figuring out a game plan to limit your distractions are necessary steps if you want to improve your focus. I have an extremely busy schedule so why should I waste time when I can spend my limited time on being productive? It’s impossible to get rid of these distractions entirely, but it’s helpful to tame these distractions to spend my time better.

While my goal for the semester didn’t go exactly to plan, I felt that I took a big step forward to being a productive student. Creating a schedule using the time blocking method was a huge help for setting aside time to get started on assignments early so that I could reach my goal of turning assignments in one day early. Creating a time block for schoolwork also helped me keep track of what assignments I needed to work on. I didn’t turn in every assignment in a day early, but I saw an increase in assignments turned in early compared to earlier in the semester.

Eliminating my phone as a distraction was one of the hardest things for me to do. Over the past few years I’ve become glued to my phone, but I’m happy to say that I made significant progress in minimizing the distractions caused by my phone. During this project I found that it was easier for me to get in the zone when my phone was on do not disturb mode. Eliminating the constant buzzing and glow from my phone screen helped me stay focused on completing my assignments.