helnastudies:

Today, we are going to talk about all those little nasty things that can pick our attention and ambition from that great deal of homework and make us absent untill sunset. 

It is an incredibly frustrating feeling. You are all set up by your table with books and pretty pens and music on your phone….aaaaaand its midnight and you have done actually nothing. What have gone wrong? WHYYYY???

There is no magic, no time thief, no aliens to make you angry with yourself. You are infested with little nasty things, bugs of distraction.

here they are dangerous, spreading ineffectiveness and procrastination. I will tell you everything about them and how to get rid of them. Lets start.

1.  Your body. It can actually be superbably distractive. Iching feet, dry skin, uneven lenses, headaches, amirite? Yeah. But the most uneasy are hunger and thirst. 

• Problem: Walking out of your room every 5 minutes for a cup of water is a good excuseand a goot opportunity to never ever finish that math problem.

Solution: get yourself a decent bottle of water. No, a cute pretty bottle you have is a no-no. Its damn small. A decent means a 1L bottle at least. Go big or go home. 

• Problem: a healthy snack is not the best idea either. You’ll eat in 1st 5 min, and then will go to get more. Or will be even hungrier. This horrible surgery math chapter is not reading itself, you know. 

Solution: Get yourself a minty gum. It will clear your mind, as well as your breath. Also, its proven, that chewing the same flavour gum at home and at a test helps you remember information better. 

A little addition from me as a doctor. The gum cheving habit gets rid of other mind bug most of us have – neurous instability. The same stuff all those fidget spinners are made for. I bet everyone experienced a leg -shaking or pen-shaking experience which annoys teachers as well as your classmates. A simple solution is a piece of gum. It awakes that good old reflex of sucking on your mother’s nipple which is a very very comforting action for everyone. Its in our nature. It also kills the feeling of hungry. No more unscheduled night chocolate! No more getting outta shape just because your studies are more important than your appearance.

• Problem: Your hair. It swooshes around. It falls. It tickles your ears and face. You are constantly touching it trying to make yourself some space to read. As as you touch it its getting greasier and dirtier. Ewwwww.

Solution: get yourself a rubber band, or a hair tie, a couple of hair clips or whatever you have. You will feel instantly much free.

• Problem: miscellaneous things around your face. OMG, is that a pimple? Oh and your nails are not in the best shape too!

Solution: lock away your mirror, nail scissors and pliers. They will get you away for hours and hours of grooming. It can be done later!

2.  Technology – A blessing and a curse of humanity, it made it extremely easier to get information, but beware of its beauty! It suck us in like a pretty siren whose sweet song made poor saillors go drown. 

• Problem: phone. It’s always near, clicking, ringing, providing tons of enjoyful activities at the tip of your finger. Temptating, isnt it? Even if there is no internet, you can simply slide between your selfies choosing the best one.

Solution: get it away. Put it in the other room. lock it in a drawer. put it in the closet, somewhere you can not see it. Turn of sound and get it away. 

What? Oh, you gotta question and you need to find the answer? get yourself a piece of paper and write it there. You ll learn it later, especially if its a question if there were wigs for Barbie dolls.

•  Problem: computer. this little bastard can be tricky. You have some books there, slides and stuff, but you keep playing minesweeper or refreshing your anti-virus? 

Solution: print it! Its the only option for me and you can always use recycled paper for those needs. Also its easier to read. 

• problem: Internet in general

Solution: find all your textbooks and slides, download them and now- go turn off that wi-fi router. I SAID TURN IT OFF!! you will find yourself a lot less distracted.

3. Enviroment. Its going dirty and polluted, but also might be a huge bug, being right around you.

• Problem: noise. That thing is complicated. You can not get rid of all your relatives, little siblings, roommates or cars outside. But you can make them less noiticiable. 

Solution: White noise is a good decision, and it may vary accordingly to your taste. Some people prefer some monotonous sounds like ocean or nature, some like ambiance, lo-fi or classical music. 

Its scientifically proven that Mozart’s music stimulates our brain and makes it work faster.  Here is the link to my soundcloud collection of Mozart’s compositions Mozart Daily

As for me, I prefer listening to Psaltyr, A read book of prayers and psalms with a little addition of russian orthodox church music. It goes in ancient slavic so it doesnt really distract, as it is not really understandable. It also get me in a sort of a spiritual way, and it might as well work for you, as it has a very calming effect on the nervous system. Here is a link on Youtube Psaltyr (i couldn’t find one on soundcloud, sorry)

• Problem: climate. Sitting in front of a window is a constant battle between freezing and sweating.

Solution: Our brain doest work when there is too little oxygen around. Open your window, make you body breathe. Also get a blanket, you dont want to get cold, do you? “Keep your feet warm, your head cold, and your stomach empty” – said a famous russian battle commander once. I guess, he’s right!

• Problem: window view. Oh, how many pigeons are there again? And what is that red thing in the neighbour’s window? 

Solution: pull your blinds, close your curtains. Stop counting on birds and stray cats, and that peculiar trek of a paper bag on the street has nothing to do with your hometask.

 Well, all right. Now you are all set and ready to start. 

I hope this post will be any helpful to you. See you soon!