Matt’s Blog

“Doing something worthwhile creates its own motivation.”
-Duane Alan Hahn

Students tell me all the time that they “just can’t get motivated to do their math homework.” I get it. For a lot of kids, doing math homework is torture. It’s either too hard, or too boring, too complicated an assignment, or too easy….. or just not as exciting as a round of Halo 3 or answering the nagging MSN message in your chat box. And that can sink motivation to record lows.

But there’s an assumption here. And the assumption is simple: Motivation Precedes Action. We often think that we can only get something done if we want to do it first. In my experience, this view is overly simplistic. It is true that when motivation is low, we don’t do much. It’s also true that as we do less and less action, motivation falls even further, which in turn reduces the work we do. This low-action/low-motivation feedback loop is a trap many students fall into.

But it is a trap. Because the other side of this cycle can provide students with a great deal of leverage. It’s difficult to affect motivation directly. But it’s easy to do an action. Just the pick the smallest possible action you can that’s related to your goal (getting your math book out, turning on the computer, e-mailing a friend for the homework) and do it. It’s possible that this small action will create a little motivation (just a smidge). And if you’re able to use that motivation to motivate your next small action, you might find your motivation gradually increasing, which will motivate new action, which might help you become more motivated!

Next thing you know, you’ll have a major accomplishment under your belt.

So try it: pick an action, right now, that will take you one small step towards a goal of yours. It should be the smallest possible step you could take. And then do it, right now, if you can. Afterwards, see how you feel. More motivated then before? Did you do a little more than you set out to?

If you’re willing, please share your experience in the comments. The more we share, the more we know

Jessy, Sarah, and I have just come back from the meetings of the American Psychological Association. What a trip!

Highlights included:

• Meeting Dr. David Burns, my CBT hero! He was speaking about Albert Ellis, who just died at 93. Afterwards, Jess and I nervously approached him for a little small talk. He was very nice, and we talked about his upcoming visit to Vancouver, which I highly recommend.
• A great talk on the adolescent brain by Ronald E. Dahl of The University of Pittsburg. What I loved about this talk was the idea that small biological changes could spiral upwards or downwards into big behavioral changes. For example, teens need slightly more sleep, and their circadian rhythm is slightly behind the rhythm of adults. Before electricity, this was a non-issue - kids would naturally still fall asleep around the same time as adults because there was nothing else to do. Nowadays, MSN, homework and lights mean the night is a time for being and doing. The result of that? Sleepy teens, who fall further and further behind in their sleep because of early school starts. Small biological change –> big behavioral change.

As Provincial Exams begin, it’s really important to keep a cool head and a calm mind. So here’s a few of my suggestions for how to take a realistic, productive approach to provincial preperation.

1. Remember, it’s just an exam. It’s just a mark. It’s not a reflection of who you are as a person, what you contribute to society, your career goals, your non-academic abilities, what you had for breakfast….. none of that - it’s just a snapshot of a single area (like math or english), at a single time. You wouldn’t panic if you didn’t like your looks in a single picture, would you?  No way!  Likewise, a single mark isn’t going to define you as a student.  A low provincial mark doesn’t invalidate that great essay you wrote in second term; and a high provincial mark doesn’t excuse tuning out in class. It’s just an exam.
2. Break your studying up into chunks. Trying to master a year’s worth of curriculum is intimidating and almost always leads to procrastination! The only way to do such a large amount of work, ironically, is to find a way to have less work to do. Let me explain: the bigger the task, the harder it is to begin it. By breaking your task down to a small manageable chunks, you can always make progress - just do the first chunk. You can’t tell yourself “oh, there’s so much to do, I couldn’t start right now” if you only have one small thing to do! Of course, once you’ve finished that one thing, you might decide to do the next thing. Or not. Either way, you’re further along than if you had put it off until tomorrow. So go do something small…. right now. Go!
3. Teach a friend. Learn from a friend. One of the most effective studying techniques is to teach someone else (or be taught by someone else). You may be thinking “okay, great idea in theory, but I don’t know the stuff well enough to teach it.”  Possibly true; however, just the act of trying to explain the concepts to another person will make it immediately clear what you know and don’t know.  Your friend isn’t going to think you’re stupid because you can’t explain it perfectly; they understand that you’re working on the course too.  In fact, they may know things you don’t know, and between the two of you, you might just be able to figure out the tricky parts. So, right now, pick up the phone, call a friend, and invite them for a study date.

Most of all, the key to Provincial Exam success is taking the task seriously (which means knowing what you know, putting in the time and seeking help), while keeping the consequences of the task in perspective (they’re usually not that big, and  even if university admittance is on the line, or failing the course, remember there’s always a Plan B. Always.)

What are your tips? Post a comment, and let us know what you do to keep your mind clear during this crazy time of year.