How I fought with time
Help: Hawthorne effect
Not so long ago I had the need to learn a new programming language for myself. Since this was my first experience of independent learning, without lectures and laboratory work (yes, I am just a student), it was quite interesting and informative to observe my own behavior, the learning process and the motivation to act. Often it happened so, you sit down at your native typewriter, you launch the IDE, and the mean subconscious whispers: “Take a break for a while, look at another series of House”. Or this: you take the thematic book in your hands, and there is some fantastic novel next to it on the shelf (“Fresh, the last topic of discussion at fandom”). Treacherously trembling hand and reaching for chewing gum for the brain.
During the week watching myself, I noted that the reason for such a reaction was not in the absence of proper motivation, but a habit driven from school: if no one is watching, then you can allow yourself to rest for a little longer and put things off for later. The situation was akin to a dead end: there was no one who could periodically “give a kick” to my conscience.
')
First of all, I tried to limit outside influence: I turned off ICQ and Jabber, closed the browser, simply removed everything that could have distracted it. An hour later, I felt moral fatigue. Yet, without some distracting relaxation aids, it was difficult to do.
Then I had to move in the opposite direction. It was necessary to find someone who would control my work. The first idea was a poster of Uncle Sam with the caption: “Why do not you work?”. This output had an effect, but not for long. The next day, the poster was perceived only as a fun part of the interior.
From the inanimate controller, it was decided to move towards society. In each IM, the status “I have to work ... Check me out!” Was set. Friends happily wondered how the work was going on, but nothing prevented them from lying or being distracted by easy conversation.
Desperate to find a useful and effective way, I decided to use myself as a controlling element. And for the control took a timer. And here a miracle happened. The controller, like a real hypnotist, introduced me to the state of “work!” From the beginning from the count to the conditional “time H”.
I will describe the method in stages:
What do these internal rules of the game with time:
Go to the store for a timer !!! (:
UPD. Good people supported the idea. Comrade dovg in his commentary gave a link to the timer , developed "based on" the article. Thank!
UPD2. Also, melfa pan in his comments shared a link to the timer under Mac OS Thank you!
UPD3. Browser timer model from Goodkat . Thank you too!
UPD4. Cross-platform version from Dixel . Thank!
PS Hawthorn studies have shown only that under the control of a person works much better.
PPS Transferred to the "Learn to Work" blog . Thanks to everyone who contributed to this (:
Not so long ago I had the need to learn a new programming language for myself. Since this was my first experience of independent learning, without lectures and laboratory work (yes, I am just a student), it was quite interesting and informative to observe my own behavior, the learning process and the motivation to act. Often it happened so, you sit down at your native typewriter, you launch the IDE, and the mean subconscious whispers: “Take a break for a while, look at another series of House”. Or this: you take the thematic book in your hands, and there is some fantastic novel next to it on the shelf (“Fresh, the last topic of discussion at fandom”). Treacherously trembling hand and reaching for chewing gum for the brain.
During the week watching myself, I noted that the reason for such a reaction was not in the absence of proper motivation, but a habit driven from school: if no one is watching, then you can allow yourself to rest for a little longer and put things off for later. The situation was akin to a dead end: there was no one who could periodically “give a kick” to my conscience.
')
What did I come up with?
First of all, I tried to limit outside influence: I turned off ICQ and Jabber, closed the browser, simply removed everything that could have distracted it. An hour later, I felt moral fatigue. Yet, without some distracting relaxation aids, it was difficult to do.
Then I had to move in the opposite direction. It was necessary to find someone who would control my work. The first idea was a poster of Uncle Sam with the caption: “Why do not you work?”. This output had an effect, but not for long. The next day, the poster was perceived only as a fun part of the interior.
From the inanimate controller, it was decided to move towards society. In each IM, the status “I have to work ... Check me out!” Was set. Friends happily wondered how the work was going on, but nothing prevented them from lying or being distracted by easy conversation.
Desperate to find a useful and effective way, I decided to use myself as a controlling element. And for the control took a timer. And here a miracle happened. The controller, like a real hypnotist, introduced me to the state of “work!” From the beginning from the count to the conditional “time H”.
I will describe the method in stages:
- 1. Experimentally determine our “working period”, i.e. the time you spend on a task. Denote it as T.
- 2. Set the timer to (T + T / 5) minutes. The extra T / 5 minutes is our reinsurance and at the same time (in case of early completion of the task) hack work, which is simply necessary for moral satisfaction.
- 3. Start the timer and work. The goal is not to allow yourself to be distracted until the value on the timer reaches zero. If you are distracted by employees, relatives, friends - defiantly stop the timer, succinctly and clearly respond to them, turn on the timer and continue to work. And penalize yourself for another 2 minutes in the next “period”.
- 4. And now the timer shows the treasured zeros. Rest ... But no more than 0.2 * (T + T / 5) .
What do these internal rules of the game with time:
- 1. The volume of work done increases significantly, since there is no unreasonable time fragmentation.
- 2. Growing self-confidence. Indeed, sometimes it seems that the solution of a specific task will take an extremely long time, but if you detect time and execute it, it turns out that the devil is not so bad ...
- 3. The task is carried out entirely and completely, which once again saves our time: it is not necessary to remember what I stopped at last time.
Go to the store for a timer !!! (:
UPD. Good people supported the idea. Comrade dovg in his commentary gave a link to the timer , developed "based on" the article. Thank!
UPD2. Also, melfa pan in his comments shared a link to the timer under Mac OS Thank you!
UPD3. Browser timer model from Goodkat . Thank you too!
UPD4. Cross-platform version from Dixel . Thank!
PS Hawthorn studies have shown only that under the control of a person works much better.
PPS Transferred to the "Learn to Work" blog . Thanks to everyone who contributed to this (:
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/44532/
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