Studying, the dreaded practice. Final exam week is slowly creeping up on us at St. Bonaventure, and that means many late nights to finish up the never-ending trail of big assignments. As a practicing procrastinator, I get the stress. I, myself, have been struggling a bit more than usual to get in the mood to “lock in.” However, I have found a way to administer little spirts of activity to subvert this problem.
I like to think of me being unable to motivate myself to get things done as being “stuck in a mood.” Yes, figuratively, I can’t get myself out of my lazy attitude, but literally I view this laziness as being stuck in that space from that attitude. In short, I need to physically move away from that area where I am unmotivated to kickstart my drive to work.
Obviously, my room is a very “sticky” place, for lack of a better term. It is a place for rest and to unwind from academics. It is absolutely not a place conducive to motivation. The comfort of my bed calls to me when I am there, so I must go.
The Hickey
Go where? Well, I need some sustenance first to energize myself, so I stop at the dining hall, and so does my work. If I am not sitting with my friends in the dining hall, I am sitting with my computer out. Surprisingly, I have found this to be a great place to start my work. The buzz of everyone around me serves as a sort of white noise, and I have unlimited access to food to nibble on to curb my boredom. Ultimately, though, the motivation wears off and the productive mood I had cultivated sours, so to “unstick” myself, I head over to the academic building: the library.
Library
The top floor is for true isolation in the most desperate cases, the main floor for casual lock-ins, and the basement for group collaborations. When I am starting to lose production on one level, I just move to a different one. I am usually able to stay in a studious mood in the library for a long time. There are so many options for movement to shift the vibe you’re studying in. Want to be serious? Stick to the main floor great room with its high-back chairs and “dark academia” aesthetic. I think of this room specifically as the “judgement zone.” Since it is the first room you enter when coming into the library, everyone has to pass by you, so you don’t want to be caught slacking! Get to work!
However, if you prefer coziness, one of those coveted booths is prime real estate. I have found that coziness is not really conducive to being super concentrated, so I usually try to find a chair and table, or if I do get a booth, I get one of the small ones on the top floor that aren’t all that comfortable. No slacking off there!
The “Third Space”
But alas, my time in the library eventually needs to come to an end once it hits 5 o’clock. For some reason, I just can’t stay in the zone there past that time, so it’s time to move to…the “third space.” I say this because this next location always changes. Sometimes I end up at the cafe, other days I head to an academic building lounge (usually 2nd Plassman, or the 1st Amendment lounge in Murphy), and on the nicest days I sit outside as the day cools off. I’ll stay in this third location for an hour or two more to pull some last things together, but once it hits 7, I need a break! So, back to the dining hall for an uninterrupted dinner.
The Buddy System
If I am not done with everything post-dinner, I resign myself to go back to my room, or for an even better option, I head to a friend’s room to “parallel play.” This means you and your buddy both work on your separate things in the same space, with the understanding that you working diligently on your task is motivation for them to continue working on theirs. And when you both finish your tasks, you are already together to celebrate via unwinding with a movie night or daily debrief sesh. It’s a great way to end a long day of studying, in my opinion.