Why Can’t We Be More Productive With Matcha? – The Problems of Studying Today

My Experience

A few weeks ago, I sat in a small coffee shop with a banana cinnamon roll matcha with the goal of completing three weeks’ worth of work, and proceeded to spend half an hour downloading a study template I found on TikTok that I spent another hour trying to figure out. After failing to find half the functions it needed to even serve as a semi-coherent planner, I convinced myself it was too complicated to figure out and that the columns weren’t even colour-coordinated, so what was the point? Therefore, I spent another thirty minutes pasting my syllabus back onto Google Calendar which was mercifully easy to use and connected to my account. By then, the coffee shop announced closing and I had done nothing except move my philosophy lecture from pink to purple. 

This is under no intention a PSA against aesthetic study planners or fun-drink coffee spots, but as I left the shop feeling utterly useless and unmotivated for my first semester of university (ever!), I was hit with the epiphany that trying to create the ‘perfect’ study system had become a harmful crutch for me instead of a motivating factor all these years. Throughout my high school years, my drive to study has always been fueled by the latest flashcard website or an hour-long study-with-me involving a desk setup that looked like Muji on steroids. Sure, I had ambitions about where I wanted to be in life and the fear of unemployment in the future economy, but it never offered the in-moment motivation I so needed. It would sit in the back of my mind as a constant hum of fear that only arose within eight hours of whatever deadline I procrastinated, but only the idea of studying got me to my desk. You’ve seen it – elaborate drinks in mason jars, spotless iPads, rain sounds – the movement that had colonised the social media of ambition students alike.

passion or obsession?

As I sat with the realization I had after that disastrous ‘study session’, I wanted to understand why – why do we devote so much of our time ornamenting our work, to the point where it overtakes the necessary components? A Brazilian research study done on the passion for studies and procrastination during the Covid-19 pandemic broke it into a concept – the dualistic model of passion. To begin with, passion can be defined as “an individual’s predisposition to perform activities that he/she values, appreciates and in which he/she invests time and energy” (Peixoto et al., 2021). They then broke it down into two sections: harmonious passion (HP) and obsessive passion (OP). In HP, we voluntarily participate – think of your hobbies, the people you love, your cherished memories – these all make up what you consider harmonious passion and are relatively easy to do. On the contrary, OP is exactly that – obsessive. You have an irresistible urge to do it even when you’re not able to. Your self-worth and esteem are reliant on your success in the activity.  

Looking back on my failed endeavors of cafes over deadlines, this concept made me realize that studying was, in some twisted way, a passion. I had a predisposition in it – the motivation to make my parents proud, get a good job, make something of myself – and I was doing the best I can to make it appeal before the feelings of anxiety and worthlessness that came with failure became the main reason I did it. The entire romanticization movement was merely our attempt to turn studying from an obsessive passion into a harmonious passion and the frustration that we feel when it delays the process is the fear of not doing it well enough in the end.  

While there isn’t a miracle fix that will lessen the feelings of anxiety that come with doing something you care so much about or a way to turn out uber-productive cram sessions with a 100% success rate, it’s a comfort to know that you still have the goal in mind. We so often begin tasks with the bar set so high that any misstep sends it toppling – such as not colour-coordinating the notes for that class or insisting on the perfect atmosphere. With such an influential platform of social media serving as wide-spread inspiration and education for a generation that has record-high expectations, it’s easy to get lost in the unrealistic demand of aesthetic studying. The process is meant to be messy and imperfect, whatever works you may not work for everybody else.  

So, whenever you’re feeling bad about another futile study hack or a deadline you procrastinate, allow yourself to recognize that the desire to do well in school is still very much in the back of your mind. While it’s important to adjust and streamline your methods so that you’re able to work in a comfortable and efficient manner, it’s equally important to acknowledge that your brain is constantly trying to find ways of making whatever you’re learning an appealing activity. While I’ve now refused to colour-coordinate my notes or use an app that takes more than five minutes to find the time icon, I’m excited to find new study spots and cannot wait for my next highly caffeinated cafe-crawl. I’ve allowed myself to accept the fact that I have the desire to work hard and do well and give myself the space to enjoy the process. So, put trust in yourself that you have the capabilities of a diligent student and find the little things that make you look forward to putting pen to paper.  

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