The Rant
All students have an issue with studying regularly. It’s fucking hard. Why? Because we’re busy with our lives! Because college courses, even the ones we’re interested in, are dull and boring, ESPECIALLY when we’re out of class.
I am in a cross-functional course at SMG known only by its acronym, CORE. It is one course made of four courses. It is hell by design. I’m sure I’ll have more to say on this sometime in the future but for now all you need to know about these courses is that for me they are a means to an end. I have no inherent interest in them.
In short, I think that the way these courses are taught is inherently flawed (and I think the same is true of 99% of college courses). There are two-hour lectures back to back, 4-5 days a week, every week of the semester, from January to May. Many studies have shown that passive learning, listening to lectures, is one of the least effective ways to learn, and yet in order to get a decent grade I am forced to engage in this style of learning at least 16 hours a week during the semester.
So why bother showing up to class? Because after I miss two sessions I start to lose points off my grade. I want to do well so that I can get a good GPA and get what my parents paid for.
My challenge to myself is to attend every single lecture of CORE and after every class prepare myself for the next class by doing homework, reading (skimming) the textbook, and reading the upcoming lecture slides.
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| Interferon Injection |
The Method
In his book Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely has a chapter titled “The problem of procrastination and self-control.” This chapter is, in part, about how disciplined himself to take a very unpleasant medicine (Interferon) three days a week for a year and a half to cure himself of Hepatitis C. For those of you who don’t know, Interferon causes nausea, headaches, and fevers and has to be taken by self-injection to the thigh. For patients, this means self-inflicting yourself with extended periods of throwing up, feeling sick, and feeling tired as hell, multiple days a week, for a long long time. Dan got himself to consistently subject himself to this extended discomfort by watching movies. Right as he injected himself he hit the play button on the remote, laid back in his hammock (with his barf bucket nearby), and watched movies until he fell asleep. Essentially, he tricked himself into doing something that sucked by creating a mental association with something he liked. By only watching movies on days he gave himself injections he began to anticipate taking an injection in order to experience the reward of watching a movie.
My plan is to apply Dan’s method of curing his Hepatitis C to my own studying and schoolwork. I love watching TV. Archer? Love it. Louie? Yep love it too. Reruns of The Office that I’ve seen 20 times already? Can’t. Get. Enough. So, starting next Monday, and continuing for the rest of the semester I intend to only watch TV directly after I have prepared myself for the upcoming class.
Wish me luck in the comments below! I’m gonna need it!
