Week+3+–+Procrastination+and+Memory

=[|Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects] =

=by Dr. Barbara Oakley, Dr. Terrence Sejnowski =

**1. Introduction to week 3 - Procrastination and memory** 3. Zombies everywhere 4. Surf's up: Process versus product 5. Harnessing your zombies to help you **6. Juggling life and learning** **7.** ** Summing up Procrastination **
 * building solid chunks takes time - it is not possible to form them in last minute
 * 2. Tackling procrastination - It's easier, and more valuable, than you think **
 * good learning is a bit by bit activity
 * willpower is hard to come by - it uses a lot of neural resources - you should not waste your willpower on fending procrastination
 * we procrastinate things that make us a little bit uncomfortable = pain centers in the brain light up -> you focus your attention to something more enjoyable -> feel better temporarily BUT the long term effects of habitual avoidance can be nasty BUT if you improve your abilities in this area many positive changes will gradually begin to unfold.
 * c hunking is related to habit - habit is an energy saver for us = allows to free our minds for other types of activities
 * habits have four parts: **1. The cue -** the trigger that launches you into zombie mood, **2. The routine -** zombie mood, the routine habitual response your brain is used to falling into when it receives the cue; **3. The reward =** habits develop and continue because it rewards us, immediate little feeling of pleasure. Finding ways to reward good habits is important for escaping procrastination; **4. The belief** = habits have power because your belief in them
 * mental tools and tricks to inspire and motivate learning: it is normal to have some negative feelings about beginning a learning session => **put aside your negative feelings** saying quite wasting time, you'll feel better soon
 * ** focus on process, not product - process =** the flow of the time and habits and actions associated with it, doing things in many short periods - product = outcome. Processes relate to simple habits which allow you to do the unpleasant tasks need to be done. Product thinking triggers the pain in the brain that causes you to procrastinate. Focusing on processes allow you back away from judging yourself, am I getting closer to finishing.
 * when a distraction arises (which it in inevitably will) you want to train yourself just let it flow by.
 * change your reaction to a cue - use your willpower for that
 * Cue - recognize what launches you into your procrastination mode - four categories: location, time, feelings, reactions - procrastination is an unaware habit (so it helps to close your phone and other disturbing things)
 * Routine - if you have bad habits, be aware of them and focus on rewiring them => have a plan: develop a new ritual (for example leave your phone always in the other room when you start a study session)
 * Reward - investigate why you are procrastinating? how can you substitute the reward you get from procrastination with some other, useful reward? Habits are powerful because they create neurological cravings, it helps to add a new reward if you want to overcome your previous cravings.
 * Belief - most important is to believe that you can change your procrastination habit, belief can get you through difficult moments when you want to fall back to old habits. Develop a new community = hang out with classmates eg.
 * weekly list of key tasks in planner journal and each the day a list about tasks you can reasonably work on or accomplish -> write this evening before, so it helps your subconscious to grapple tasks on the list, so you can figure out how you can accomplish them - **this habit frees your working memory to problem solving**
 * remember to keep most of tasks process oriented - mix different kinds of activities, like cleaning =>makes doing more enjoyable
 * planning your quitting time is as important as planing your working time
 * those who are committed maintain healthy leisure time along their hard work outperform those who doggedly pursue an endless treadmill
 * work on a most important and disliked work first at the morning
 * Keep a planner journal -> you can easely track when you reach your goals
 * commit yourself to certain kinds of routines and tasks each day
 * write down your tasks a day before so your brain has time to dwell on your goals and help ensure success
 * arrange your work into a series of small challenges
 * give rewards BUT deliberately delay the rewards until you finish the task
 * watch for the procrastination cues
 * Gain trust in your new system
 * have back up plans when you still procrastinate
 * **Eat your frogs first every day**

**8. Diving deeper into memory**

 * **Visual memory** - mind is build to retain (visual) general information about places = naturally super-sized visual spatial memorization abilities
 * tapping into visual memory = make very memorable visual image representing one key item you want to remember
 * images connect directly to **right brains visual spatial centers** -> an image helps you to encapsulate a hard to remember concept by tapping into visual areas with enhanced memory abilities - the more neural hooks, the easier the easier to recall the concept and what it means - the funnier and more evocative the image is the better
 * focusing into something activates the temporary working memory - moving it to the long term memory the idea must be **memorable** and it must be **repeated**
 * **sporadically repetition over several days** get that memorable item firmly lodged into long term memory
 * **handwriting** and saying aloud it (auditory hooks) seems to enhance retention - using index cards -
 * in sleep mind repeats patterns and pieces together solutions

**9. What is long term memory**
> occurs also during sleep,
 * ===[[image:lailabrocker/reconsolidation.png width="288" height="194" align="right"]]**hippocampus =** important part of brain system for learning an memory of facts and events===
 * **memory consolidation -** muistojen lujittaminen
 * whenever you recall a memory, it changes = reconsolidation, when we learn new thing our old memories also change,
 * **glial cells =** astrocyte = provide nutrients to neurons. maintain extra cellular ion balance, involved with repairing injury

10. Creating Meaningful Groups and the Memory Palace Technique

 * making a meaningful combination of the initial letters of the words you are trying to learn
 * associating numbers with memorable events or with numerical systems you are familiar with
 * memorable sentences (like old people in Texas eat spiders)
 * The memory palace technique = calling to mind a familiar place, using it as visual notepad where to deposit concepts you want to learn
 * memory tools speed up the acquisition of both chunks and big picture templates.
 * memory tricks allows to expand the working memory with easy access to long term memory
 * these techniques also increase the creativity

11. Summing up memory

 * long term memory - repeat and practice in order to store items
 * working memory - 4 items, when you master the concept it compacts the ideas so that they can occupy less space in the memory
 * visual and spatial memory
 * create meaningful groups that simplify the material

**Sanastoa**
abbreviation = lyhennys amnesic concussion = aivotärähdys consolidation = lujittaminen drudgery = raataminen funnel = kanavoida humdrum = tapahtumaköyhä nutrient = ravintoaine procrastination - viivyttely retention = säilyttäminen savor - nautiskele steep = kohtuuton tapping - käyttää hyväkseen (mm.)