Mental Toughness #3

After reading about Terry Orlick and his "distraction control plan", I realized all of the distractions I have while studying or doing any activity. For one, my cellular device, my iPhone. An iPhone is a pretty neat tools, and it houses everything in the world that could be on a list of distractions. One being social networks. FaceBook, Instagram, Twitter; all of which are very entertaining and highly distractive. Next, communication with family and friends. When I can hear my phone vibrate from a text message or phone call, I get sidetracked. Besides my cell phone, another distraction is food. Might sound silly, but when I get hungry while studying, it can be extremely distracting. Also, since I have come to college and I have constant access to friends just right down the hall, in person contact can definitely take away from my focus. The hard part is finding a solution, however, it can be handled. Testing out Orlick's "distraction control plan", I gave myself some goals. First, while working on homework I need to have my phone set away from me at all times that way it cannot control my focus. Next, let my friends know that I can only hang out after I get my homework done or tell them they can do homework with me as a "study group" sort of set-up. These sound relatively boring and straight forward. What is a way to spice things up? Rewards! Splitting homework/study time into sections and treating yourself with a reward after each one. My personal rewards will most likely be some sort of food treat if I'm hungry or getting to use my phone for a period of time after each section. Putting it to the test: tonight while completing my blogs and other homework I chose to test the control plan. I was pretty successful in most aspects of staying focused. I stashed my phone away and didn't look at it once while working and I treated myself with some cookies after I finished my Anatomy homework. One part in which I lacked focus; when my friends came around. We all had homework to do, so you would think we would remain focused. All of us, besides one. One of my friends would not stop talking. I tried my best to tune her out, but it was difficult at times. However, the "distraction control plan" helped me get through the majority of my homework with efficiency and ease.