Why did he do this?

Well, scientific research suggests that when people engage in new activities time seems to slow down.

Danzico wanted to know if this was actually the case. So he set himself a challenge: each day for a year he would try something new and unusual.

So what did he find?

Time in fact slowed down.

After the year long experiment, he concluded –

“For generations, mothers have told their children not sit around and let life pass them by. The Time Hack was an effort to confront the time-honoured adage and demonstrate the science-backed benefits of making the most out of life. In short: Do more and your perception of life will change for the better. Get out the house and experience the world first-hand, put yourself in unusual and uncomfortable situations.”

And before you start thinking, “But hang on a minute, there are only 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour…you can’t change time!” let me make a distinction between two types of time: physical time and psychological time.

Physical time is the actual amount of time we have in our lives (i.e. 24 hours in a day) and this will never change.

Whereas psychological time is your perception of how long something takes. Several studies show that you can extend your perception of time in a number of ways such as engaging in new experiences like Danzico did.

It’s easy to understand the psychology of how your perception of time can be slowed down by thinking back to a time when you hurt yourself or experienced excruciating pain. Perhaps you broke your leg, slammed your finger in a car door or had a splitting migraine. Did it feel like time stood still or dragged? Most likely.

When you’re in pain you perceive time to be longer than it actually is. The reason for this is that you focus in on the pain and have greater attentional focus on what’s happening in the here and now. In other words, you’re more mindful. That’s why everything seems to slow down.

The good news is that slamming your fingers in the car door isn’t the only way to expand your sense of psychological time. I’ve outlined a few other healthier and less painful ways below.

Do new things

There’s really no reason why you can’t try something new and different each day. If you look at the different activities Danzico did as part of The Time Hack experiment you’ll quickly see that the only thing stopping you is your imagination.

Ask yourself this–

“What can I do differently today?”

There is an infinite number of possibilities: make something different for dinner, take a different route to school or work, have a conversation with someone you usually wouldn’t, etc. You don’t even need much money (if any) to do most of these things. A lot of the activities Danzico engaged in (e.g. creating and tossing a message in a bottle, having dinner with an Iraqi refugee and learning to moonwalk) cost next to nothing.

Be in the moment

Do you often find yourself thinking about the future or the past? Or perhaps you find that you frequently break or spill things because you weren’t paying full attention or were thinking about something else? Do you tend to forget a persons name as soon as you’ve been told it?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, consider that most of the time you’re not in the present moment. You may be living life on automatic pilot, which means you experience life in a mindless, rushed and frenzied way.

If you’re sick of experiencing life like this, you may want to take up mindfulness training. Mindfulness is defined as being aware of what is going on around you (internally and externally) in the present moment in a non judgmental way.

As the authors of the journal article “If money doesn’t make you happy, consider time” state –

“One possible benefit of being present-focused is that thinking about the present moment vs the future slows down the passage of time, allowing people to feel less rushed and hurried”

Breathe Deeply

It’s firmly established that breathing deeply can help us to de-stress, but recently it’s also been shown that it can help us to expand our time.

In an experiment by Rudd and Aaker, one group of participants were told to take long and slow breaths, whilst another group took short and quick breaths for 5 minutes. The participants who breathed more deeply felt that they had more time to get things done and felt that their days were longer too.

So next time you find yourself feeling stressed out and rushed, remember that you have a choice in the matter. You can extend your perception of time through using a range of simple strategies: trying new experiences, breathing deeply and by being in the here and now.

Many people I work with have a black and white view when it comes to drawing. They think they either can or can’t draw.

For this reason, teaching any form of visual note-taking to students, such as mind mapping, is often accompanied with loud groans and much resistance.

“My teacher already taught me this”, “Oh no, anything but mind mapping!” and “I can’t draw for *#$%!” they say with distressed looks on their faces.

What students often fail to realise is this – you don’t need to be good at drawing to take visual notes. All you can manage are stick figures? Stress less. This is actually a great place to start.

Here’s the thing: any picture is better than no picture when it comes to taking notes. Why? Well, research demonstrates that students that draw pictures when they learn retain 30% more information than students that don’t draw pictures.

So you can relax. Your pictures don’t need to be perfect. As long as you can understand them that’s all that matters.

Which means that even simple, rough pictures are fine. But if you’re not satisfied with your stick figures, the good news is you can improve your drawings and it doesn’t have to take you years of hard work and practice.

Don’t get me wrong, practice can make you really good at pretty much anything (drawing included). Take my friend Sharon for example. She’s been drawing since the age of 3 and slogged away at art school and as a children’s illustrator for many years. Now, she whips out fun, little drawings at amazing speeds with ease whilst watching television. She regularly reminds me –

“The more you draw, the better you’ll get”.

But let’s say you want to improve your drawing skills and don’t have years to devote to this activity like my friend Sharon did. How can you fast track your drawing skills and take them to the next level?

There are some amazing resources out there that show you how to draw the basics and the basics are all you really need if your taking visual notes for subjects like law, psychology, environmental science or history.

So if you’re keen to progress from drawing stick figures, I highly recommend exploring the following useful resources –

Make a world by Ed Emberley: This classic book shows you how to draw almost anything in a number of simple steps. Ed Emberley states that if you can draw some basic shapes (e.g. a triangle, circle and square) then you have what it takes to draw all the pictures in his book (and there are dozens) – horses jumping, Vikings, pirate flags, camels, etc.

Austin Kleon’s Blog: Austin Kleon is a poet with a difference (he takes newspaper articles and blacks out the words he doesn’t want with a thick black marker to create his poems). He’s also an awesome visual note taker to boot. He has taken visual notes for conferences and written several blog posts on visual note-taking. Check out a collection of his blog posts on this topic here.

Visual Note Taking 101: A group of visual note-taking gurus (Austin Kleon, Mike Rohde, Sunni Brown and Dave Gray) spoke at a conference on the basics of visual note-taking. The audio was recorded, synced with the slides they used on the day and uploaded online. Whilst it’s a bit slow to get into and a fair bit is lost by not being able to see these people speak, there is gold in this 58 minute session. It’s well worth seeing samples of their visual notes and hearing their tips.

Whether it was a teacher or a school student that told you couldn’t draw, you shouldn’t let those conversations stop you from taking visual notes in your classes. It’s actually a lot of fun. And what we know from the psychology of learning is that:

Fun = Greater understanding + retention of information = Better grades

Have you ever found yourself in a trance like state wasting hours browsing meaningless websites?

If so, you experienced being “screen sucked”.

The term “screensucking” was created by medical doctor and author of the book “CrazyBusy”, Edward Hallowell. He defines screensucking as –

“Wasting time engaging with any screen – for instance, computer, video game, television and BlackBerry”

He goes onto state -

“Held by a mysterious force, a person can sit long after the work has been done or the show he wanted to watch is over, absently glommed on to the screen, not especially enjoying what he is doing but not able to disconnect and turn off the machine.”

The thing about screensucking is that we are largely unaware of the amount of time we spend doing it. We sit at our desks in front of our computers and have a tendency to collapse our mindless browsing with actually doing productive work. By “productive work” I mean the stuff that will actually bring you closer towards achieving the things you want in life.

It wasn’t until I actually tracked my time that I realised that I was wasting hours of my day getting screensucked.

Here’s the thing – your time is finite. It’s your most precious resource and it’s non renewable, meaning once it’s gone, it’s gone for good. You’re never going to get it back.

Once you realise that you’ve been spending a significant chunk of your life doing things that aren’t that important to you (i.e. screensucking), you can’t help but feel a little pathetic and want to change things.

The beauty about the concept of “screensucking” is that once you’re aware that every time you turn on the TV or computer you can be screensucked you have some control at that point. As Edward Hallowell states –

“It’s similar to drinking alcohol: Once you start, you need to be careful how much you consume. Insight can lead to moderation”

Sure, insight and awareness can make a huge difference but often we need other structures and strategies in place to help us change our behaviour.

Below I have outlined some strategies you can use to avoid being screensucked.

1. Set limits and stick to them

Before you turn on your television or computer, decide on a period of time that you are willing to spend engaged in this activity. Grab an electronic timer and set the timer for this amount of time. Then tell yourself that when the alarm goes off, that’s it, time out. At this point, you need to step away from the computer.

2. What else could you be doing?

Often when we are bored and restless we tend to do one of two things –

1. Shop
2. Go on the computer or turn on the TV

These activities give us a sense of purpose and are easy ways to avoid the discomfort of feeling bored and pass the time. But the reality is, both of these activities are not likely to get you to the places you want to go in life.

Most people go through life on automatic pilot and never really ask themselves the questions –

Spend some time, even if it’s just 5 minutes, reflecting on these questions. Getting clear on the things we value in life can help us to see inconsistencies in our lives and bridge the gap between what we say is important and what we actually do.

The last thing you want to do is end up joining the socks and sandal brigade full of regrets (“I wish I had spent less time on Facebook in my younger years!”). Make sure you use your time to do the things that matter most to you.

3. Work with a pen and paper

Work in an environment that doesn’t allow you to be screensucked. Leave your mobile and laptop at home and head to a café or quiet library with a pad of paper and pen for a writing or planning session.

Note: I actually wrote this blog post with a pen and paper far away from my computer screen. It took me about 25 minutes to write. It probably would have taken me twice as long to write if I had been at the computer and plagued by screensuckers ugly relative – Uncle Multitask.

4. Have a technology (screen) free day in your week

Think of the last time you couldn’t find your mobile phone, what was your reaction? Slightly panicked? What about when you couldn’t connect to the internet? Did you feel a bit lost? Found yourself pacing around the house?

Many of us have become a little addicted to technology. Going online, checking our email and turning on the TV are ingrained habits like brushing our teeth.

But it can be liberating when you cut back on your screen time by taking a technology detox one day a week.

Don’t get me wrong, initially you may feel jittery and uncomfortable doing this. You may experience withdrawal symptoms. But everytime you feel like turning on a screen, take in a deep breath and tell yourself that this moment will pass.

5. How do you want to be remembered?

How do you want to look back on your life? As someone who spent a lot of their time updating their Facebook status? Superficially engaged in the virtual space? Or connecting with people face to face?

Spend a moment thinking about what you would like people to say about you when you die. Sounds a little morbid right? Not really. The point is for you to get clear on what you want your life to be about. Once you get clear on this, you can start to take action to live in line with what you truly value.

I know that I want to look back on my life and be able to say that I made the most of the short time I had on this planet. I think the following words of George Bernard Shaw sum up how we could all live if we didn’t spend so much time getting screensucked–

“I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no ‘brief candle’ to me. It is sort of a splendid torch which I have a hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it over to future generations”.

Now is the time to put these strategies to the test. Close down this webpage and turn off your computer. Make the most of this beautiful day.

A conversation I had with a friend last year nicely illustrates this point. We were discussing the year ahead and he said –

“This year is going to be better than last. This year I’m going to be fit and healthy. No more smoking!”

A moment later, he pulled out a cigarette, lit it up and took a puff.

Naturally, some of us have become cynical about new year’s resolutions. “They don’t work” and “Don’t waste your time with them” I hear my friends and family say.

But research findings indicate that we may have underestimated the power of new year’s resolutions. A longitudinal study by Norcross, Ratzin and Payne tracked over 200 people and the progress of their new year’s resolutions. They asked themselves the research question “How long would these people last in sticking to their new years resolutions?”

The results were impressive. Over 77% of participants had kept their main resolutions after 1 week, 55% after 1 month and 40% after 6 months.

This study also looked at the factors and strategies people used to stick to their new year’s resolutions and examined the effectiveness of each.

There appeared to be two main factors that predicted people’s success when it came to sticking to their goals. Firstly, people had to be ready to change and take action. Simply having a strong desire to change wasn’t enough. Secondly, they had to believe that they could. Having confidence in their ability to change their behaviour was key.

We can also look to people who have successfully overcome powerful addictions (e.g. alcoholism and smoking) for insights into how to break bad habits and develop healthier ones.

The researcher Glasgow and his team followed over 100 people who were trying to quit smoking. Those that managed to do so, used more positive self-talk than those that failed to quit.

For example, instead of saying positie statements such as “I’ll feel great and be able to breathe more easily”, they’d say “I’ll be a loser if I can’t quit the smokes”. Positive self talk appears to make a huge difference.

“Stimulus control” and “reinforcement management” are other psychobabble terms that are used to explain strategies that can help you to change your behaviour. According to behavioural psychologists, the surrounding environment shapes human behaviour.

In other words, if you have an endless supply of chocolates and lollies in your pantry, then most likely you’re going to eat them and may even develop a sugar addiction. Similarly, if your friends and family always offer you cake and chocolate and even praise you for eating these foods (i.e. reinforcement), then it’s highly likely you’re going to develop some bad habits.

The idea behind stimulus control is really quite simple. Look around and ask yourself “What is triggering me to eat chocolate?” (i.e. what’s the stimulus or trigger of the undesirable behaviour?) It may be the sight of the chocolate on your desk. So then what? Get rid of the chocolate. Throw it in the bin and don’t buy any more. Too easy.

But what about that big Aunt who always force feeds you her chocolates as a way of expressing her love, and gives you boxes of the stuff for Christmas? Well, according to behavioural psychology you need to manage the stimulus and reinforcer, which means Bye Bye Aunty. Stop seeing her.

But if you’re like me and you know you just couldn’t do that, this is where the power of impis come in.

Impis (short for implementation intentions) take the form of “If…then…” statements and allow you to make a desired behaviour automatic. For example, I could set myself the impi of –

If my aunt offers me chocolates, then I will politely say “No thanks”.

The beauty of impis is that they are pre-decisions. This means you have made the decision before the situation arises, so the next time you see your aunt you immediately know what you’ll say and do. “No thanks”.

Here’s the thing, I don’t smoke. I don’t drink alcohol. In fact, I’m pretty fit and healthy but I’m not going to pretend that my life is perfect because it isn’t.

Like most people, I want 2012 to be better than previous years. There’s room for improvement. I know that I spend more time than I would like on the internet. So I’m resolving to cut back on my internet use. No internet before 10:30am. Checking emails only twice a day.

In a nutshell, the research is clear – new year’s resolutions can and do work. Now is as good a time as any to establish some healthier habits for a happier year. So what are you setting out to create for the new year? Let me know by posting a comment below.

In fact, my advice is don’t just make mistakes. Aim for full-blown failure.

I realise this flies in the face of how most of us have come to view making mistakes and failure.

Most of us live by these equations –

Mistakes + Failure = Bad and Perfection = Good

Alina Tugend in her book “Better by Mistake” argues that we often get punished for making mistakes. As a result, many of us desperately try to cover up our mistakes and learn to avoid them at all costs.

Interestingly, when I look back on the periods of rapid development in my life it has never been due to someone telling me what a great job I’ve done or after receiving a really good grade.

My most important learnings have come from big fat failures and mistakes. The disappointment of failing on numerous occasions propelled me into action.

But I’m not a special case. There are many examples of famous people who have exceled in certain fields due to making a mistake or not being successful the first time round.

Take Michael Jordan as an example. He was cut from the high school basketball team for not being “skilled enough”. When reflecting back on that day (many years later) he stated –

“I went through the day numb. I sat through my classes. I had to wait until after school to go home. That’s when I hurried to my house and I closed the door of my room and I cried so hard. It was all I wanted – to play on that team.”

Here’s the really amazing thing though, he went onto state –

“It’s OK, though. It’s probably good that it happened.”

Jordan has a mindset that welcomes mistakes. He states -

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed”.

The hurt of losing and making mistakes is often a gift in disguise. “Although winning is sweet, and it hurts to lose, or make mistakes, once we see that these are necessary gifts on the road to improvement and success, we will embrace such experiences rather than try to avoid them” says Chess master and Tai chi champion John Waitzkin.

Why is that we don’t always learn from our mistakes?

It comes down to three main reasons –

1) No feedback: If you have no debriefing on how you went or the feedback doesn’t follow the behaviour in a timely fashion then it’s highly likely that you won’t understand where you went wrong. When this occurs it can be hard to make change because you simply don’t know how to move forward in the right direction and improve.

2) Rigid Mental Models: Humans have mental models (mental categories) that have developed from their past experiences. We often view the world in relation to these mental categories and try to fit in new information into these pre-existing mental models. The problem with having such rigid thinking is that it can be difficult to adjust and learn from one’s mistakes.

3) Cognitive Dissonance: Sometimes we resist admitting that we made a mistake due to cognitive dissonance (discomfort) experienced as a result of having conflicting ideas, beliefs and/or opinions. According to the theory of cognitive dissonance humans try to reduce this dissonance by either changing their attitudes, beliefs or actions.

For example, I know that eating fried crispy chicken is bad for me (belief) but I order a bucket of the greasy stuff from KFC (behaviour). Naturally, I feel guilty and uncomfortable about doing this (“Fried chicken is bad” I think) but in an attempt to avoid experiencing these negative emotions, I reduce the dissonance by modifying my belief. For instance, I could say to myself “I work hard and deserve to treat myself with some tasty chicken”.

In doing so, I miss the opportunity to admit that I made a mistake by eating the bucket of chicken in the first place.

So how can we best learn from our mistakes?

Firstly, get a coach. A coach or an expert can give you feedback and show you where and how you can improve. I am lucky to have a team of supervisors for my PhD research who give me ideas and feedback on how I can improve my thinking, writing and research skills.

Secondly, many research scholars believe that rigid patterns of thinking can be overcome through cultivating mindfulness (moment to moment non judgemental awareness).

We mustn’t let the fear of making mistakes stop us from learning and being all we can possibly be. After all, it’s mistakes that make us smarter and expand us. Not correct answers.

In her book “Mindfulness” Langer argues that from a young age we are taught to focus on goals rather than the process by which they are achieved.

With such an intense focus on achieving goals and high results you may have become locked in a certain way of thinking. “Mindless” is how Langer describes this state.

Instead of asking “How do I do this?” or “How can I do this?” you find yourself anxiously thinking “Can I do this?” and “What if I fail?”. The joy of learning ceases to exist.

It can be tough being a student in a highly competitive, results oriented school system. As Author and Educator Allison Zmuda states -

“In their efforts to do well in school, students have largely become low level bureaucrats who complete the requisite paperwork but suffer from the monotony of the experience”.

Sadly, this was the case for me. In high school I was a rote learning parrot. Bored out of my brain but extremely driven.

Did I care about whether I had a deep understanding of my subjects? No, not at all. All I wanted were gold stars, high percentages and the letter A on my work.

Then almost overnight everything changed.

I got 1 out of 20 on my first test at Law school.

That’s right. 1 out of 20. And boy, did that hurt.

High school had trained me to become a masterful rote learner, capable of churning out hundreds of abstract, sterile facts. But this skill no longer served me well in a system that required you to have a deep understanding of complex ideas.

In my heartbreak of receiving such a lousy mark, I remember asking myself –

“What is the point of going through another 5 years of study if it’s only for a piece of paper? Is there any point if I don’t enjoy myself and grow as a person?”

At that point I let go of my obsession with results. I became fascinated by the process of learning (eg. How does one learn information at a deep level?). For the first time in my life I started to enjoy learning. I mean really enjoy learning. Some subjects gave me such joy and changed my entire outlook on life.

10 years later, I am now doing my PhD. My uncle would call me a “professional student” but I don’t see it that way. I love learning.

I spend my days exploring original ideas that fascinate me. It’s common for me to stumble across an idea that makes me want to scream out with joy. I only wish it hadn’t taken me so long to arrive at this point.

When you shift your focus from results to the process, not only do you experience greater happiness and fulfilment, but you stop comparing yourself to others. I’m sure you’ve had the experience where you compared yourself to another person and subsequently, felt jealous.

Langer argues that often when we feel jealous of another’s accomplishments it’s because we focus on the end result (not the process the person has gone through).

When I first started my PhD I would compare myself to a 70 year old accomplished professor. I found myself thinking “He is so smart”, “Look at these articles he has written…I can’t write like this” and “His ideas are so deep…I’m so simple”.

Here I was embarking on the beginning of my research career comparing myself to a professor who had been developing and thinking about ideas for over 50 years!

This is indeed a trap that many postgraduate students fall into. Langer states –

“They begin their dissertations with inordinate anxiety because they have seen other peoples completed and polished work and mistakenly compare it to their own first tentative steps.

With their noses deep in file cards and half-baked hypotheses, they look in awe at Dr So-and-Sos published book as if it had been born without effort or false starts, directly from brain to printed page.

By investigating how someone got somewhere, we are more likely to see the achievement as hard won and our own chances as more plausible”.

In my experience, learning can be a tremendous source of fulfilment and joy. But to experience this takes valuing the process over the end result and not comparing yourself to others.

The paradox is that when you immerse yourself in the process, you will most likely get a better result and experience far more rewards along the way.

Are there any common elements that result in having a really good day at work, school or university?

Whether you get to the end of the day and say “What an awesomely productive day!” or “What a waste of a day” often comes down to a few factors that are within our personal control.

Based on empirical research, my own experience and some informal qualitative research conducted on Facebook, I have compiled a list of the core elements of an “awesome day”.

1. Have a good breakfast

A good breakfast sets you up for the day. Dietician and performance specialist Julie Meek discusses the importance of filling your body or tank full of the right petrol to get you through the day. She states –

“If you look at your day as a football game and divide it into quarters, you will be able to fuel your body with the right foods at the right time”.

So what constitutes a good breakfast? Julie Meek recommends high fibre cereals with low fat milk, fresh fruit, wholegrain toast with baked beans, spaghetti, tomato or egg, and yoghurt.

2. Have creative, focused work time

Reserve the hours when you are most alert and energised for the projects that require substantial energy and are most important to you.

I have the most energy first thing in the morning. By getting solid work done between 8:30am and 10:30am creates a positive tone for the rest of my day.

On the other hand, if I spend the first few hours of the day checking my email and on Facebook, I usually end up experiencing some low level frustration and annoyance for the rest of the day.

3. Shower first thing in the morning and suit up

Have you ever had the experience where you worked from home in your pyjamas or tracksuit pants for most of the day? Initially, it may have felt good, but by around 11am you may have felt a little uncomfortable and stressed. Your productivity may have also started to suffer.

When you don’t look and feel your best very rarely do you produce good quality work. Feeling clean and being in fresh neat clothes signals to your brain – it’s business time.

4. Exercise for 1 hour each day

Most of us don’t move as much as we need to during the day at work. Sadly, because we live such sedentary lives we may not know just how good post-exercise endorphin boosts can be.

Research shows that movement helps us to be more creative, learn more effectively and decreases our stress levels.

In the book, Teaching with the Brain in Mind, Eric Jensen states –

“30 minutes of vigorous exercise at least 3 times a week can contribute to enhanced mood, increased brain mass, better circulation, more brain cells and improved cognition”.

5. Focus on one thing at a time

People who multitask can be up to 40% slower to finish a task. As Leo Babauta states –

“When we switch between creating and communicating through email, say, we lose a little bit of our creative time, a little bit of our creative attention, each time we switch. Our mind must switch between modes, and that takes time. As a result, our creative processes are slowed and hurt, just a little, each time we switch”.

It takes time to develop the art of ninja style focus. Initially, you may need the help of a few extra tools such as internet blocker programs (e.g. Self Control and Freedom) but with time and practice, you will become less reliant on them.

6. Create a compelling, clutter free workspace

Being surrounded by clutter can send a message to your brain that you’re not in control. In fact, if you’re feeling even just a little bit stressed, clutter can exacerbate your stress levels tenfold!

If your work environment overwhelms you and doesn’t draw you to it, then you have a problem – you’re not going to want to work there. Chances are you’re not going to want to work at all.

So clean up your act. De-junk your life. In other words, get organised. As the authors of “Paper Flow” state–

“Having a well organised office provides you with a solid foundation and gives you the confidence to pursue your dreams…As each opportunity comes along, you can decide with a clear head what you want to do. You are free to take on new opportunities and you know when you’ve got enough on your plate”.

7. Do a variety of activities – writing, reading, de-cluttering

We’re all familiar with the saying “Variety is the spice of life”. Well, there is now scientific evidence to back this statement up. According to research, variety in our thoughts and behaviours appears to be very rewarding and stimulating and humans tend to “habituate more slowly to pleasurable stimuli that vary” (Chancellor & Lyubomirsky, 2010).

Even if you need to focus your energies on a particular piece of work, you can break it up by taking 10 to 20 minutes de-cluttering, skimming an article or making phone calls throughout the day. By mixing up your activities, it may also help you to go back to the project with a new perspective.

8. Take regular breaks

You are not a machine. Your body is not designed to work non stop being fuelled by sugar and caffeine. Taking regular breaks is essential.

Often when I work with students I show them a picture of Cathy Freeman and ask them “What does a sprinter do?” They respond with “They run…really fast”. “Then what do they do?” I ask, to which they usually say “They rest”. The students understand the idea that athletes use work-rest ratios to perform at their peak. Without that rest, they wouldn’t run as fast as they do.

Studying and working is no different. If you want to learn and/or work effectively you need to treat yourself like a word class athlete training for the Olympics – work intensely for a period of time (e.g. 30-45 minutes) and then rest and recover. Tony Schwartz from the energy project states -

Give yourself 100% to the race. There will be an end point where you can stop and recover”.

9. Stock up on healthy snacks

To avoid feeling low in energy, make sure you have plenty of healthy snacks available. Fresh fruit, nuts, chopped vegetables, rice crackers with cheese, fruit bread and a tub of low fat yoghurt require very little (if any) preparation and will give you the energy you need to keep going throughout the day.

Avoid highly processed junk foods because they will slow you down, make you feel sluggish and maybe even depressed in the long run. Research by Dr Felice Jacka suggests that people who eat junk food are more likely to be depressed. Whilst it is early days for this research and we cannot say whether depressed people are more likely to eat junk food or if junk food makes people depressed, it is worth considering that what we put in our mouths effects the way we feel as well as our ability to think and work effectively.

10. Focus your mind

In our fast paced, busy lives very rarely do we take time to stop and reflect or simply sit still. Taking 5-10 minutes first thing in the day to sit quietly and focus on your breath or the sounds around you can help you to quieten and focus your mind for the day. As Dr Ian Gawler says –

“The more we learn to give our full attention to whatever or whoever we are engaged with, the better everything flows”.

Final thoughts

Of course, the above list isn’t comprehensive. Other elements may include laughter (as a friend said “At least one opportunity a day to laugh about something – even if it’s just a chuckle to myself”), a good sleep the night before or power nap and a decent cup of coffee.

To begin, perhaps choose one or two of these awesome day elements to test out and see what kind of difference they make. You’ll be surprised that even minor changes such as eating more healthy snacks throughout the day can have a significant positive impact on your day.

We’ve all been stuck in the groan zone before and let’s face it, it’s an uncomfortable place to be. The good news is it doesn’t take much to get out of it.

The antidote to being stuck is action. Simple action steps.

I saw this clearly with my friend recently. My friend Brian has just completed his doctorate in ecology. For months he had been telling me –

“I need to do the corrections on my paper. Today I’ll do it….”

But every weekend, Brian found himself lifting weights, chopping wood in the garden or helping his dad build a fence. Meanwhile, the paper sat there. Listless.

I decided to confront Brian about his procrastination. Our conversation (the abridged version) went something like this -

Me: What’s going on? You keep avoiding doing these paper corrections

Brian: (Sheepish look on face) I know…I just don’t want to do it!

Brain was clearly stuck. So I then tried reverse psychology on him.

Me: Well, don’t do the paper then. Who cares about it anyway!

Brian: (In shock) No! I have to do the paper. It would be a complete waste if I don’t finish it!

(Brian then walked off to stoke fire and have a cup of tea)

Then last weekend (months after first declaring he had to finish this paper), Brian sat down at his computer and completed the corrections in less than an hour. He said to me –

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. As I started reading over my work, I realised my writing was pretty good and there wasn’t much to do”

Isn’t that always the case? Most of the time when we are stuck how we imagine something is going to be is usually far more painful than it actually turns out.

All it took for Brian to get those corrections done was to sit down at his desk, turn on his laptop, pick up his draft paper, read the first sentence, then the next sentence….

And that’s all that’s required to get out of the groan zone – being willing to take the next action step.

In the book “How to Get Things Done”, organisation expert David Allen argues that we often get stuck by failing to clarify the next action step on our projects. He explains -

“The next action step is the next physical, visible activity that needs to be engaged in, in order to move the current reality [project] toward completion. Some examples of next actions might be: Call Fred re tel. # for the garage he recommended, draft thoughts for the budget-meeting agenda, talk to Angela about filing system we need to set up…”

So taking the next step, however small it might be, is just what you might need to do to get unstuck and get moving in the areas that are most important to you.