Going into the summer I had one big question for myself. Even though it is summer how can I keep myself focused?
Asking google, I began to research different methods and articles to provide myself with background information. Most of the information I found provided me with the same response, to check with a doctor for concentration issues. Although that may be a solution, it wasn’t the one I was looking for. Spending time procrastinating happens to me a lot and to most teens. An american study proves that 70% of students exhibit this behavior of procrastination. Procrastination being a problem, I wanted to find out a solution that could best fit me and help me through my daily life as a student and a teen. All this reflection and research lead me to finding my solution. However, I stumbled upon an important quote. According to Dr. Piers Steel, author of The Procrastination Equation, “Aside From the cliché that students are more impulsive, in your early 20s you’re still developing your pre-frontal cortex, home of the will power.” After I read this, I began to think. One thought came to me, does this mean I am doomed to staying up late with the thought of just five more minutes on Facebook and then I could finish my homework, if not I got tomorrow morning there is no need to worry. The quote basically signifies that it is easier for us teenagers to fall under the temptation of taking a short break while working because we our still developing. We don’t come into the realization that this short break can be costing us the focus that we want to achieve and commit to, but simply cannot because our mind wanders elsewhere. Truthfully, for those who know me well, I tend to mind wander constantly. However, the majority of people tend to confuse mind wandering and zoning out. Believe it or not, a study done by a psychologist at UC Santa Barbara has discovered and research different ways to increase and decrease mind wandering. Nonetheless he states that when our minds wander, we tend to lose touch with the outside world. Although we don’t actually blank out, the tricky part though is that with our mind wandering elsewhere it reduces to chances to encode memories in our brain therefor causing a miss connection or a form of short term forgetfulness. While zoning out basically makes us prone to these errors of missing connections. A test was done to back up the effect of zoning out at the University of British Columbia. A group was tested to read a Sherlock Holmes mystery with a villain who used a pseudonym (a fictitious name). Only 30% of the people who zoned out at the important moments while discussing this could give the pseudonym of the villain. However 61 % percent of those who didn’t zone out at the important moments could provide the pseudonym of the villain. The solution I gained, was first formed by building the background portrait of my canvas, researching the problem of procrastination and focus. Then by keeping myself organized. For those who tend to travel a lot I bet organization can be a bit of an issue, well this summer I have tried to keep all my things organized as much as possible. However the main solution that has been helping me keep my focus intact is reading. While traveling a lot in Brazil for the world cup the past weeks I would find a time to read whenever I could, I found that while moving from one city to another I would always be reading. Either by plane or by car I would have my book with me. When I was younger I was obsessed with the Percy Jackson series, the only series I ever enjoyed to read. However after reading all the books I remembered that the last one hadn't come out yet so I decided to finish the book. Now that I am finally in San Francisco I am in the process of reading our summer book, Mindset. However, I still want to find another book that I would chose to read myself. My goal is to at least read 3 or more books this summer. I really feel like this is the solution to my focus because reading is one of the many ways to focus into something without getting distracted and missing those important concepts.
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BloggerMy name is Stefan Stangl and I am originally from San Francisco, California. Currently, I am senior at Colegio Franklin Delano Roosvelt in Lima, Peru. My passions are sports and art. Personal: @Stefan6 School: @fdrinnovationacademy ♫Tweet me ♫
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June 2015
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