I sat down last night to reflect on how I’d managed to not only survive but also have a very productive first Monday of the new academic year, a very busy day that I’d been quite anxious about on Sunday night. Three things jumped out:
Observe any resistance and discover your will to work – as I put pen to paper on various tasks – some mundane, others important – I felt resistance manifesting itself in all kinds of ways: “this is so boring!”, “this is such a headache”, “this is actually not that important so it can wait”, “this is too important to rush so I’ll do it another time”, and so on. The default reactions were the usual – reach for my phone, check my e-mail, go and talk to my family, grab a snack. It was at that point that I thought “do you really want to do these tasks or not?” It’s not as though anyone was forcing me (I am lucky in that sense…). When I decided that I did, and that that was precisely why I’d sat down at my desk with a mug of fresh coffee in the first place, it was revealing and striking how quickly the resistance evaporated and the default reactions melted away. I had discovered my “will to work” and it stayed with me all day.
Identify potential distractions and schedule break times instead – very much connected to the default reactions mentioned above, I found it vital to then identify exactly what those potential distractions were. Phone? Put it to charge and make sure it’s out of reach. E-mails? Minimise / hide the tab and turn off notifications. Family? Close the door and barricade it if necessary (toddlers don’t take a hint…). Snacks? You actually don’t need one now, because you had one just before you sat down… Snacks and drinks are perfect 5-10 minute activities to focus short break-times, which are very effective for maintaining concentration through a working day. But don’t let them interfere within your scheduled work periods.
Be strategic with your day – often I find myself plodding from one task to the next, based on the old-school principle that you should focus on one thing at a time and do it properly. Yes… but it makes sense also to be strategic, to have a handle on all the things that you need to do that day. Maybe you’ve 70%-prepared a lesson, but if you don’t move on now to task X, which is very important, then stress and / or failure will overshadow or derail your day later on. Be nimble, look at the whole chessboard and keep your eye on the whole journey through the day, not just the next hour. Planning is critical in this regard; but being able to rip up the plan and jump when required is even more crucial.
So how is this relevant to tutoring? Why should students be interested in my approach to my working day yesterday? Because I firmly believe that these three principles will stand every student (and tutor) in good stead over the new academic year ahead.
Of course they are no substitute for full academic immersion, honing your critical thinking skills, practising exam papers, understanding your subjects, the course and the syllabus. That is where we at BPT come in and our expert tutors can help you in lots of ways over the year ahead. Furthermore, we are also happy to mentor, inspire and discuss the more holistic aspects of approaching academic success, as touched upon here.
But really, most of it is down to you. Most of the work is done behind closed doors. And, ultimately, you will have the greatest say in whether you succeed in your studies and exams.
Good luck for the new academic year ahead!
All the best,
Robert and all the BPT tutors