Day 171 of writing every day.
Studying every day is something that I’ve tried to do over the past two months. I’ve had days where it was a struggle to stay focused on learning and instead turned my attention to other tasks I could do that make me feel like I’ve accomplished something. The coaching session I received last week helped some and there’s an inherent challenge to learning alone at home with only one room.
I’ve read it before and may have even mentioned it in much earlier posts, but separation of work from home is like being able to switch gears mentally. In work mode you focus on work and can sustain the activity without the temptation to just walk out or switch to another screen. To achieve this effect, some people might have a home office where they do work, and their bedroom where they can just let loose and relax.
A one room apartment does not have that sort of luxury. I find the idea of having space truly can be transformative, especially if you have rooms specifically for different purposes. Perhaps that’s why so many kids go to cram school in Japan. Their homes just aren’t suitable as a study space and they’re unable to flip the switch to work mode while at home, so they go to a different place to study after school. I imagine that’s the trouble facing many low income students around the world who have access to school but don’t have an environment outside of school conducive to academics.
I’ve tried music with timers, but I think maybe it’s silence that helps me focus, or at least silence forces me to listen to my inner thoughts. City life just has no concept of a moment of silence especially with a hospital nearby and ambulances driving past late at night being normal. So what I think I’ll give a try going forward is to squeeze in a few minutes of shut eye and meditation when I feel myself getting distracted, but to hold myself accountable, have a timer in place to forcibly pull myself out of whatever I’m doing and refocus.
Thanks for reading!
One Chance Works 