Setting A Timer Might Be Ruining Your Studying

[Music] It's just at Starbucks the other day studying away and I did something I've never done before. What I usually do when I want to get in the zone is I set a timer for about 20 to 40 minutes. When that timer is done, I can take a break and, you know, walk around, order another coffee, or whatever.

But this time, what I did is, instead of setting a timer which counts down, I set a stopwatch which counts up. So once I hit start, I plug my headphones in, played my sacred Productivity playlist, had my caffeinated beverage, coffee right next to me, and I went at it knowing that that number on the stopwatch continually counting up represented pure, unadulterated productivity.

Whenever I felt like there is the slightest drop in productivity or was feeling a little bit tired, I pressed stop on the stopwatch, took out my headphones, walked around, and did whatever. I took a very intentional break.

Anyways, I got a lot more done in this study session than I have in any study session in recent memory. But why? Initially, I thought that setting a stopwatch instead of a timer was kind of counterintuitive because you're not working for any set amount of time. It's not strict. So what's stopping me from taking a break after like two and a half minutes?

But surprisingly, that's not what I did, and I think it's because a timer counting up puts the exact opposite mentality towards productivity that a timer counting down does. Because when a timer is counting down, in the back of your head, you can't wait till that number hits zero because then you can take a break.

The thing that you're looking forward to is the break, whereas when you set a timer counting up, that number represents pure work. It represents your productivity, and the result of that is you kind of want to set a high score. The higher that number climbs, the more work you're getting done.

Another way of looking at it is that when you set a timer for like 20 minutes, it's something that you're kind of forced or required to do. You're forced to be productive, whereas when the timer is counting up, it's more like you're encouraged to be productive, and work seems like a more positive thing.

So that's it! Give it a try by using a stopwatch instead of a timer. You might find that you have a better attitude towards studying, you're more intentional about your breaks, and you're more productive in less time.

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