Surf’s Up: Process versus Product

[BLANK_AUDIO]

One of the best ways of being effective in your learning is to use mental tools and tricks to inspire and
motivate yourself. First, when it comes to learning in general, you should realize that it's perfectly
normal to start with a few negative feelings about beginning a learning session. Even when it's a subject
you ordinary like, it's how you handle those feelings that matters. Researchers have found that non-
procrastinators put their negative thinking aside saying things to themselves like: quit wasting time and
just get on with it, once you get going, you'll feel better about it. If you find yourself avoiding certain
tasks because they make you feel uncomfortable, you should know there's another helpful way to re-
frame things. And that's to learn to focus on process not product.

Process means, the flow of time and the habits and actions associated with that flow of time. As in, I'm
going to spend 20 minutes working. Product is an outcome, for example, a homework assignment that
you need to finish. To prevent procrastination you want to avoid concentrating on product. Instead,
your attention should be on building processes. Processes relate to simple habits, habits that
coincidentally allow you to do the unpleasant tasks that need to be done. For example, let’s say you
don't like doing homework in a particular class. So you put off working on the homework. It's only five
questions you think. How hard could that be? Deep down, you realize that answering these five
questions could be a very lengthy job. It's easier to live in a fantasy world where the five questions, or
the ten page report or whatever, can be done at the last minute. Your challenge is to avoid focusing on
the product, the answers to the questions. The product is what triggers the pain that causes you to
procrastinate. Instead, you need to focus on the process or processes – the small chunks of time you
need over days or even weeks to answer the questions or prepare for tests. Who cares whether you
finish the homework or grasp the key concepts in any one session. The whole point instead, is that you
calmly put forth your best effort for a short period.

Now process. Notice how in this picture physicist and surfer Garret Lacy is focused on the moment. Not
on the accomplishment of having surfed that wave. For you, one of the easiest ways to focus on process
is to focus on doing a Pomodoro, a 25 minute timed work session, not on completing a task. The
essential idea here is that the zombie habitual part of your brain likes processes because it can march
mindlessly along. It's far easier to enlist the friendly zombie habit to help with a process, than to help
with a product. By focusing on process rather than product, you allow yourself to back away from
judging yourself, am I getting closer to finishing? And instead you allow yourself to relax into the flow of
the work. The key is when a distraction arises, which it inevitably will, you want to train yourself to just
let it flow by. Of course, setting yourself up so that distractions are minimal is also a very good idea.
Many students find that either a quiet space or noise canceling headphones if, if you can afford them,
can be helpful when they're really trying to concentrate.

I'm Barbara Oakley. Thanks for learning above learning. [BLANK_AUDIO]