Thursday, April 7, 2011

How To: Do Your Homework Faster

The Learned Skill

Wait a second... you can learn to do your homework better!?!  Do you like homework? Do you want to do it faster, but get caught on the boringness of it? Do you have trouble sitting still long enough to do it? These all have simple enough answers. Did you know that the educational careers of 25 to 40 percent of American children are in peril because they don't do their homeork quickly enough, or easily enough? I have compiled a list of tips to help you read better, and faster. I have found that some of them have helped me an enormous amount, and I hope they will help you too.

1. Book Stands

This is a tip I found while researching this week from Dr.Alex Birren. He swears this helped him cut his studying/reading/homework time down by a third when he was in school. Book stands, plain and simple. The idea is that you don't move the book, so you always know where you are. Also you won't spend thirty minutes trying to rub the kink out of your neck from when you were looking at the book. Finally you will be able to spend less time situating the book, and more time reading it. I haven't ever used one so I can't attest to their effectiveness.

2. Eliminate Distractions!

What exactly are distractions? Distractions are anything that takes your mind off of what you are supposed to be doing. A good list of common distractions are: Facebook, Ipods, Myspace, and cell phones. These are some of the most common distractions that anyone trying to do their homework in a timely manner should AVOID at all costs. They will keep you from getting your work done, and annoy you when you can't get back on because you have to do your homework. When I say Ipods I mean messing around with your Ipod, and playing games on it. I think that it is perfectly fine to listen to music that doesn't rile you up. Actually I am listening to Cinemix as I am writing this blog post for my creative writing teacher. It is a internet radio station that plays Soundtracks, and all around epic music. I find the epic music helps me do my work more quickly. It makes my work seem more important, and feel like I am saving the day time and time again. And remember, noisy environments can be EXTREMELY distracting so avoid them like the plague while doing homework.

3. Take breaks

Now I'm not saying that you have to sit down and do your homework all in one sitting. Actually on the contrary, I think you should take quick five minute breaks. This helps keep you from getting quickly bored with your next subject. I find that I do my work faster when I take breaks between subjects. However, be careful that your five minute breaks don't become fifteen minute or longer breaks. That would severely undermine any efforts to get your homework done in a timely manner.

4. You

Ultimately you are the only one who will end up deciding how fast your homework gets done. It is up to you not to get distracted. It is also up to you to decide how long your breaks will be, what music you listen to, and if you will procrastinate until the night before the assignment is due.  Only you can decide if it will take you an hour or four hours to do an assignment. I hope that you have found this article helpful. If you have any tips that you would like to let me know about contact me at thequintonator@gmail.com, leave me your name and comment, and I might use Your tip in one of my posts. You can also email me suggestions for future blog posts.

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