As you may or may not know, Dr. Kelly and I have both gone back to school to work on advanced degrees and yes, this weekend I had homework. I read my textbook while watching t.v., which took an hour and a half longer than it should have. I created flashcards, but kept my Facebook page open, so I constantly went there to see what my friends were saying, or reading interesting articles that popped up. And all this time I had my cell phone nearby, so I was repeatedly interrupted by daughters who had questions or needed to borrow something and others reporting weather conditions and debating politics. Needless to say, I wasn't very efficient, I didn't retain a lot of information, and everything took forever. I would give myself a "C". I got most of the work done, but I didn't do it very well.
Here's what I should have done:
- Finished my reading before or after my favorite t.v. show, not during. I could have finished it in 1/3 the amount of time and remembered a lot more of what I read.
- Closed all of the other tabs on my computer while working on my flashcards. Yes, ALL of them.
- Turned my cell phone off or put it on the other side of the room so I wasn't tempted to check it constantly.
So parents, check to see not just if your child is doing his or her homework, but how they're doing it. And students, learn from my mistake. Next time you complain about how long your homework takes, think - is it the amount of homework, or the worker?
Do you have any suggestions for overcoming digital distractions? Share them below! It turns out that everyone - even Ms. Nan - could use a little help.
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