Greg: Back in the 1800s, murderers sometimes used a chemical called arsenic.
Arsenic can kill a person in one day—and it’s not a very pleasant way to go.
One day in 1875 two men ate a large amount of arsenic in front of an audience.
The men should have died!
But to everyone's surprise, the men came back the next day, seemingly as healthy as can
be.
How could it have happened?
How can something so harmful appear to do no damage?
Barbara: We’ll get to the answer soon.
Meanwhile, I’m going to show you how a tomato can help you learn better.
Sound nutty?
Stay with us!
In this video, we’re going to talk about an idea called procrastination.
Procrastination means putting things off until later.
Like when you know you have a big test on Friday, but you procrastinate all week and
don’t study for it until Thursday night.
Terry: Why do you procrastinate?
When I procrastinate it feels like something is hanging over my head.
It's actually in my head.
When something really bad happens to you, a part of your brain called the insular cortex
fires up.
Tucked away, under your skull around here (point), the insula is activated when you're
feeling pain and when you’re emotionally hurting.
The insula is closely connected to your body—that's why it's a gut feeling.
Guess what?
The insula also fires up when you’re just thinking about something you don't want to
do.
But it happily settles down once you get to work on the task you were avoiding.
And you will feel a lot better, as your insula gives up its grip on you.
Greg: So, one of the best tips to becoming a great learner is to just get going.
Don’t put your work off.
You’re thinking, “But how can I settle down and just get working?”
The solution…….yes, it’s a tomato!
5 Barbara: In the 1980s, Italian Francesco Cirillo
devised the Pomodoro Technique to help procrastinators.
Pomodoro means “tomato” in Italian.
Cirillo developed a tomato-shaped timer, like this one.
Cirillo’s technique is very simple—all it needs is a timer.
A tomato-shaped timer like Cirillo’s is really nice, but any timer will do.
I often use a digital timer that I’ve downloaded to my computer.
There are also Pomodoro apps that people like to use—the “Forest” app is especially
popular.
Here’s how to do a “Pomodoro”: 1.
First, as much as you can, shut off all distractions—the television, your phone, your little brother.
You want to be able to focus as intently as you can without being interrupted.
2.
Set your Pomodoro timer for 25 minutes.
3.
Start working—focus as intently as you can.
25 minutes of focus is doable!
4.
Greg: Here comes the best—and most important—part.
When the 25 minutes is done, reward yourself.
How?
You can listen to your favorite song—even move to it!
Or play a video game.
Maybe hug your dog.
Or talk with friends.
Five or ten minutes is a good amount of time for a reward—many people find it helpful
to set a timer for their reward period.
5.
Here comes the best—and most important—part.
When the 25 minutes is done, reward yourself.
How?
You can listen to your favorite music!
Or play a video game.
Maybe hug your pet.
Or talk with friends.
Get up and move around.
Five or ten minutes is a good amount of time for a reward—many people find it helpful
to set a timer for their reward period.
Barbara: The reward is the most important part of the whole Pomodoro process.
Why?
It gives your diffuse mode a chance to work on what you are learning.
Remember, you don’t just learn when you are focusing—you learn through a combination
of focusing and relaxing.
Even when your brain is relaxing, it’s still working quietly, figuring things out.
Barbara: When you are focusing while you’re doing a Pomodoro, your thoughts can wander
off—you lose focus.
That’s perfectly normal.
All you have to do is bring your thoughts back as soon as you catch them wandering off.
Greg: Okay, now it’s time to go back to the arsenic-eaters.
Are you wondering how they could eat arsenic and not die?
And anyway, what does eating poison have to do with procrastination?
The arsenic-eaters started with tiny amounts of poison and gradually began eating more
and more each day.
They built up an immunity.
They thought everything was fine because they didn’t feel sick.
But they were gradually poisoning themselves.
Gradually increasing amounts of arsenic won’t kill you.
But over time, arsenic does serious damage.
It damages your internal organs and causes cancer.
Don’t eat arsenic!
How can this be like procrastination?
Barbara: Here’s how.
Putting your studies off for a little while longer doesn’t seem like it will hurt anything.
But as you get used to procrastinating, it makes learning harder.
You’ll get stressed because you have less time to learn.
You can become a less effective student.
Remember, you can make short periods of focused concentration into a healthy habit.
So learn to love the Pomodoro app on your phone.
Or that plastic tomato!
Next, we're going to see how one very shy ten-year-old girl changed her brain.
Barbara: I’m Barbara Oakley Greg: I’m Greg Hammons
Terry: and I’m Terry Sejnowski Barbara: we, and Arizona State University,
wish you happy learning!