A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science (Even If You Flunked Algebra)

by Barbara Oakley

1. The Cue: Recognize what launches you into your zombie, procrastination mode. Cues usually fall into one of the following categories: location, time, how you feel, reactions to other people, or something that just happened.2 Do you look something up on the web and then find yourself web surfing? Does a text message disturb your reverie, taking you ten minutes to get back into the flow of things even when you try to keep yourself on task? The issue with procrastination is that because it’s an automatic habit, you are often unaware that you have begun to procrastinate. Students often find that developing new cues, such as starting homework as soon as they get home from school or right after their first break from class, are helpful. As procrastination expert Piers Steel, author of The Procrastination Equation, points out, “If you protect your routine, eventually it will protect you.”3