Say Hello To Your Brain

Imagine this: I am a high school student (seriously, I am), and I've eaten supper. I have a ton of History and English homework to do, and I've determined I won't eat dessert until I finish all of it. So I sit down and get my textbooks ready, and now, with a pencil to the paper, I begin to write.

Then things happen. Suddenly the TV in the living room is ten times louder, the clock is ticking in my ears (if you have that kind of clock), and the people talking outside in the yard seem like they're screaming in my ears. I lose my train of thought. No, my ice cream banana split brownie is waiting for me in the freezer downstairs, I have to get this done. I tune out the noise, and write again.

And this time, the noise is louder than ever. I try for twenty minutes, but only manage to get two sentences down. I throw down my pencil and give up until I can go to a quiet library. I go and eat my dessert almost guiltily. Almost.

Can you relate to that story? I can. In fact, twenty minutes ago I just gave up on History homework until my mother could stop reading her book out loud in my ears. Oddly enough, I've been writing long enough that I can tune out all noise while I'm doing it. I wish I could say the same for everything else I do.

So what can you do when you feel like doing everything else but homework, and you're not that disciplined of a person? Instead of preaching about something I don't know (because I'm, for the most part, a pretty disciplined person), I've asked a bunch of my friends what they do to stay focused.

Listen to music. Sometimes, it helps people tune out the rest of the distracting noises, and really, who doesn't like listening to music? Some people need complete silence, but this is the next best thing, I guess. Try to choose some music without lyrics, so it won't be so distracting.

Earplugs. These things have saved my friends on more than one occasion, especially on stage where music is loud enough to blow your ears off. Earplugs can help block out most, if not all of the noise that's plaguing your brain-jamming session.

Homework partners. I cannot stress this enough, especially if you have really nerdy knowledgeable friends, and especially if they are good at a subject you are clearly not. Just try to find a friend who won't distract you from your work, yes?

Those are only a couple of ways to focus. Honestly, if you don't get that homework done, then it's likely you won't get a very good grade, and then you might fail the class, and not get into a good college, and wind up in some dead end job no one cares about. But hey, let's not stress, just focus on the matter at hand, and try not to end up homeless, yes?

And now that you're scared for your life, I'll go ahead and ask you - what do YOU do to stay in touch with your hippocampus (the storage part of your brain - see, if you didn't know that one you need to pay more attention in science class)? Comments welcome.