Misanko1

JamieMisanko
ProfessorBranson
Writing2
27May2016
WritingHabitsAnalysis
ExercisingtheMind
Introduction
Exercise.Thewordaloneisprobablyenoughtomakeyougroan.Granted,itsdifficultto
musteruptheenergytoclickpauseonthat
Friends
episode,rolloutofthebedyouvebeen
lyinginforovertenhours,putonclothesthatarent
Batman
themed,andheadovertothelocal
gym.Everyoneknowshowbeneficialexercisingcanbe,sinceitcanrelievestress,clearout
toxins,andkeepthebodyinhealthycondition.However,workingoutdoesntonlyprofitthe
body,butitalsoimprovesproductivity.Overaperiodoffiveconsecutivedays,Istudiedmyown
writinghabitsbydocumentingeverythingIwrote.AsshownintheResultssection,after
completingandanalyzingmydata,IdiscoveredthatmywritingwasmoreproductiveondaysI
exercisedasopposedtothedaysthatIdidnt.ResearchersattheUniversityofBristolconducted
asimilarstudyinwhichtheycomparedtheperformanceofworkerswhoexercisedtothosewho
didnt.Outofapoolof200participants,researchersfoundthatafterexercising,72%reported
improvedtimemanagementskills,79%saidmentalandinterpersonalperformancewasstronger,
and74%believedtheywerebetterabletomanagetheirworkload(Coulson,McKenna,Field
182).Otherstudiesechothesefindings,particularlythatofProfessorJamesPivarnikatMichigan
StateUniversity.HediscoveredthatMSUfreshmenandsophomoreswhoexercisedregularly


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hadaGPAthatwas0.13%higherthanthosewhodidnt(Pivarnik).Recreationseemstohavea
positive,albeitsmall,impactonacademicsuccess.Ascanbeseeninfurtherdetailinthe
Discussionsection,Ibelievethatthereisadirect,positivecorrelationbetweenexerciseand
myproductivity.
Methods
FromTuesday,May3rdtoSaturday,May7th,IdocumentedanyandallwritingIhad
done,whetheritwastexts,emails,notes,homework,etc.Ikepttrackofmywritingbycreatinga
spreadsheet.ThespreadsheetconsistedoftencolumnsinwhichIkepttrackofwhattimeI
composedeachpieceofwriting,whatIwaswriting,whyIwaswritingit,myaudience,genre
expectations,technologiesused,whereIwaslocatedatthetime,thewritingprocess,wordcount,
andanyothersignificantaspects.Attheendofeachday,IwouldcompileallthewritingIhad
doneandcomputeitintothespreadsheetaccordingly.However,aftertwodaysofaccumulating
data,InoticedthatIhadcompletedmoreschoolworkonTuesdaythanonWednesday.This
realizationledmetocreateaneleventhcolumninmywritinglogtitledAcademicorpersonal.
Academictaskswereanythingrelatedtoschool,whetheritwastakingnotesinlecture,emailing
aprofessor,orwritingreadingresponses.Personaltasksconsistedmostlyofpersonalwriting
outsideofschool,liketextmessages.IfImanagedtoaccomplishthreeormoreacademictasks,
thenIwouldputa
Pfor
productiveon
myspreadsheetfor
thatday,asseen


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onthefiguretotheleft.Ontheotherhand,ifIwasntproductive,IlabelledthedayasNPfor
nonproductive.

AfterdiscoveringthatIwasmoreproductiveonTuesdaythanWednesday,Ibeganto
hypothesizeifexercisehadplayedaroleinmyincreasedproductivitylevelssinceIhadplayed
volleyballonTuesdayandnotWednesday.Asaresult,Ibegantonoteunderthesignificant
aspectscolumnwhetherornotIhadexercisedthatdayornot.Eventually,Ibegantoignore
aspectsthatwereirrelevanttomyresearch,suchasgenreexpectations,writingprocess,and
wordcount,andinsteadpaidmoreattentionastohowmanyacademictasksIachievedversus
personalones.

Results
Afteranalyzingmydata,Ifoundthatmymostproductivedayoutofthefivedayperiod
wasTuesday,withatotalofsixacademictaskscompleted.Mysecondmostproductivedaywas


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Thursday,withfourassignmentsachieved.Wednesdaywasalsoproductive,butonlythree
assignmentswerefulfilled.FridayandSaturdaywerebothunproductivesincelessthanthree
academicworkswereaccomplished.

Thebargraphaboveillustratesmyproductivitythroughoutmystudy.Thexaxis
representsthedaysoftheweekinwhichIdocumentedmydata(TuesdaythroughSaturday)and
theyaxisrepresentsthenumberofacademictaskscompleted.However,dayoftheweekand
productivitywerenottheonlyfeaturesofmyresearchsinceIhypothesizedthatexercisewas
influencingmyproductivity.


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Graph2consistsofthesamedataasGraph1,withdaysoftheweekplottedagainstthe
amountofschoolworkcompleted.However,thisgraphalsointroducesexerciseintothemixture.
WhereasthemaroonbarsindicatedaysinwhichIdidnotexercise,thebluebarsrepresentthe
daysthatIdidexercise:TuesdayandThursday,whichwerealsothetwodaysthatIwasthemost
productivewhenconductingananalysisofmywritinghabits.
Discussion
Accordingtomydata,IbelieveIammoreproductive,thatis,Icompletemoreacademic
tasks,onTuesdaysandThursdaysbecausethosearethedayIexercise.EveryTuesdayand
Thursdayat9A.M.IheadovertoRobertsonGymnasiumtoplayvolleyballfor50minutes.After
serving,setting,andspiking,Ibecomeenergizedandmotivatedenoughtotackleaconsiderable
amountofschoolwork.IamlessproductiveeveryotherdayoftheweekbecauseIdon'tdoany


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physicalexerciseonthosedays(besideswalkingfromclasstoclass).Myclassschedulemay
alsoplayaroleinmyproductivitylevels,sincetheonlyclassIhaveonTuesdaysisvolleyball.
Afterreceivinganadrenalinerush,mydayisfreetoconqueranyandallwork.However,on
ThursdaysIhavebothvolleyballandasection,sosincemytimeisdevotedtopreparingforthat
oneclass,IamlessproductivethanIwasonTuesday,buttheexercisemakesmemore
productivethanIwasonWednesday.
IfIweretoconductfurtherresearch,Iwouldpayattentiontomymoodandif/howthat
correlateswithexerciseandconsequently,myproductivity.SinceIwassoproductive
postexercise,ImnowcurioustoknowifthereasonwasbecauseIwashappierafterplaying
volleyball.Iwouldalsoliketostudymywritinghabitsforalongerperiodoftimeandkeeptrack
ofbothexerciseandcaffeineintake,andthencompareifImmoreproductiveafterplaying
volleyballorafterdrinkingcaffeinatedbeverages,liketea.However,Iwouldexpectmy
productivitytobehigherwithexercisesinceitsanaturalwayofgettingenergizedandtheres
noriskofacaffeinecrash.Afterdoingthisstudy,Iverealizedthatmywritingiscontrolledbya
factorthatIhadneverbeforeconsidered.IunderstandthatifIwanttobeproductive,thenI
shouldjusthitthegymorplayasportfor45minutesorso.Afterwards,Illbereadytotakeon
theworld.


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WorksCited
Coulson,J.C.,J.McKenna,andM.Field."ExercisingatWorkandSelfReportedWork
Performance."
InternationalJournalofWorkplaceHealthManagement
1.3(2008):
17697.Print.
Pivarnik,James,M.,SamanthaJ.Danbert,RichardN.McNeil,andIraJ.Washington."Academic
SuccessandRetention:TheRoleofRecreationalSportsFitnessFacilities."
Recreational
SportsJournal
38.1(2014):1422.Print.