surpising amount of wort, relation, and socaing can be ex.
‘wacted fama single wee-heur day. Alackof tine, therefore, Sat
rou) to explain why so many shdents fel nerfed Sowhat
oes ean tls phenomenen? The answer, 35 tums eu, has
Ire more todo with Row we work than what we're yng toa
comps
‘As hurmang our minds have eiobed to prefer shoe em tasks
such as“tunaay fom that lot or"ebt fod Therefore. when you
walkin the Koray ana Sinsy morning with ha gal of fishing
lof yourhomework and ving paper your banishappy The
“deo of pening ght consecsehout trapped ina ty car
dlpeting Pas kes hardto focus forthat ang so pretty soon gue
‘il et in yourconzntation vill wander, and every distraction wi
‘sudenly seem impodsiy appealing, Before you know the day wi
be over an you realize that you have accomplished much pro-
vetve work a all The next dy, ne asslgnments val pl onto
‘those you did’ rsh on Suny, andthe tedious process tarts all
over gain
Jason, right A shident fom the Unies of Penna,
ses the ter “pseudo iwokg” to dsb this common approach
te studying The pseudo oks and feels the sartone who
le working hrt—te or she Spends a ln ne te tay nd is
rot afd te push on lat Into the ight—but, because of ack
‘of focus and concentration, dees actualy aecomyssh mth Ths
‘bad habs endemic on mest college campus. For example 3t
Dartmouth there was a Seton ofthe main iar at was open
‘sen four hows 2 day, al he stents used to ae in here
late at night huddle in groups, ulin coffe ant piping about
their tarps, were definitely peeudo-vorking, The roommate
whe ips though her chem notes onthe couch white wate
ng TV omudosnortng The guy who brings tree meal, Blan
et and sbepack of fd Bll othe study founge In preparation
er a alk ay paper araton is ako pieudo-wocng By
acing temsehes i distracting environments and insiting on
working ia long Neus stretches, these students ate erpeting
‘heir brain's abiy to thnk ey and ect accomplish the
‘sk a hand The result is itigue headaches and luster ut
‘hebgge problem het that ost students dont even ele
‘tat thee pseudosneking. To ther pseudosvork works
‘ow they've aays doe ai thaw al ofthe ends do
everrosts thelr sind tat hee might bea beter way, Stralght-
{A tudes, on the other hand, know all about pseudo-work They
‘ear nde good reason ne only wastes ime, butts also men-
‘aly alan, There fost 9 way tobe well-sanced, apy. and
cade scaly regula bring thrcugh you fee
oursin lng, painful stretches cf ieticent studying, The students
intentewed fr this book ermpbasied again and agoln the impor
tance of aoiing th tap In fod, when asked what one el Was
mostimpetantin becominga ren ind straightAstudent mostof
‘heme bly to get wordone qu and wit minima
of wate or
Sohaw do these stent achieve tls goa A big part the so-
luton timing ey gaa eficency by compressing wor ito fo:
use burs To understand the poneraf this approach consider the
fol eng frmuta