Finishing Homework

Hi Matthew L.

Glad to answer this one.

Let me first address the second question. Can I listen to music?

Yes and No. It depends what kind of music.

There is music that helps concentration and helps you focus. This music must stay in the background and usually are instrumental. Binaureal beats, actually helps people focus and concentrate, but it is very different from radio music or popular music, that is composed to stir emotions and energy that make you want to dance.

If this is the kind of music that you are talking about, pop music and dance music. Enjoy them when you are not trying to focus on finishing a task, because they are simply distracting.

I can say that when I have no music on when working, I finish tasks and my work in half the time or less, I am more focused and the quality of my work is at least 3 times better. Because finishing homework is a task of the mind, and you need to process thinking to solve problems, write and find solutions, I think you are better off not listening to music at all, and keep your room or desk quiet.

The hardest part of finishing homework is this: You must start.

Once you start homework, the first 5 or 10 minutes perhaps your mind will wander off.

But after that you will be surprised to find you will actually be fully focused and your mind engages, and you will really like it. You don't even want to get off homework.

Homework is about discipline. You must have the kind of attitude to be responsible about what must be done that is stronger than what you would like to do. After your task is completed, then you can play, listen to music, watch TV, internet or phone, or read or any other thing you LIKE, to do.

Do the things you MUST do first and leave the rest for later. This is called WORK ETHICS later when you are grown up and you must practice them early. Work first - Then Play. not the other way around.

Nothing beats the feeling, than when you are in the classroom and you have all your work done.

You will want to participate and not shy away wishing you were invisible to the teacher in case they ask you a question or call you on it. It boosts your confidence and leads to good grades (and not despair)

I use music to focus. but it is called brainwave music and helps me work.

Not popular music or dance music that makes me want to jump off the chair and dance or sing-along. That kind of music is a distraction and can be enjoyed when you have a party or have friends over. It does not help your study or homework but hinders it. Keep the two things separate.

Let me know if this helps. OK?

Hey Matthew! What an awesome and completely relevant question to ask. Depending on what your journey looks like you will have many years of studying and doing homework. When you get into the professional world you will have assignments and tasks to complete as well. So finding a way to stay focused is certainly an important task not only for now, but moving forward. As someone who as A.D.D, staying focused on homework was not always my strongest area. I would easily get distracted and would take way more time to do one assignment then it should have. I would say that my biggest advice is finds what works for you. Everyone has different study styles and ways that they like to stay focused. For me music was more of a distraction than something that helped me maintain my focus. I would typically go into a quiet room and take the time to truly study the material. I told myself “if I can stay focused for 2 hours and knock this assignment out, then I can have the rest of the day and I will truly understand the material.”

Another important key factor that helped me was staying organized. If you simply try to remember everything that needs to get done, you are bound to miss something or have to scramble to get it done last minute. Staying organized for the week will help you maintain your focus and have a schedule to when you set aside time to study and when you have time for other activities. I used to keep a desk calendar in my room and I would fill it out every Monday with the week plans. I would set aside time to study, write down important due dates, and also schedule time to relax and be social. Maintaining a schedule will give you organization and time to prepare for the times that you are going to have to maintain focus to get your work done.

Everyone has a different method of staying focused and executing the tasks that need to be completed. You can see this both in your educational and professional journey. It is important for you to discover what works best for you and just know that you have to execute on that method. Retaining the information even from one assignment can have a long term impact on how you look at material moving forward, so take ever assignment seriously and remain focused. No matter what method works best for you, I know that you ae going to have an amazing journey. Just know that no one way is the right way. I hope this has helped!