Daily Insight Video

Today, I want to talk about how the first five minutes are the hardest to get through.

Oftentimes, the trickiest part of having students do their homework is getting them to start it. The ideal time to start your homework is right after school. However, this is not what most students do. They often get home, eat snacks, check Facebook, and do just about anything other than their homework. Before they know it, it is dinner time, and then they realize after dinner that they have work they need to get done.

At this point, they are feeling the pressure and stress that comes along with waiting until the last minute to get things done. This feeling, of adrenaline and pressure, becomes addictive, and students quickly become used to only doing their homework under those conditions.

Students begin to do their homework out of fear that they will do poorly.

This is not a helpful or healthy way to do homework, or any kind of work. The trick to overcoming this is understanding the importance of the first five minutes.

It takes our brains approximately five minutes, depending on the person, to warm up to the things that we really need to do. We have to be able to acknowledge this time period and push through it so that we can get all of the things done that we need to accomplish. Once you are past this five minute mark, you are warmed up and ready to go!

Think about those first five minutes while you are getting ready to start something, and design a technique for pushing through them. Once you have a strategy for overcoming this short period of time, you have all the leverage you need to follow through!