A couple weeks ago I wrote an email on peak times.
For the parents who did not get the chance to read it,
Your teenager’s peak times are when they are most likely to work in focused and effective manner,
Which for most people,
Will be the morning.
I then discussed how students can structure their lives,
And use inbuilt accountability,
To make them more likely to work at these times,
So they can do better in less time.
This email builds on that concept.
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What is habit stacking?
Habit stacking is the idea that you can trigger yourself to do something that you don’t want to do,
By combining the activity,
Both mentally and literally,
To something you always do.
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This idea has two parts.
Firstly, we want to remove as much friction as possible from your teenager doing the thing that they don’t want to do,
Which in this case, is revision.
Secondly, we want to build in even more self and peer accountability so that they cannot shy away from the decisions that they are making.
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Some Examples
The way I teach habit stacking to my students is by identifying their peak times first,
Let’s say for the sake of this example it is in the morning,
And then we identify something they always do just before their peak times start.
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For example, I always like to do my most difficult work straight away in the morning.
So I am making a mental connection between brushing my teeth in the morning,
Which is one of the first things I do,
And then when I am done brushing my teeth,
That’s the trigger to start working.
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But wait,
You might be shaking your head muttering,
Joel, that’s all well and good,
But my teenager will just ‘forget’ or ‘not bother,’
What do you suggest then?
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Well, that’s a great question,
And this is where the removing friction part comes in.
If a student’s peak times are in the morning,
And they take out their books that they need the night before,
I honestly believe they are magnitudes more likely to actually complete their revision in the morning.
I wish I had some stats to back this up,
But we’ll just have to go off my experiences to back this up.
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Just to really hammer home the point,
On a school day,
A student’s peak time may be at 5:00pm.
In this scenario if they take their books out immediately when they get home before they do anything else,
And then use a trigger of when they finish their snack which they have always have straight away after school to start their revision,
They will be much more likely to revise in a consistent and effective manner.
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This is where the accountability really can come in
The last piece of the puzzle is you.
Whilst self-accountability is important,
They know when they finish their snack or finish brushing their teeth they should start revising,
Its not going to be enough, on its own, for most students.
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This is where you can help.
Reminding them to take out their books the night before/when they get in from school,
Asking them calmly if they have in fact done their revision for the night whilst you are eating dinner when you know their peak time is 5:00pm and thus it should have been done,
Are going to make a difference.
Now I know it is very easy to set off a moody teenager especially around exam times,
And I am not going to tell you how to converse with your teenager,
But I really do think setting an understanding at an opportune moment of what, exactly (in terms of hours, days, peak times, subjects etc) they have agreed to,
And then carefully holding them accountable to it later on,
Will make a difference.
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I hope you have a great week ahead,
Best wishes,
Joel