Alexis Avila, Founder of Prepped and Polished gives you tactics to properly tame your technology addiction, especially while studying for the SAT and ACT tests.
So, if you are like most students, you probably have an iPhone or an Android. You probably had it since middle school, and you probably have a Facebook account, and a bunch of other social media. And you’re very distracted, especially if you have ADHD. It’s really hard to stay focused and get ready, get into the mindset to prepare for the SAT, let alone actually do the studying, getting to sit down and buckle down in a quiet environment.
Find a quiet place
So the first thing you have to do to get into the mindset is you have to work, and find a quiet area of your house, that’s not your kitchen, to work in. So I had, when I started tutoring, like a long time ago, I had two MIT parents. They both went to MIT. And they were fighting with one another in the kitchen while I was tutoring the student. And it was so distracting and annoying that I had to kindly pull them aside and be like, “Look, it’s me and the student. It’s our time. You’re talking about what’s best for your son in the background. But your son is constantly looking up at you guys, and it’s not respecting him, respecting his time.” And it certainly wasn’t keeping the environment quiet.
So the key for you is you got to just find a quiet area away, and not your kitchen. So you’ve got to find a quiet area, maybe a study in your house, or just, like, a dining room table, so you don’t hear the kitchen sink running, or you know, your younger brother running to get a snack in the fridge and opening and closing the door over and over again. So that’s the first thing you do, find a quiet area to work in, or go to a library.
Turn off your phones
Second thing you do, you just don’t silence your phone, that’s what all kids do. They silence their phones, but then they relapse, and then they start checking their phone. The key is you tell your friends first, you tell your buddies first, that you will get back to them, it is SAT prep time. You will get back to them in 90 minutes. Tell them exactly when you will get back so nothing is left hanging. Your friends won’t be, you know, harassing you. They’ll respect your time. You’ve got to set that limit. Then, turn off all your technology. Turn off your phone. Don’t silence it, turn it off. Log out of your Facebook, and ditch the music. You can’t have one distraction while prepping, so turn it all off.
Ditch the music
Finally, ditch the music. I mean, I said that in my previous podcast, episode 203, if you haven’t heard it. But you’re not going to listen to music on SAT test day. Beethoven won’t be playing over the loudspeaker on SAT morning day. So, get used to working in silence.
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