1 00:00:03,630 --> 00:00:07,200 Krutika Adatia: Hello, and welcome back to On Your Marks from ACCA. 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:11,639 Krutika Adatia: I'm Krutika Adatia, and I'm a chartered accountant. I now support 3 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:15,900 Krutika Adatia: accountancy students through their training. And as an educator, I'm 4 00:00:15,900 --> 00:00:19,020 Krutika Adatia: regularly up close and personal with some of the common 5 00:00:19,020 --> 00:00:23,160 Krutika Adatia: issues people face while studying for and sitting their accountancy 6 00:00:23,160 --> 00:00:26,970 Krutika Adatia: exams. So in this series for ACCA, I'm chatting to 7 00:00:26,970 --> 00:00:30,930 Krutika Adatia: experts about strategies we can all use when facing some 8 00:00:30,930 --> 00:00:35,010 Krutika Adatia: of life's challenges. This week, we're looking at building habits. 9 00:00:35,310 --> 00:00:37,860 Krutika Adatia: We all know that some habits are easier to stick 10 00:00:37,860 --> 00:00:40,770 Krutika Adatia: to than others, so how can we leverage that to 11 00:00:40,770 --> 00:00:45,060 Krutika Adatia: achieve our learning goals? Why does being stressed make it 12 00:00:45,060 --> 00:00:48,240 Krutika Adatia: so much harder to stick to new habits? And how 13 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,940 Krutika Adatia: can we all use habit- forming hacks to make the 14 00:00:50,940 --> 00:00:55,020 Krutika Adatia: most of our time? This is On Your Marks, because 15 00:00:55,020 --> 00:01:03,330 Krutika Adatia: you'll never know until you try. Now, a couple of years 16 00:01:03,330 --> 00:01:06,120 Krutika Adatia: ago on a family holiday in Greece, I joined a 17 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,420 Krutika Adatia: morning yoga class. I tried yoga on and off for 18 00:01:09,420 --> 00:01:13,140 Krutika Adatia: years, but it never became a real habit. I'd always 19 00:01:13,140 --> 00:01:16,410 Krutika Adatia: promised myself I'd stick with it and never quite did. 20 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,790 Krutika Adatia: That changed after listening to Atomic Habits by James Clear. 21 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:24,990 Krutika Adatia: He talks about habit stacking, linking a new habit to 22 00:01:24,990 --> 00:01:29,850 Krutika Adatia: something you already do automatically. So now, every morning after 23 00:01:29,910 --> 00:01:33,060 Krutika Adatia: brushing my teeth, I do a quick 10- minute yoga 24 00:01:33,060 --> 00:01:37,140 Krutika Adatia: stretch. Brushing my teeth is the trigger, and surprisingly, the 25 00:01:37,140 --> 00:01:41,880 Krutika Adatia: routine has stuck. It made me realize how powerful habits 26 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:46,170 Krutika Adatia: can be. And as a student juggling multiple commitments, building 27 00:01:46,170 --> 00:01:49,710 Krutika Adatia: good study habits can make all the difference. So to 28 00:01:49,710 --> 00:01:52,260 Krutika Adatia: talk it all through with me, I've got Scott Young. 29 00:01:52,380 --> 00:01:56,070 Krutika Adatia: He's a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and he's obsessed 30 00:01:56,070 --> 00:01:59,400 Krutika Adatia: with finding new and interesting ways for us to learn 31 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:02,520 Krutika Adatia: and think better. And a core part of that is 32 00:02:02,520 --> 00:02:06,840 Krutika Adatia: building habits we can stick to. So Scott, I just 33 00:02:06,870 --> 00:02:11,130 Krutika Adatia: mentioned in my intro about my yoga stretch habit, and 34 00:02:11,130 --> 00:02:13,620 Krutika Adatia: I guess I just wanted to open with what is 35 00:02:13,620 --> 00:02:16,530 Krutika Adatia: it that makes it a habit? You know, what essentially 36 00:02:16,590 --> 00:02:19,200 Krutika Adatia: is a habit? How is it different to any other 37 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:20,790 Krutika Adatia: tasks that we perform? 38 00:02:21,150 --> 00:02:28,230 Scott Young: Yeah. Well, I think the way that psychologists look at habits is an automatic association between a stimulus 39 00:02:28,230 --> 00:02:31,620 Scott Young: and a response. See, our brains are these giant kind 40 00:02:31,620 --> 00:02:33,900 Scott Young: of prediction machines that are always trying to figure out 41 00:02:33,900 --> 00:02:37,710 Scott Young: what comes next in our environment. And so what we 42 00:02:37,710 --> 00:02:41,940 Scott Young: do is through experience, through taking certain actions, through experiencing 43 00:02:41,940 --> 00:02:45,300 Scott Young: our environment, we kind of queue up the next response. 44 00:02:45,330 --> 00:02:47,280 Scott Young: Now, we're always doing this for all sorts of things, 45 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:51,000 Scott Young: but in some cases, those sort of grooves that one 46 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:54,150 Scott Young: action leading to another is very well- established, so we 47 00:02:54,150 --> 00:02:57,120 Scott Young: don't really think about it. So after you're doing your 48 00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,220 Scott Young: morning routine, then you do 10 minutes of yoga and 49 00:02:59,220 --> 00:03:01,829 Scott Young: it's ingrained. And some of the reason that we can 50 00:03:02,130 --> 00:03:05,760 Scott Young: sometimes struggle with our habits is because we don't have 51 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,450 Scott Young: that automatic association. So we have multiple things that we 52 00:03:09,450 --> 00:03:12,570 Scott Young: do at a particular juncture. And especially if some of 53 00:03:12,570 --> 00:03:16,680 Scott Young: those things are maybe more effortful, they're a little bit 54 00:03:17,220 --> 00:03:19,650 Scott Young: more difficult, they're not going to be something that we 55 00:03:19,650 --> 00:03:24,150 Scott Young: are maybe as motivated to do, then the fact that 56 00:03:24,150 --> 00:03:26,130 Scott Young: they're not a habit also makes them a little bit 57 00:03:26,130 --> 00:03:28,230 Scott Young: harder to do because essentially we have to make a 58 00:03:28,230 --> 00:03:30,450 Scott Young: decision every single time that we're going to approach it. 59 00:03:30,929 --> 00:03:36,300 Krutika Adatia: Yeah, and I like how you've touched on the fact that there are things that are harder to form 60 00:03:36,300 --> 00:03:38,790 Krutika Adatia: as habits. I'm thinking about when I wake up in 61 00:03:38,790 --> 00:03:41,610 Krutika Adatia: the morning, Scott, sometimes I reach for my phone and 62 00:03:41,610 --> 00:03:43,410 Krutika Adatia: I want to stop doing that. I want to get 63 00:03:43,410 --> 00:03:46,320 Krutika Adatia: into this mentality of not looking at my phone. So 64 00:03:46,590 --> 00:03:49,950 Krutika Adatia: why is it that that is a habit that's harder 65 00:03:50,070 --> 00:03:53,580 Krutika Adatia: to stick for me? Yeah, what makes it about certain 66 00:03:53,580 --> 00:03:56,490 Krutika Adatia: habits that are more difficult to stick? 67 00:03:56,730 --> 00:03:58,860 Scott Young: One way we can think about this is that in 68 00:03:58,860 --> 00:04:00,870 Scott Young: terms of the psychology of habits, there's sort of two 69 00:04:00,870 --> 00:04:04,620 Scott Young: different forces at work. One is just the association between 70 00:04:04,620 --> 00:04:08,220 Scott Young: things that tend to follow each other. This is known 71 00:04:08,220 --> 00:04:12,600 Scott Young: in the original research as classical conditioning. So if you have... 72 00:04:12,750 --> 00:04:17,039 Scott Young: The classic example was Ivan Pavlov and his dogs where 73 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,739 Scott Young: he gave them food after ringing a dinner bell. I 74 00:04:19,740 --> 00:04:21,450 Scott Young: suppose it wasn't actually a bell in the real story, but 75 00:04:21,450 --> 00:04:24,960 Scott Young: that's the popular imagination. He rang this bell. And they 76 00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:27,510 Scott Young: started to salivate just from hearing the bell because they 77 00:04:27,510 --> 00:04:29,880 Scott Young: know that the bell means food, and so they start 78 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:31,860 Scott Young: getting hungry and start getting ready for it. That's classical 79 00:04:31,860 --> 00:04:35,969 Scott Young: conditioning. There's another kind of conditioning called operant conditioning where 80 00:04:36,029 --> 00:04:39,029 Scott Young: it is whether the activity's followed by a reward or 81 00:04:39,029 --> 00:04:42,960 Scott Young: a punishment. So this was made famous by the behaviorist B. 82 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:45,270 Scott Young: F. Skinner, and he had these boxes where you have 83 00:04:45,270 --> 00:04:47,250 Scott Young: pigeons pecking a little buttons and if they got some 84 00:04:47,250 --> 00:04:49,500 Scott Young: food when they pecked the button, then they started pecking 85 00:04:49,500 --> 00:04:51,928 Scott Young: on it more. And so this is a different mechanism and 86 00:04:51,928 --> 00:04:55,020 Scott Young: it's also important, and it's also important. And so why is it 87 00:04:55,020 --> 00:04:57,990 Scott Young: hard to break the watching- your- phone habit? Well, phones, 88 00:04:57,990 --> 00:05:00,390 Scott Young: it turns out, have a very particular kind of reward 89 00:05:00,390 --> 00:05:04,320 Scott Young: schedule called a variable reinforcement schedule where sometimes when you're 90 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:06,960 Scott Young: looking on your phone, there's something really pleasurable. It's like 91 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:10,680 Scott Young: a really funny video or something cute or interesting or 92 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:15,089 Scott Young: even something that's maybe not pleasurable, but is valuable to 93 00:05:15,089 --> 00:05:18,029 Scott Young: you kind of as an organism. So some kind of 94 00:05:18,029 --> 00:05:20,850 Scott Young: like scary information, some sort of dire news story that 95 00:05:20,850 --> 00:05:23,010 Scott Young: gets you worked up and angry. Even though that doesn't 96 00:05:23,010 --> 00:05:25,860 Scott Young: seem like it's rewarding, it actually has this reinforcing effect 97 00:05:25,860 --> 00:05:27,150 Scott Young: because it's sort of like, " Oh, it's a good thing 98 00:05:27,150 --> 00:05:30,810 Scott Young: I checked my phone because this thing that has alarmed 99 00:05:30,810 --> 00:05:32,880 Scott Young: me has come up there." As opposed to if it 100 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,610 Scott Young: was just perhaps something that you're not that interested in, 101 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:37,860 Scott Young: you're not going to get that reinforcement. And one of 102 00:05:37,860 --> 00:05:40,200 Scott Young: the reasons that phones are so, I don't want to 103 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:44,670 Scott Young: use the word addicting, but habit- forming is because they 104 00:05:44,670 --> 00:05:47,700 Scott Young: are on this variable schedule where you don't always get 105 00:05:47,700 --> 00:05:50,220 Scott Young: that hit. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. And what 106 00:05:50,310 --> 00:05:53,219 Scott Young: the behaviorists, including B. F. Skinner, originally found is that 107 00:05:53,220 --> 00:05:56,400 Scott Young: that reinforcement schedule where you sometimes get a reward, but 108 00:05:56,400 --> 00:05:57,900 Scott Young: you don't always get a reward, is one of the 109 00:05:57,900 --> 00:06:01,200 Scott Young: stickiest in terms of habits. So giving up watching phones 110 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,299 Scott Young: can be very difficult because it has this sort of 111 00:06:03,300 --> 00:06:07,080 Scott Young: like slot machine- type quality where you sometimes pull the 112 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:08,850 Scott Young: lever and sometimes it's great. And sometimes you pull the 113 00:06:08,850 --> 00:06:12,210 Scott Young: lever and you don't get anything, but because sometimes it 114 00:06:12,210 --> 00:06:14,789 Scott Young: works, sometimes it doesn't, when you don't have anything interesting 115 00:06:14,790 --> 00:06:16,830 Scott Young: on your phone, you keep going because you know sometimes 116 00:06:16,830 --> 00:06:19,110 Scott Young: there's going to be something there. Now, obviously, if you're 117 00:06:19,110 --> 00:06:21,540 Scott Young: thinking about like exercising and you're okay, you're going to 118 00:06:21,540 --> 00:06:23,640 Scott Young: lace up your shoes, you're going to go outside and 119 00:06:24,029 --> 00:06:26,520 Scott Young: go running and it's drizzling with rain and you're kind 120 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:28,979 Scott Young: of cold and (inaudible) . Well, that can be a 121 00:06:28,980 --> 00:06:31,200 Scott Young: little bit aversive, especially if you're not that used to 122 00:06:31,200 --> 00:06:33,210 Scott Young: running. And so that has the opposite effect. It's a 123 00:06:33,210 --> 00:06:37,049 Scott Young: kind of constant punishment reinforcement schedule. So as you do it, 124 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:39,029 Scott Young: your brain is sort of learning this like, " I don't 125 00:06:39,029 --> 00:06:40,950 Scott Young: like this. I don't like this." And so that is 126 00:06:40,980 --> 00:06:43,770 Scott Young: making that behavior less likely. So I do think the 127 00:06:44,130 --> 00:06:47,730 Scott Young: classical conditioning where A follows B repeatedly is very important, 128 00:06:47,790 --> 00:06:49,980 Scott Young: but we also have to keep in mind this reward 129 00:06:49,980 --> 00:06:52,650 Scott Young: factor because it has such a strong influence on which 130 00:06:52,650 --> 00:06:54,839 Scott Young: sorts of things are easy to make as habits and 131 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:55,650 Scott Young: which things are harder. 132 00:06:55,950 --> 00:07:00,690 Krutika Adatia: That's really fascinating and it makes so much sense now 133 00:07:00,690 --> 00:07:02,970 Krutika Adatia: that I reach for my phone because sometimes I don't 134 00:07:02,970 --> 00:07:06,089 Krutika Adatia: know if I've got that notification from my friend telling 135 00:07:06,089 --> 00:07:09,450 Krutika Adatia: me about something exciting or someone giving me a like 136 00:07:09,450 --> 00:07:12,510 Krutika Adatia: on one of my videos. So really fascinating stuff. Now, 137 00:07:12,510 --> 00:07:16,440 Krutika Adatia: I'm thinking about our students, Scott, who might be stressed, 138 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:21,030 Krutika Adatia: for example, or tired. And we know that when we 139 00:07:21,030 --> 00:07:24,870 Krutika Adatia: feel stressed or tired, it can be so easy for 140 00:07:24,870 --> 00:07:29,520 Krutika Adatia: our healthy habits to slip away from us. Why is that? 141 00:07:29,850 --> 00:07:32,160 Scott Young: Well, part of it goes back to what we were just talking about. 142 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:34,200 Scott Young: So a lot of the things that we call healthy 143 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,650 Scott Young: habits are things that are kind of by definition a 144 00:07:37,650 --> 00:07:40,290 Scott Young: little bit more effortful because if something is both good 145 00:07:40,290 --> 00:07:42,030 Scott Young: for us and easy to do, we tend to just 146 00:07:42,030 --> 00:07:44,340 Scott Young: do it. There's not an issue for us. It tends 147 00:07:44,340 --> 00:07:47,160 Scott Young: to be those healthy habits that require a little bit 148 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:49,500 Scott Young: more effort. And one of the things that we know 149 00:07:49,500 --> 00:07:51,870 Scott Young: about the way effort works is that when we are 150 00:07:51,870 --> 00:07:54,960 Scott Young: more fatigued, when we are more tired, more overwhelmed, more 151 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:58,380 Scott Young: exhausted, things that are more effortful become harder. So essentially 152 00:07:58,380 --> 00:08:02,220 Scott Young: we require the like reinforcing aspect, that sort of that 153 00:08:02,220 --> 00:08:04,380 Scott Young: positive reward, that carrot at the end of the stick 154 00:08:04,380 --> 00:08:06,960 Scott Young: to be even larger when we're more tired. So if 155 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:10,620 Scott Young: you have lots of energy and you're not stressed, you're 156 00:08:10,620 --> 00:08:12,270 Scott Young: waking up on a Sunday, " You know what? Maybe I 157 00:08:12,270 --> 00:08:15,660 Scott Young: could go for a run." But it's 10: 00 PM, you've 158 00:08:15,660 --> 00:08:18,360 Scott Young: come back from studying at the library, you've been working 159 00:08:18,360 --> 00:08:21,540 Scott Young: all day, you haven't eaten anything, this kind of thing. And you say, " 160 00:08:21,780 --> 00:08:23,250 Scott Young: Okay, you know what? I'm going to go for a 161 00:08:23,250 --> 00:08:25,140 Scott Young: run right now or I'm going to go do some 162 00:08:25,140 --> 00:08:26,910 Scott Young: 20 minute yoga session." You're like, " No, I want to 163 00:08:26,910 --> 00:08:29,580 Scott Young: flop on the couch and order in some takeout." So 164 00:08:29,760 --> 00:08:33,720 Scott Young: that's when these sorts of habits are hardest to maintain. Even 165 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:36,750 Scott Young: though these habits are a little bit more effortful, they 166 00:08:36,750 --> 00:08:39,330 Scott Young: often are very much the things that support our energy 167 00:08:39,330 --> 00:08:43,020 Scott Young: levels. So if you don't regularly exercise, if you don't 168 00:08:43,050 --> 00:08:45,990 Scott Young: sleep well because maybe you're anxious, you're staying up late, 169 00:08:46,230 --> 00:08:48,719 Scott Young: again, looking at your phone, then you're going to have 170 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,599 Scott Young: lower energy levels. And so that they can kind of lock 171 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:53,940 Scott Young: you into this loop where you don't have energy because 172 00:08:53,940 --> 00:08:57,600 Scott Young: you don't kind of maintain some of these sustaining habits, 173 00:08:57,870 --> 00:09:00,510 Scott Young: but then because you don't have energy, you find it 174 00:09:00,510 --> 00:09:03,750 Scott Young: harder to do some of these actions. And then, especially 175 00:09:03,750 --> 00:09:08,579 Scott Young: as those classical conditioning, those AB associations start to weaken, 176 00:09:08,820 --> 00:09:10,890 Scott Young: then it becomes a lot harder because, like you said, 177 00:09:11,100 --> 00:09:13,140 Scott Young: if you're not in the habit of waking up and 178 00:09:13,140 --> 00:09:15,840 Scott Young: doing yoga every day, then if you're tired, it's especially 179 00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:17,610 Scott Young: hard to do because you don't do it automatically, either. 180 00:09:18,270 --> 00:09:22,199 Krutika Adatia: Yeah, absolutely. So let's get into some of the benefits 181 00:09:22,260 --> 00:09:25,559 Krutika Adatia: of habits when it comes to optimizing for learning. What 182 00:09:25,559 --> 00:09:26,820 Krutika Adatia: are some of those benefits? 183 00:09:27,330 --> 00:09:29,460 Scott Young: For learning, for studying, a lot of what we're doing 184 00:09:29,460 --> 00:09:32,220 Scott Young: is trying to, again, lower those effort costs, lower those 185 00:09:32,220 --> 00:09:34,620 Scott Young: things for getting into the routine that we want. And 186 00:09:34,620 --> 00:09:38,040 Scott Young: I think there's a lot of different factors that contribute 187 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:41,010 Scott Young: to how effortful something is. So we've already talked about 188 00:09:41,010 --> 00:09:45,089 Scott Young: a few of them, how strong that association is. So 189 00:09:45,090 --> 00:09:47,940 Scott Young: if it's the case that you just right after work, 190 00:09:47,970 --> 00:09:49,740 Scott Young: you head to the library or you head to the 191 00:09:49,740 --> 00:09:51,809 Scott Young: coffee shop and you study for two hours before you 192 00:09:51,809 --> 00:09:55,500 Scott Young: go home, if that happens consistently, then that's going to 193 00:09:55,500 --> 00:09:57,900 Scott Young: reduce the effort because there's going to be a reduction 194 00:09:57,900 --> 00:09:59,880 Scott Young: in how much of a decision there is. It's just 195 00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:02,370 Scott Young: what you do. The second thing is going to be 196 00:10:02,370 --> 00:10:04,920 Scott Young: about how rewarding you find it. So some of that 197 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:09,479 Scott Young: is not maybe the easiest to change. I don't think 198 00:10:09,480 --> 00:10:13,260 Scott Young: I can make studying for accounting exams as fun or 199 00:10:13,290 --> 00:10:16,170 Scott Young: entertaining as like watching TikTok videos or something like that, but 200 00:10:16,890 --> 00:10:18,600 Scott Young: there are little things we can do. So if you 201 00:10:19,290 --> 00:10:22,230 Scott Young: have a cozy spot next to a fireplace and you've 202 00:10:22,230 --> 00:10:25,170 Scott Young: got yourself a nice latte and there's a little bit 203 00:10:25,170 --> 00:10:28,260 Scott Young: of soft jazz music playing, maybe that's going to be more enjoyable than 204 00:10:28,260 --> 00:10:32,370 Scott Young: like you staying after the office with the janitor cleaning 205 00:10:32,370 --> 00:10:35,070 Scott Young: up with the vacuum cleaner and the fluorescent light bulbs flickering 206 00:10:35,070 --> 00:10:37,650 Scott Young: overhead. These sorts of things might make a difference, too, 207 00:10:37,650 --> 00:10:41,040 Scott Young: because it changes how rewarding the activity is. How effortful 208 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:43,770 Scott Young: something feels is often weighed against what are the other 209 00:10:43,770 --> 00:10:46,319 Scott Young: things that you could be doing with either your time 210 00:10:46,320 --> 00:10:48,720 Scott Young: or with your mind. And so part of that is 211 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,600 Scott Young: that if you spend a lot of time on social 212 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:52,920 Scott Young: media, if you spend a lot of time using your 213 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:54,660 Scott Young: phone, if you're using it in kind of an unrestricted 214 00:10:54,660 --> 00:10:57,929 Scott Young: way, then because that's such a salient option all the 215 00:10:57,929 --> 00:11:00,990 Scott Young: time, you're always implicitly comparing like, " Well, I could be 216 00:11:00,990 --> 00:11:03,179 Scott Young: on my phone right now." And so sometimes this makes 217 00:11:03,179 --> 00:11:07,079 Scott Young: a difference, too, what other activities we're considering. And then, 218 00:11:07,140 --> 00:11:11,429 Scott Young: of course, there is also how we approach the activity 219 00:11:11,429 --> 00:11:13,740 Scott Young: itself. So if you are approaching it in such a 220 00:11:13,740 --> 00:11:18,449 Scott Young: way that you are really finding it difficulty or you're 221 00:11:18,450 --> 00:11:21,360 Scott Young: not able to study effectively because of the way that 222 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:24,000 Scott Young: you're studying, then that's also going to discourage you and 223 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,880 Scott Young: make it harder. It's going to lower that reinforcing value 224 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:29,610 Scott Young: of the activity. So the more that you can engineer 225 00:11:29,610 --> 00:11:32,490 Scott Young: your studying environment so that the habits itself that lead 226 00:11:32,490 --> 00:11:35,429 Scott Young: you to be successful studying are lower effort, then you're 227 00:11:35,429 --> 00:11:37,770 Scott Young: actually going to get to it and not procrastinate or 228 00:11:37,770 --> 00:11:38,460 Scott Young: get distracted. 229 00:11:38,700 --> 00:11:41,400 Krutika Adatia: Yeah. So what I'm hearing you say is you're talking 230 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:45,030 Krutika Adatia: about reducing that friction so that you actually go and 231 00:11:45,030 --> 00:11:48,120 Krutika Adatia: do what it is that you need to do, the studying. 232 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:53,670 Krutika Adatia: So you've touched on aspects of the environment there. Could 233 00:11:53,670 --> 00:11:56,340 Krutika Adatia: you just tell us, Scott, are there any good or 234 00:11:56,790 --> 00:11:59,910 Krutika Adatia: bad study habits, I suppose, that you could share with 235 00:11:59,910 --> 00:12:00,630 Krutika Adatia: our listeners? 236 00:12:01,050 --> 00:12:04,470 Scott Young: There's actually a lot of interesting research from learning sciences 237 00:12:04,470 --> 00:12:07,050 Scott Young: and cognitive sciences on what sorts of studying activities are 238 00:12:07,050 --> 00:12:09,870 Scott Young: more effective that are not as widely known. So one 239 00:12:09,870 --> 00:12:13,230 Scott Young: of the examples is the spacing effect. Spacing effect is 240 00:12:13,230 --> 00:12:17,070 Scott Young: that if you study something over multiple sessions, so same 241 00:12:17,070 --> 00:12:20,339 Scott Young: amount of time, but over multiple sessions, you will learn 242 00:12:20,340 --> 00:12:23,189 Scott Young: it better and more long term than if you cram 243 00:12:23,190 --> 00:12:28,080 Scott Young: it together. And so this goes against many students' professed 244 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:30,090 Scott Young: way of studying, which is to cram it all in 245 00:12:30,090 --> 00:12:32,340 Scott Young: right before the exam. And the problem with cramming in 246 00:12:32,340 --> 00:12:34,590 Scott Young: right before the exam is that while you do get 247 00:12:34,590 --> 00:12:36,630 Scott Young: a little bit of a boost right after you cram, 248 00:12:36,870 --> 00:12:39,900 Scott Young: then you forget it all later. And because of that 249 00:12:40,110 --> 00:12:44,760 Scott Young: steep forgetting afterwards, it creates all these problems for cumulative 250 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:47,579 Scott Young: exams. So if you are studying for something like accounting, 251 00:12:47,730 --> 00:12:50,610 Scott Young: where the beginning counting class, it's not that once you 252 00:12:50,610 --> 00:12:52,469 Scott Young: pass that final exam, you can just forget all of 253 00:12:52,470 --> 00:12:54,000 Scott Young: that, you're going to need it in all your subsequent 254 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:57,240 Scott Young: classes. Spacing is very important. So what does that mean 255 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:59,010 Scott Young: in terms of habits? Well, it means that you should 256 00:12:59,010 --> 00:13:02,699 Scott Young: be setting up your studying schedule so that you're reviewing 257 00:13:02,700 --> 00:13:05,459 Scott Young: stuff, not right before the exam, but in this kind of, " 258 00:13:05,790 --> 00:13:07,860 Scott Young: Okay, I'm going to try to touch on this material 259 00:13:07,860 --> 00:13:11,400 Scott Young: a few times throughout the studying period." That's one example. 260 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:14,579 Scott Young: Another example is another well- documented effect known as retrieval 261 00:13:14,580 --> 00:13:17,250 Scott Young: practice. So this is the idea that when you are 262 00:13:17,550 --> 00:13:20,160 Scott Young: rereading something, this is how most students study is that 263 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,130 Scott Young: they'll like open their notes and they'll look at it 264 00:13:23,130 --> 00:13:25,020 Scott Young: again, or maybe they'll do something a little bit fancy 265 00:13:25,020 --> 00:13:26,939 Scott Young: or they'll like sort of recopy it. I've seen a 266 00:13:26,940 --> 00:13:30,929 Scott Young: lot of students recopying notes using different colored pens to 267 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:35,069 Scott Young: highlight or move things around. This feels very productive. And 268 00:13:35,100 --> 00:13:37,230 Scott Young: you get this feeling when you're doing this kind of 269 00:13:37,230 --> 00:13:40,439 Scott Young: looking over your notes, rereading it, this kind of activity, 270 00:13:41,340 --> 00:13:43,620 Scott Young: you get this feeling of confidence because you've seen the 271 00:13:43,620 --> 00:13:46,140 Scott Young: material again and again and again, and that makes you 272 00:13:46,140 --> 00:13:47,670 Scott Young: feel like you're going to do great on the exam. 273 00:13:47,850 --> 00:13:50,099 Scott Young: But when you actually go to the exam, you often 274 00:13:50,100 --> 00:13:52,650 Scott Young: do much worse and you're like, " I forgot everything. How 275 00:13:52,650 --> 00:13:55,380 Scott Young: did that happen? You know, I knew this stuff, but 276 00:13:55,380 --> 00:13:57,990 Scott Young: somehow it slipped my mind." But the problem is that 277 00:13:57,990 --> 00:14:01,290 Scott Young: when you reread and reread something, you're building up that 278 00:14:01,290 --> 00:14:04,530 Scott Young: confidence, that sort of fluency, it becomes easier and easier 279 00:14:04,530 --> 00:14:06,300 Scott Young: to process the material because you've seen it so many 280 00:14:06,300 --> 00:14:09,660 Scott Young: times, but you're not necessarily building up the connections that 281 00:14:09,660 --> 00:14:11,820 Scott Young: you need in your brain to retrieve it when you 282 00:14:11,820 --> 00:14:13,620 Scott Young: don't have it in front of you. So one of 283 00:14:13,620 --> 00:14:16,110 Scott Young: the best strategies that you can use for studying in 284 00:14:16,110 --> 00:14:18,630 Scott Young: this kind of advice is to do some form of closed- 285 00:14:18,630 --> 00:14:21,240 Scott Young: book studying. So you close the book and you try 286 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,900 Scott Young: to take what is already in your head and put 287 00:14:24,900 --> 00:14:27,510 Scott Young: it out there. So different ways of doing that. Obviously, 288 00:14:27,510 --> 00:14:30,030 Scott Young: one way to do that is like practice exams, practice 289 00:14:30,030 --> 00:14:32,940 Scott Young: questions, but depending on the information, it could be flashcards. 290 00:14:32,940 --> 00:14:35,100 Scott Young: Flashcards is another way where you don't see the side 291 00:14:35,100 --> 00:14:37,470 Scott Young: until you flip it over. It could even just be 292 00:14:37,470 --> 00:14:39,300 Scott Young: something like free recall where you just have a blank 293 00:14:39,300 --> 00:14:41,700 Scott Young: piece of paper and you just try to write out 294 00:14:41,700 --> 00:14:43,980 Scott Young: as much as you know about something yourself and then 295 00:14:43,980 --> 00:14:46,109 Scott Young: go check the material and see what you've forgot. This 296 00:14:46,110 --> 00:14:48,660 Scott Young: is a much more effective studying strategy. So I think 297 00:14:48,660 --> 00:14:52,500 Scott Young: these sorts of ideas are often overlooked by students because 298 00:14:52,500 --> 00:14:57,120 Scott Young: they, again, go by what makes them feel the most 299 00:14:57,120 --> 00:14:59,910 Scott Young: confident, not what necessarily prepares them best for studying. 300 00:14:59,910 --> 00:15:03,030 Krutika Adatia: And that retrieval practice, it's taking me back to my 301 00:15:03,030 --> 00:15:06,240 Krutika Adatia: days as a student when you refer to that sort 302 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:09,720 Krutika Adatia: of closing the book and forcing yourself to remember what 303 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:11,820 Krutika Adatia: you've learned. I used to list out like, " What are 304 00:15:11,820 --> 00:15:14,430 Krutika Adatia: the five things I've actually learned at the end of 305 00:15:14,430 --> 00:15:17,820 Krutika Adatia: a particular day?" And so that's interesting because that's tapping 306 00:15:17,820 --> 00:15:21,150 Krutika Adatia: into the retrieval that you were just referring to. And 307 00:15:21,150 --> 00:15:24,270 Krutika Adatia: was it spaced repetition that you mentioned sort of earlier 308 00:15:24,270 --> 00:15:25,981 Krutika Adatia: as well that sounds like a- 309 00:15:25,981 --> 00:15:25,982 Scott Young: Yeah- 310 00:15:25,982 --> 00:15:26,431 Krutika Adatia: ... really good- 311 00:15:26,431 --> 00:15:27,331 Scott Young: ... space repetition, yeah. 312 00:15:27,331 --> 00:15:30,750 Krutika Adatia: ... yeah. And that sounds like a great technique for our learners. So 313 00:15:30,750 --> 00:15:33,270 Krutika Adatia: instead of cramming, which we always tell our learners to 314 00:15:33,270 --> 00:15:37,860 Krutika Adatia: avoid, make sure that they actually learn the topic over 315 00:15:37,860 --> 00:15:40,530 Krutika Adatia: a period and come back and revisit it and that 316 00:15:40,530 --> 00:15:44,460 Krutika Adatia: question practice that you mentioned. Now, at the beginning, Scott, 317 00:15:44,490 --> 00:15:48,360 Krutika Adatia: I referenced that I'd listened to James Clear's book, Atomic 318 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:52,230 Krutika Adatia: Habits, and he talks a lot about systems and strategies 319 00:15:52,230 --> 00:15:54,750 Krutika Adatia: there. So I just wanted to touch on that with 320 00:15:54,750 --> 00:16:00,000 Krutika Adatia: you. What are some of these strategies for habit formation 321 00:16:00,030 --> 00:16:01,560 Krutika Adatia: and why do they work? 322 00:16:02,340 --> 00:16:04,260 Scott Young: If you are trying to set up a new habit, 323 00:16:04,500 --> 00:16:08,400 Scott Young: thinking about all the ways that the environment, the routine, 324 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:12,570 Scott Young: the sort of social calendar can reinforce that association will 325 00:16:12,570 --> 00:16:15,390 Scott Young: make it more easy to form as a habit. So 326 00:16:15,780 --> 00:16:18,270 Scott Young: one counter example that I like to give up or 327 00:16:18,270 --> 00:16:21,120 Scott Young: like a contrarian example that I like to give up 328 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:22,979 Scott Young: is that a lot of people when they're trying to 329 00:16:22,980 --> 00:16:26,730 Scott Young: start new exercise habits go on a, " Well, I'm going 330 00:16:26,730 --> 00:16:28,470 Scott Young: to try to go three or four times a week." 331 00:16:29,130 --> 00:16:31,560 Scott Young: If your self- set aim is to only exercise three 332 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,680 Scott Young: to four times a week, then there's always a decision 333 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:36,240 Scott Young: in your head. " Do I do it today or, nah, 334 00:16:36,270 --> 00:16:38,430 Scott Young: maybe I'll do it tomorrow." And then, that often becomes 335 00:16:38,430 --> 00:16:40,950 Scott Young: when you're busy, " Well, instead of exercising three or four 336 00:16:40,950 --> 00:16:44,010 Scott Young: times a week, I'm exercising one or two times," or, " 337 00:16:44,130 --> 00:16:46,680 Scott Young: Actually it's been three weeks since I've exercised." And then 338 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:49,830 Scott Young: this kind of thing builds up. Whereas, if you set 339 00:16:49,830 --> 00:16:52,170 Scott Young: yourself the aim of like, " Well, I exercise every day," 340 00:16:52,170 --> 00:16:55,020 Scott Young: and even better if you can manage to exercise at 341 00:16:55,020 --> 00:16:57,570 Scott Young: the same time every day, so let's say just when 342 00:16:57,570 --> 00:16:59,340 Scott Young: you wake up in the morning, you go and exercise 343 00:16:59,340 --> 00:17:01,950 Scott Young: or during your lunch break, if it's very consistent that 344 00:17:01,950 --> 00:17:04,080 Scott Young: you always exercise at that time, even if it's a 345 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:06,810 Scott Young: shorter workout, maybe only 20 minutes, that's going to be 346 00:17:06,810 --> 00:17:10,020 Scott Young: much more consistent. So like your morning yoga routine, that 347 00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:13,830 Scott Young: very consistent A- B association is going to prime you. 348 00:17:14,100 --> 00:17:18,540 Scott Young: And, whereas, if you have sometimes where, well, B sometimes 349 00:17:18,540 --> 00:17:21,030 Scott Young: follows A, but sometimes you do C, then if the 350 00:17:21,030 --> 00:17:22,859 Scott Young: C thing is easier than the B, then you're going 351 00:17:22,859 --> 00:17:26,010 Scott Young: to go down that path. I've found personally that whenever 352 00:17:26,010 --> 00:17:27,930 Scott Young: I am falling off the wagon or if I need 353 00:17:27,930 --> 00:17:30,060 Scott Young: to start up a new exercise habit, okay, starting with 354 00:17:30,060 --> 00:17:33,389 Scott Young: a daily, much more effective and locking it in, then 355 00:17:33,390 --> 00:17:35,250 Scott Young: trying to do it, let's say. three to four times 356 00:17:35,250 --> 00:17:35,399 Scott Young: a week. 357 00:17:35,790 --> 00:17:38,820 Krutika Adatia: Yeah, so that consistency being key as well, because I'm 358 00:17:39,300 --> 00:17:42,390 Krutika Adatia: thinking about our learners who might just be like, "You know what? I'm 359 00:17:42,420 --> 00:17:44,820 Krutika Adatia: going to bosh out two hours of study today," but 360 00:17:44,820 --> 00:17:47,850 Krutika Adatia: actually what might be more beneficial is to sort of 361 00:17:48,270 --> 00:17:51,389 Krutika Adatia: start small and then kind of work up to it. 362 00:17:51,869 --> 00:17:54,148 Krutika Adatia: Would that be a sensible approach, Scott, would you say? 363 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:57,510 Scott Young: Yeah. I mean, definitely working up to it can be 364 00:17:57,540 --> 00:18:01,260 Scott Young: a way of getting your feet wet if you're finding 365 00:18:01,260 --> 00:18:03,869 Scott Young: it hard. And I think especially if you're thinking that, " 366 00:18:03,900 --> 00:18:08,250 Scott Young: Okay, well, my default studying approach is that I don't 367 00:18:08,250 --> 00:18:10,230 Scott Young: do any studying and then I do this sort of 368 00:18:10,230 --> 00:18:13,020 Scott Young: mad rush three weeks before the exam," you're not going 369 00:18:13,020 --> 00:18:15,180 Scott Young: to commit to two hours of studying every day when 370 00:18:15,270 --> 00:18:18,720 Scott Young: your past habit was to do nothing for three months. 371 00:18:18,990 --> 00:18:20,970 Scott Young: That might be asking for too much. But I do 372 00:18:20,970 --> 00:18:23,639 Scott Young: think some of these ideas that like, " Okay, if I 373 00:18:23,640 --> 00:18:25,470 Scott Young: do need to study seriously and I do need to 374 00:18:25,470 --> 00:18:29,369 Scott Young: be in control of studying independently," finding ways that I 375 00:18:29,369 --> 00:18:32,850 Scott Young: can make that contextual association. Another example is how you 376 00:18:32,850 --> 00:18:36,450 Scott Young: can use the surrounding environment to reinforce a habit, too. 377 00:18:36,450 --> 00:18:39,000 Scott Young: So once you're at the gym, it's so strongly conditioned 378 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:40,770 Scott Young: that you exercise that you often don't even think about 379 00:18:40,770 --> 00:18:42,179 Scott Young: it. You start working out. You don't go to the 380 00:18:42,180 --> 00:18:44,220 Scott Young: gym and then just usually sit there and do nothing. 381 00:18:44,340 --> 00:18:46,680 Scott Young: And so similarly, if you get in the habit of, " 382 00:18:46,920 --> 00:18:49,770 Scott Young: Okay, well, I'm going to go every morning to a 383 00:18:49,770 --> 00:18:52,710 Scott Young: particular cafe or a particular library, and that's where I 384 00:18:52,710 --> 00:18:56,010 Scott Young: do my studying," that environment shift means that, well, once 385 00:18:56,010 --> 00:18:58,980 Scott Young: you're sitting in the library, maybe you're not thrilled about 386 00:18:58,980 --> 00:19:01,350 Scott Young: studying, but it's going to happen much more automatically than 387 00:19:01,350 --> 00:19:04,649 Scott Young: if you're sitting at your couch at home and your 388 00:19:04,650 --> 00:19:07,230 Scott Young: remote for the TV is like just two feet away 389 00:19:07,230 --> 00:19:09,330 Scott Young: outside of your arm. And if you just reach over, you 390 00:19:09,330 --> 00:19:11,399 Scott Young: can watch some Netflix instead of actually getting down to 391 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,910 Scott Young: the books. That's another example where that can happen. Other 392 00:19:14,910 --> 00:19:19,740 Scott Young: examples are using the social environment. So I didn't mention 393 00:19:19,740 --> 00:19:22,770 Scott Young: this, but my wife is actually an accountant here- 394 00:19:22,770 --> 00:19:22,801 Krutika Adatia: Oh yeah. 395 00:19:22,801 --> 00:19:24,449 Scott Young: ... in Canada, so it's a bit of a different 396 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:27,090 Scott Young: procedure. And one of the things that she found very 397 00:19:27,090 --> 00:19:29,850 Scott Young: helpful when she was studying for her accountancy exams was 398 00:19:29,850 --> 00:19:32,250 Scott Young: to have a studying partner. And so they would meet 399 00:19:32,250 --> 00:19:35,609 Scott Young: at the library at a particular time to study together. 400 00:19:35,609 --> 00:19:38,430 Scott Young: And some of that was so that they could quiz each 401 00:19:38,430 --> 00:19:40,080 Scott Young: other and help each other study and this kind of thing. But a 402 00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:42,420 Scott Young: big part of it was that, well, if that person 403 00:19:42,420 --> 00:19:44,220 Scott Young: shows up and you're not there, you're going to feel a 404 00:19:44,220 --> 00:19:46,020 Scott Young: little bit bad. So that's another way that you can 405 00:19:46,020 --> 00:19:49,260 Scott Young: kind of, again, change some of those sort of how 406 00:19:49,260 --> 00:19:51,869 Scott Young: you perceive the rewards and costs that make that habit a little bit 407 00:19:51,869 --> 00:19:53,130 Scott Young: easier, a little bit stickier. 408 00:19:53,340 --> 00:19:56,490 Krutika Adatia: Yeah. And the sort of reference you made to the 409 00:19:56,490 --> 00:19:59,280 Krutika Adatia: environment, I know, so I have a sort of home 410 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:02,010 Krutika Adatia: office and I know the minute I go in there, that 411 00:20:02,010 --> 00:20:04,080 Krutika Adatia: puts me in that zone of, " Right, I'm going to 412 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:07,650 Krutika Adatia: be working." So you touched on reward there just briefly 413 00:20:07,650 --> 00:20:12,300 Krutika Adatia: as well. So how important is rewarding ourselves when we 414 00:20:12,300 --> 00:20:14,310 Krutika Adatia: do successfully form a good habit? 415 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:18,959 Scott Young: Yeah. So I think there's an interesting kind of split, I would 416 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,410 Scott Young: say, in looking at the research on rewards because one 417 00:20:22,410 --> 00:20:24,090 Scott Young: school of thought, and this is sort of go back 418 00:20:24,090 --> 00:20:26,250 Scott Young: to our behaviors idea here, is that the more you 419 00:20:26,250 --> 00:20:29,280 Scott Young: can reward an activity. So if you add other things 420 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:31,590 Scott Young: that you like to the end of an activity, so 421 00:20:31,859 --> 00:20:34,590 Scott Young: you give yourself a little treat after you stick to 422 00:20:34,590 --> 00:20:36,000 Scott Young: the study and you do this kind of stuff, it's 423 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:38,790 Scott Young: going to make the whole activity more pleasurable. But there's 424 00:20:38,850 --> 00:20:42,270 Scott Young: two sort of problems with going that kind of directly, " 425 00:20:42,270 --> 00:20:44,010 Scott Young: I'm going to reward myself," sort of route. So one 426 00:20:44,010 --> 00:20:47,790 Scott Young: problem is that if the rewards are self- administered, you 427 00:20:47,790 --> 00:20:50,040 Scott Young: can always short- circuit them. So there is a little 428 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:51,990 Scott Young: bit of a like it requires a bit of willpower 429 00:20:51,990 --> 00:20:53,850 Scott Young: to even just stick with the, " Okay, I'm going to 430 00:20:53,850 --> 00:20:56,490 Scott Young: give myself this reward schedule." It works a little bit 431 00:20:56,490 --> 00:20:59,640 Scott Young: better if there's some sort of natural association. So if 432 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:02,400 Scott Young: you study at a cafe that has a particular kind 433 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,850 Scott Young: of like fancy matcha latte that you like, I think that even matcha latte 434 00:21:05,850 --> 00:21:08,280 Scott Young: makes sense because it's part of that. And those habits 435 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:10,169 Scott Young: I think are not bad. That's sort of what we 436 00:21:10,170 --> 00:21:12,149 Scott Young: were talking about before about like ways you can make 437 00:21:12,150 --> 00:21:15,390 Scott Young: the overall activity more pleasurable. But one disadvantage of this 438 00:21:15,390 --> 00:21:17,460 Scott Young: approach is that if you rely a lot on these 439 00:21:17,460 --> 00:21:20,190 Scott Young: sort of external incentives, then it also changes how you 440 00:21:20,190 --> 00:21:23,100 Scott Young: view the task itself. So there's a lot of research 441 00:21:23,100 --> 00:21:26,700 Scott Young: on intrinsic motivation showing that the way that we think 442 00:21:26,700 --> 00:21:30,209 Scott Young: about our activities changes when they're in the presence of 443 00:21:30,330 --> 00:21:34,290 Scott Young: sort of these external rewards and punishments. And we think 444 00:21:34,290 --> 00:21:37,200 Scott Young: of them as being less voluntarily chosen and more done 445 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,260 Scott Young: just to get that particular award, which can sometimes backfire 446 00:21:40,260 --> 00:21:42,270 Scott Young: if you're not able to reward yourself in that way. 447 00:21:42,270 --> 00:21:44,790 Scott Young: So if the only reason you go and do the studying is 448 00:21:44,790 --> 00:21:47,669 Scott Young: because you get that special matcha latte, then when the 449 00:21:47,670 --> 00:21:50,100 Scott Young: café's closed, maybe you're just like, " I don't have any 450 00:21:50,100 --> 00:21:51,990 Scott Young: motivation to study at all because that thing has been 451 00:21:51,990 --> 00:21:54,510 Scott Young: removed." I think one thing that we all feel when 452 00:21:54,510 --> 00:21:57,030 Scott Young: we're studying is that there is an intrinsic satisfaction in 453 00:21:57,030 --> 00:22:00,389 Scott Young: doing a good job to making progress with what we're 454 00:22:00,390 --> 00:22:03,300 Scott Young: studying. And so I recommend for students who are making 455 00:22:03,300 --> 00:22:05,940 Scott Young: some kind of studying plan to really articulate like what 456 00:22:05,940 --> 00:22:07,619 Scott Young: are the steps that you're going to have to take 457 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:11,040 Scott Young: for studying? So not just this amorphous studying task, but 458 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:13,740 Scott Young: sort of like, " Okay, there's these units that I'm going 459 00:22:13,740 --> 00:22:15,659 Scott Young: to have to review, maybe I have to review them 460 00:22:15,780 --> 00:22:17,700 Scott Young: a certain number of times before I get them, I'm 461 00:22:17,700 --> 00:22:20,010 Scott Young: going to have to do these particular assignments," Make it 462 00:22:20,010 --> 00:22:21,659 Scott Young: in a sort of big list. And then, when you're 463 00:22:21,660 --> 00:22:23,970 Scott Young: done, like you cross off the things that you've finished 464 00:22:24,030 --> 00:22:26,430 Scott Young: and that is going to be that feeling of progress 465 00:22:26,430 --> 00:22:28,770 Scott Young: is going to remind you of how you've made headway 466 00:22:29,010 --> 00:22:30,570 Scott Young: every single day. And I think if you can end 467 00:22:30,570 --> 00:22:33,060 Scott Young: a studying session with like, " Oh, I had this big 468 00:22:33,060 --> 00:22:34,560 Scott Young: list of all the things I have to do for 469 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,290 Scott Young: this semester or for this class and I've crossed off 470 00:22:37,290 --> 00:22:39,060 Scott Young: some of them," that's going to make you feel good 471 00:22:39,060 --> 00:22:40,770 Scott Young: and that's going to be rewarding in and of itself 472 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,790 Scott Young: in a way that you don't have to necessarily fake 473 00:22:44,790 --> 00:22:47,070 Scott Young: with something external to the task itself. 474 00:22:47,700 --> 00:22:51,030 Krutika Adatia: That helps me understand why I find it so satisfying 475 00:22:51,030 --> 00:22:53,430 Krutika Adatia: to just tick off things on my task list. So 476 00:22:53,700 --> 00:22:58,530 Krutika Adatia: thank you for sharing that. Just in terms of wrapping 477 00:22:58,530 --> 00:23:02,790 Krutika Adatia: up, what are the three top tips that you would give 478 00:23:02,790 --> 00:23:05,400 Krutika Adatia: to our listeners for building better habits? 479 00:23:05,850 --> 00:23:09,930 Scott Young: One tip that I would share for sure is that 480 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:13,830 Scott Young: there is a temptation to cut back on these kinds 481 00:23:13,830 --> 00:23:17,160 Scott Young: of habits. So we're using the example of like exercise, 482 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:19,530 Scott Young: but I could give lots of sort of lifestyle habits 483 00:23:19,890 --> 00:23:22,109 Scott Young: that buttress you're studying. So not just the studying itself, 484 00:23:22,109 --> 00:23:26,369 Scott Young: but things like getting enough exercise, eating a decent diet, 485 00:23:27,210 --> 00:23:31,379 Scott Young: sleeping well. Sleeping is a big one. These sorts of... 486 00:23:31,650 --> 00:23:34,410 Scott Young: Maybe even spending a little bit of time like maintaining 487 00:23:34,410 --> 00:23:36,960 Scott Young: your social connections, these kinds of things, these things feel 488 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:39,090 Scott Young: frivolous. And often when you are under a lot of 489 00:23:39,090 --> 00:23:42,119 Scott Young: strain, a lot of stress, it's easy to be like, " 490 00:23:42,119 --> 00:23:43,560 Scott Young: I don't have a choice. I have to ditch these 491 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:46,740 Scott Young: things." And the problem is that in the short run, 492 00:23:46,859 --> 00:23:49,650 Scott Young: it makes sense. You're in some sort of crisis, some 493 00:23:49,650 --> 00:23:53,400 Scott Young: acute situation. Spending an hour at the gym today probably 494 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,100 Scott Young: doesn't make sense if you've got an exam tomorrow. But 495 00:23:56,550 --> 00:23:58,619 Scott Young: in the long run, if you cut down on all 496 00:23:58,619 --> 00:24:01,590 Scott Young: these habits, you're going to find yourself more stressed, more 497 00:24:01,590 --> 00:24:03,869 Scott Young: tired, more exhausted. It's going to be much harder to 498 00:24:03,869 --> 00:24:06,389 Scott Young: do a lot of those things. So I think the 499 00:24:06,390 --> 00:24:08,879 Scott Young: main tip I would look at first is just when 500 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,429 Scott Young: we're thinking about how we want to design our studying, 501 00:24:11,430 --> 00:24:13,830 Scott Young: and I know for a lot of students who are 502 00:24:13,830 --> 00:24:16,470 Scott Young: in this sort of program, you're looking at a couple 503 00:24:16,470 --> 00:24:19,020 Scott Young: years maybe of studying where you're also working and you 504 00:24:19,020 --> 00:24:21,660 Scott Young: also have a lot of strain, is not to be 505 00:24:21,660 --> 00:24:24,240 Scott Young: heroic. You don't have to be running marathons and doing 506 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:26,459 Scott Young: anything like that, but finding ways that you can have 507 00:24:26,460 --> 00:24:29,910 Scott Young: these small little habits that keep your energy levels up, 508 00:24:29,910 --> 00:24:32,820 Scott Young: that keep you sort of in a place where you 509 00:24:32,820 --> 00:24:34,800 Scott Young: can actually sustain the pace that you're doing for a 510 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:38,100 Scott Young: lot longer. That's an important point to have. And so 511 00:24:38,100 --> 00:24:41,070 Scott Young: I think keeping that kind of mindset of sustainability is 512 00:24:41,070 --> 00:24:43,740 Scott Young: very important, especially since there's so much pressure to do 513 00:24:43,740 --> 00:24:46,199 Scott Young: the opposite and to kind of burn the candle at 514 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:47,640 Scott Young: both ends and then ending up burned out. 515 00:24:47,970 --> 00:24:51,119 Krutika Adatia: Yeah. Really, really great tips there. And thank you so 516 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:55,619 Krutika Adatia: much for sharing some great nuggets throughout this conversation. Thank 517 00:24:55,619 --> 00:24:55,771 Krutika Adatia: you, Scott. 518 00:24:55,771 --> 00:24:57,750 Scott Young: Yes, thank you for having me. 519 00:24:58,260 --> 00:25:01,619 Krutika Adatia: And if you're interested in nutrition and sleep, do check 520 00:25:01,619 --> 00:25:05,130 Krutika Adatia: out the episodes from season two. And that's it from 521 00:25:05,130 --> 00:25:08,430 Krutika Adatia: this episode of On Your Marks. Thank you, Scott, for 522 00:25:08,430 --> 00:25:13,980 Krutika Adatia: chatting with me today. For more information about ACCA exams, 523 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:20,159 Krutika Adatia: you can go to www. accaglobal. com/ exams. And to 524 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,830 Krutika Adatia: watch the video version of this podcast, check out the 525 00:25:22,830 --> 00:25:26,070 Krutika Adatia: link in the show notes. See you next time. I'm 526 00:25:26,070 --> 00:25:30,629 Krutika Adatia: Krutika Adatia, and this has been On Your Marks. On Your 527 00:25:30,630 --> 00:25:34,410 Krutika Adatia: Marks is a Fresh Air Production for ACCA. Its producers 528 00:25:34,410 --> 00:25:38,639 Krutika Adatia: are Eva Higginbotham, Annie Day, Finlay Macrae, and it's edited 529 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:39,900 Krutika Adatia: by Helen Quigley.