I'm overnight babysitting this weekend and have been working on a ppt for an upcoming work meeting as well as doing some of my real estate continuing education online courses. The girls both attend Blake and are in 7th and 9th grade, so they have quite a bit of homework. I am finding myself running away from them to find a safe haven to work and focus, specifically the 9th grader...and she keeps following me around the house or it's impossible to escape her in an open floor plan concept home.
I am very much solitary in my work and study habits, and I simply need silence. If the TV is on or music is playing, I can't control myself from tuning it out and focusing on what needs to be done. I find myself re-reading the same passages over and over again because I can't remember a thing about them when I get done. Not sure if I would have turned out this way naturally or if this was bred out of my parent's insistence that I couldn't possibly be focusing on my school work if I was also watching the TV and listening to music. Regardless, they were certainly right and I agree with this philosophy. My attention can't properly be on driving if I'm also texting, so how can I be watching TV and studying at the same time?
My study buddies this weekend have some stupid reality TV show on in one room and music playing on their computer, their IM or phone dinging with texts every other second, all while "studying". They both are good students, so this process must work somehow, but I can't concentrate to save my life. When I gently suggested to the 9th grader that I would appreciate if you she used headphones, she agreed but can't seem to help herself from singing along out loud when the ear buds go in. So instead of Katy Perry singing, I hear a 9th grader singing off key and sporadically to hip hop and rap accapella. It is NOT aca-awesome (I watched Pitch Perfect yesterday). She also feels the need to offer some pretentious comment about what she's working on every now and then. "Did you take Spanish? My teacher says I should only use direct Spanish resources for my homework, no translations allowed." or "My assignment is 60 minutes of reading?! OMG, how do they think I possibly have time for 60 minutes of reading? I'm 14! I don't have time for ANYthing."
So I leave the room to get some friggin peace and quiet (I have turned into a crabby old lady) so I can really focus and dig in on all the riverting intricacies of disclosure requirements in the state of Minnesota. But she finds me and doesn't want to be working alone. I will gently ask if she can turn the ding off her IMs with friends, and remind her that she is singing out loud...again. She kinda laughs and seems not to notice or be able to control herself. Questioning how I can get anything done; she NEEDS background noise. Kid, you are a flipping circus! No wonder it takes you 6 hours to do your homework. Blake isn't that hard, you just count texting, selfies, FB updates, YouTube, changing your Spotify station, tuning in to see who got kicked off dance moms, yelling at your sister, and eating as "study time".
Am I crabby old buzzard? Am I the only one who can't abide distractions when I am really trying to focus and get something done? Am I severely hampered that my brain is not able to compartmentalize and multi-task? If you are one these social, need music on studiers, how do you make it work?
Dang, I've been found...I wonder if the Wifi will work in my car in the garage....
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