According to Lerner and Schlechter, the key to avoiding temptation and procrastination patterns is to engineer your surroundings so that are not frequently encountering the things that tempt you the most. In other words, if you want to avoid eating marshmallows, don’t put the marshmallows on the table in front of you and stare at them. Leave them in another room, behind a closed cabinet door, in a locked box, whose combination is in the possession of a friend (that may be taking things too far, but you get the picture).
Describe the “marshmallows” in your life: What are the things that tempt you the most, sometimes keeping you from more important things (like work or study) that you have, in theory, prioritized? Food? Social media? TV? Shopping?
Consider ways that you might keep these temptation at bay and give your willpower enough rest to ensure it’s there when you need it.
Alternatively, do you have any success stories to share about techniques you have successfully used to avoid temptation and procrastination?
My temptation/marshmallow is a combination of everything that is in the prompt. Social media, TV, shopping and so much more but I think it’s a combination of all of these that make us a major marshmallow of mine of being comfortable. Relaxation and taking time to have fun is amazing and is absolutely a necessity but I struggle with sometimes relaxing too much and taking too much time away from other areas that would 100% be more beneficial. The way I know to keep this temptation away is to be meta about it, to have the willpower to stop yourself from potentially wasting what finite time you have on something that isn’t beneficial. The best success stories I have about avoiding temptation and procrastination all share a common variable of accountability. Holding not only yourself accountable but others accountable as well have made all the difference because now you’re not just doing for yourself but you’re doing it for others as well.
ReplyDeleteBro, I could not have said it better! Food, social media, and TV are things I would say are definitely a temptation/marshmallow for me as well. Having said this, I have realized that it does make it more difficult for me for take some relaxation time for myself. Without taking any time for myself, I realized that managing everything going on in my life (which is already difficult as is) makes it much more of a challenge. Your last sentence really said a lot to me. "Holding not one yourself accountable but other accountable as well have made all the difference because now you're not just doing for yourself but you're doing it for others as well." We will have to talk about it next time we see each other during the semester!
DeleteThe things that tend to be marshmallows in my life are activities such as ping pong, volleyball, or corn hole. These things last school year would distract me from important things such as homework and studying. One way to avoid this is to always make sure that I get my important things done first instead of procrastinating. Fun activities are fine, but not when they take the place if things that are important.
ReplyDeleteAs I have mentioned in a previous question I have ADHD. This really affects how I focus on every task I do. I can hardly do one task without wanting to start another and ditch this one completely. Sometimes I hyperfixate and can't hear a single thing around me. Other times I hear every pen click, every phone ding, and every conversation. I have had to really teach myself how to focus when other things are going on around me. I try to maximize my focus window by removing almost everything from my study field. No music, nothing that can remind me of other projects, and my phone not in sight. This makes things like working in a group very hard cause I can easily find myself going off on story tangents or getting distracted from the project at hand by thinking about what someone is wearing or how they're t's sounds as they speak. It is a major hurdle I have had to focus on as I got more into actually focusing and working on large projects.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most dangerous “marshmallows” in my life is shopping. I love everything about it. The stores are fun to explore, you never know what you will find and it’s almost like creating a mini Christmas for myself every time I add to the cart (whether it’s physical or online). As you can imagine, this marshmallow can become very expensive very quickly, and it definitely takes away from my ability to be satisfied with the clothes, accessories, and decorations that I already have. This temptation can’t just be locked away in a box somewhere, but there are multiple ways to avoid it. I can start to keep track of my spending: the waning of my bank account is always a big motivator. I can delete the online shopping apps on my phone such as Amazon and Etsy. (I could also stand to delete Pinterest; I don’t need any more inspo.) Additionally, I could make a point to go somewhere besides shopping centers or malls when I hang out with friends. We could easily find other things to do.
ReplyDeleteMy phone and social media are definitely my biggest temptations. Especially when I am working on homework and my phone is right next to me, it is so easy to pick it up and get distracted instead of working on my school work. While working virtually, I realized that I was not getting any school work done because I was constantly getting distracted by my phone. I had so much work that I told myself that I would allow myself time on my phone after I got it all done, however, it seemed almost impossible that I would get it done timely, so I would be on my phone rather than doing my work. In order to be more productive, I would set 30-45 minute timers (depending on the assignment and how long it would take me) to work on my work and I would strictly not allow myself on my phone. Then, I would allow myself a 10-15 minute break to be on my phone. This really worked for me because I had time set aside to be on my phone instead of telling myself that I could allow myself time on my phone after I finished all of my work.
ReplyDeleteMy “marshmallow” would definitely be my phone. When I am trying to study or read a book I am often tempted to reach for my phone. Once I open my phone, it’s game over. I go to social media and any ounce of focus I had is gone. I found it is beneficial to turn my phone on silent, and sometimes even put it across the room. If it’s out of sight it’s out of mind right? This works for me personally to combat the temptation to scroll on social media when I should be studying.
ReplyDeleteOh boy, my "marshmallow" is ice cream. I may be lactose intolerant, but boy, I can never turn ice cream down. I love it. Like, a concerning amount. (Which is exactly why I didn't buy any for my dorm room.) My goal was basically, "don't eat ice cream," and If I don't buy it, I generally won't be able to eat it. A lot of times if we just sever our ability to obtain our "marshmallows," then we won't fall victim to it.
ReplyDeleteMy “marshmallow” is my own mind, as in there are many things that are around me that can tempt me to do. Anything from as little as a paperclip can keep me from doing what I need to do. It’s hard for me to stay focused in a classroom environment without needing to touch or fiddle with something. I do my best, but it is difficult. I have decided to take small breaks in between working so that I don’t feel like I am burnt out or stressed. It helps to keep a paced schedule and a paced break schedule so that there’s not much that I can be distracted with.
ReplyDeleteThe two biggest for me are for sure food and my phone. I can struggle with deciding to eat the right thing and most of the time I lose that battle. I have wasted so much time just sitting on my phone when there is so much other stuff I could be doing that would be so much more beneficiary.
ReplyDeleteSpending money and my phone are 2 of the biggest temptations in my life. Texting and social media take up way more of my time than I expect or would like. Once I sit down and start scrolling, I lose complete track of time and end up wasting hours out of the day. When I am making money it is easy for me to spend it and buy "rewards" for putting in hard work.
ReplyDeleteMallory Forgione
Social media, TV, and spending time with my friends and family are the marshmallows in my life that keep me from work and study. These marshmallows don’t stop me from completing the important things, but they do hinder the amount of time I put into completing those tasks. Next time I study I am going to try and turn my phone and TV completely off and stay in a nice quiet room by myself. I’m sure by doing these things I will get a lot more work accomplished.
ReplyDeleteMy marshmallow in life is Tik Tok, I know it is a super bad habit, but I watch it every day. It relaxes me and distracts me from the stress of life. Recently I have been trying to limit my amount of time on Tik Toke even on my phone. I set time limits on my phone and have been switching my phone for a book.
ReplyDeleteAllie Brown
My biggest "marshmallow" in life would be my relationships. When I consider someone to be important in my life, I will drop anything important to do whatever it is that they need me to. Although some might consider this a strength, there's always an extreme to any positive characteristic. Basically, I'm not good at putting my own priorities and responsibilities over the needs and desires of my friends/boyfriend/mentor, whoever it may be in my life.
ReplyDeleteOne way that I could possibly give my brain power some much needed rest is to schedule my time better. Instead of accomplishing things whenever I get the time, I need to set time aside to get things done. And once that time is established, I need to resist giving it up to someone else.
Anything in my immediate vicinity can be a marshmallow. I'll get distracted by literally anything nearby, and it certainly doesn't help that I usually keep my phone or laptop close at all times. I can distracted by nothing sometimes; I can be listening to someone talk and they'll say something intriguing and I'll go off on a little tangent in my head until I snap out of it. My ability to focus on one thing at a time comes in bursts and I've been trying to help keep myself on task by doing exactly what the books says and keeping them away from me, but that doesn't always help. My room is chock-full of weird little trinkets that I'll just start toying with randomly while doing something. I've gotten to the point of being productive as a way to get distracted from doing other productive things; I can be writing a paper and I'll just start cleaning my room. I've gotten better at keeping focused at times by just mentally smacking myself when I get distracted and it works sometimes. The best solution for me is to convince myself that whatever I'm supposed to be doing is interesting in some capacity. That usually works.
ReplyDeleteMy phone contains all of the little marshmallows for sure. Anything from scrolling on TikTok through the endless amounts of weird videos to playing little mobile games just for the heck of it. My phone is a gateway that leads me away from the real world and its stressful qualities. Although it’s nice to get out of an anxious state of mind and distract yourself, it’s only temporary. Not only is it temporary but at times it can even get in your way of finishing things that you have to do in real life. “Hmm should I do my chores or watch hyper realistic slime videos”. The possibilities are endless really and there’s not much that can stop you other than yourself. YouTube is the largest marshmallow known to man, I could sit there and watch documentations all day. Anything from documentaries, explained videos of video games that I like, or reaction videos.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter of the book focuses on willpower and how it is a necessity when being faced with temptations in order to have the strength to turn them down. Like in the book, the children with stronger willpower got two marshmallows and were more likely to lead a more successful life. The children who gave into their temptation only got one, and had a higher chance of leading a less successful life. Two particular temptations I have been presented with recently are snacks in my dorm room and procrastinating school work to play on my phone. In my dorm, I have been surrounded by my favorite snacks and when they are so close to me it can be difficult to turn down. I also tend to procrastinate, and it can be hard not to when today's world is heavily revolved around technology directly at our fingertips. It can be so easy to convince myself that I can afford a few minutes on my phone instead of doing my work, or that I should have a snack every time I get up. These are temptations that probably most of us face, and it takes strong willpower to keep yourself from them. I believe that if I don't buy my favorite snacks, then I will be less likely to eat as many snacks during the day. I also believe that if I leave my phone across the room for an hour or two I will have more chance of doing my work. I have used these techniques before and they do work for me, I just need to use them more often.
ReplyDelete-Charlie Rogers
Easily my marshmallow is video games. For a pretty large portion of my life, I've not had a ton of free time, I went to school then went home and worked into the evening until everything got finished or until nightfall. So, with most of my time being later in the evening, video games or any other screen-oriented activities were very convenient for me. This hasn't been too big of a problem until right about now when I've found that I'm pretty bad at regulating myself if given free time and no immediate priorities to tend to. This has resulted in me feeling tired from staying up to late or procrastinating when I have important assignments to get to.
ReplyDeleteOne great way to stave off this temptation for me is simply filling my schedule with small periodic tasks that make me feel productive. I'm far less tempted to lay down and scroll my phone or hop on my Xbox if I feel like I'm getting stuff done. Doing laundry, working out, or cleaning my room gives me the motivation to get my work and other important tasks done. If I'm consistent with my responsibilities, I can go a long way in adjusting to my own schedule and putting entertainment where it needs to go in my schedule.