Prentis, Jeffrey, 203–4
Presidential Medal of Freedom, 214
priming your mental pump, 11, 61, 61, 81, 113, 260
prioritizing and procrastination, 146
problem solving, chunking, 62–63, 65, 71
process vs. product, 101–2, 104, 104, 106, 107, 109
procrastination, 83–92, 144–54
addiction and, 87, 88–89
attention difficulties, 149, 150
brain and, 86–89, 87
challenge of, 17, 24, 26
change, possibility of, 88
cramming, 24, 38, 38, 85, 87–88, 111, 145, 185, 254, 259
discomfort and, 85–86, 90, 101, 102, 107
distractions and, 84, 105, 107, 150–51, 151, 154
FAQs, 148–52
focused mode of thinking and, 24
“just this one time” phenomenon, 135–36
smart people and, 188
summary, 90, 139–40, 152–53
tools, tips, and tricks, 126–43
transfer and, 211
willpower, 84, 91, 95, 97–98, 107, 150
wise waiting (pause and reflect), 146–48, 154
zombies (habits), 93–111
“zone, the,” working in, 144–46, 154
See also math and science, learning; zombies (habits)
Procrastination Equation, The (Steel), 96
pseudoscience as science, 229
puzzle pieces metaphor, 61, 61, 74, 74
Pythagorean theorem, 32
qualitative understanding of an equation, 236–37
questions, asking, 217, 260
quirky test questions, 218, 221
quitting time, planning, 132, 134, 141
Quizlet.com, 138
Ramachandran, V. S., 228
Ramanujan, Srinivasa, 223
random-access memory (RAM), 43
Ranjan, Apara, 32
RateMyProfessors.com, 110
recall and chunking, 61–68, 64, 67, 72–73, 78, 78, 90, 116, 117, 123, 125
rechecking your work, 228, 233, 236, 247, 248, 249
Reddit.com, 208
redos and creativity, 50
reducing anxiety and increasing your expertise. See anxiety, dealing with
reframing your focus, 127, 139, 140
refrigerator invention, 112
rehearsal and working memory, 42–43
relativity, 206
renaissance learning, 213–24
repetition of problem, chunking, 114
rereading, xvii–xviii, 61–62, 65, 71, 116, 117, 123, 125
resting state network, 11
retelling study material, 79, 207–8, 255, 258
retraining the brain, 5–6
reviewing material, 48, 58
rewarding yourself, 98, 99, 101, 106, 107, 108, 140, 152, 153
reward part of zombies (habits), 88, 95, 97, 98–99, 107
rewriting notes. See writing by hand
“Reykjavík Rapid” in 2004, 10, 10
right hemisphere of brain, 20, 225–27, 227, 228
Roberts, Seth, 128–29
Rohrer, Doug, 76
Rosenthal, Mike, 77–78
ROTC, 4
rote memorization, 113, 254
See also memory
Roth, Brad, 236, 236–37
routine part of zombies (habits), 84, 88, 94, 95, 96–97, 97, 107, 109, 129
rule following caution, 184
safecracking (Feynman), 252–53, 256
“safe environment” for criticism, 232
Sandburg, Carl, 30
Saucedo, Oraldo “Buddy,” 110, 110–11
schedule, freedom of a, 133
“school dreams,” 169
Schwalbe, Paul, 46
Science, 70
Science Olympiad, 189
Sciuto, Anthony, 169
Scoggin, Patrick, 211
sculpting your brain, 193–200
second nature, making knowledge, 63
seeking good advice from peers and teachers, 92, 260
Sejnowski, Terrence J., xv–xvi
self-control, 40, 48, 101
self-experimentation, 128–30
senses and memory, 159, 163, 164
sensory cortex, 187
sentence errors exercise, 33
sequential problem solving, 67, 67
setbacks, procrastination, 153, 154
setting goals, 136, 137, 141, 152
Shereshevsky, Solomon, 51, 52, 54, 55, 58
Sheridan, Tai, 127
Sherrington, Sir Charles, 205–6
short-term memory, 43
simplifying study material (explanatory questioning), 79, 207–8, 255, 258
SkillsToolbox.com, 163
Skinner, B. F., 146
sleep, 32, 34, 39, 44–46, 47, 60, 114, 153, 169, 182, 241, 248, 249, 260
“slower” students, 219–20, 221–22
“slow hunch,” 66
smart people and procrastination, 188
Smith, David Eugene, 202
snacks and memory, 164
songs and memory, 162, 181, 257
Sorby, Sheryl, 166, 166–67
Soviet Union and journalists, 51
spaced repetition, 43, 47, 69, 172, 172–74, 257
spatial memory, 157–58, 161, 166–67
spirituality, diffuse mode of thinking, 189
sports and math and science, 183
Stalling for Time (Noesner), 147
starting, zombies (habits), 105, 137, 141, 143, 152
StayFocusd, 139
Steel, Piers, 96
StickK, 139
“sticky student” syndrome, 217
stories and memory, 177, 181
“Strength of Weak Ties, The” (Granovetter), 231
stress, 103–4, 244–46, 248, 250–51
stuck, getting (Einstellung effect), 17, 25, 26, 27–28, 36–39, 38, 52, 146, 170, 186, 243
StudyBlue, 138
study groups, 120, 130, 231–33, 234, 235, 239, 240, 241, 255, 259
studying
rules, 257–60
strategies, 6–8, 261–63
See also math and science, learning
success, desire to practice, more success, 4, 6, 86, 99
success vs. GRE scores, 187
Sundaresan, Neel, 124, 124–25
synapse, 206
Syria, 168
talent, appreciating your. See appreciating your talent
talking to yourself, memory, 178, 181
talking with others for help, 40, 92, 260
Tan, Fabian Hadipriono, 174
TBI (traumatic brain injury), 80–81
Teacher of the Year Award, 105, 187
teachers, value of, 92, 216–18, 221, 260
teamwork, 225–37, 247, 248, 254
technology tips, studying, 137–39
TED talk, 163
teenagers and impulsive behavior, 195
television, problems using, 1–2
Ten Rules of Bad Studying, 259–60
Ten Rules of Good Studying, 257–58
testing effect, chunking, 119–20, 122, 238
testing yourself, 257
Test Preparation Checklist, 239–41, 248, 249
test taking, 238–51
tetracycline and acne, 128–29
thalamus, 52
thinking modes. See diffuse mode of thinking; focused mode of thinking
30/30, 138
Thompson, Silvanus, 169
thoughts, visual as well as verbal, 202
three B’s (
bed, bath, bus), 30
Thurston, William, 70
time to learn, giving yourself, 6, 36
Titanic (ship), 223
toggling between thinking modes
creativity and learning, 29–32, 31, 33–35, 36–39, 38, 46, 48
easy does it, 10, 20–23, 21, 22, 23, 25, 253
See also diffuse mode of thinking; focused mode of thinking
tools, tips, and tricks, 126–43
See also procrastination
top-down big-picture chunking process, 59, 60, 61, 61, 70, 79
transfer, 59, 209–11, 212
transition metals, 176
traumatic brain injury (TBI), 80–81
Treacher-Collins mutant, 105
triangles and squares exercise, 21, 21
trigger (cue) part of zombies (habits), 88, 94, 95, 96, 107, 109, 129, 153
trying too hard can sometimes be part of the problem. See easy does it
twenty-five-minute timer (Pomodoro technique), 24–25, 97, 99, 103, 103–7, 104, 108, 132, 138, 149, 151, 151, 253, 258
underestimating yourself, 189
underlining text, 62, 125, 178, 259
understanding basic idea for chunking, 58, 78, 79
units of measurement, friendly, 236, 247
unlocking your potential, 252–60
“upkeep” repetitions, 63
U.S. Army, 4–5, 142
U.S. Memory Championships, 156, 157
visualization, 156, 171, 171
visual memory, 157–58, 158, 158–59, 159, 161, 164, 165
visual metaphors, memory, 168–71, 171, 175, 181, 182, 255, 258
Wade, Nicholas, 223, 223–24
walking and recall, 30, 72–73, 90
Wassell, Shaun, 19
Wegener, Alfred, 55
Weierstrass, Karl, 204
weight training, 34–35
Where Good Ideas Come From (Johnson), 66
Whitehouse, Malcolm, 163
why vs. how, 183–84, 185, 185
Williamson, Alexander, 30
willpower, 34, 84, 91, 95, 97–98, 107, 150
wise waiting (pause and reflect), 146–48, 154
working a problem through, chunking, 56–57, 58, 82, 114, 259
working memory, 15, 41, 42, 42–43, 47, 64, 64, 65, 119, 121, 122, 157, 179, 186, 187
work in physics, 204–5
World Wide Web, 66
Wozniak, Steve, 216
writing about negative thoughts, 250
writing by hand
chunking and, 63, 76–77, 118, 125–26, 173, 257
memory and, 173, 177, 178, 181
Young, Scott, 208
YouTube, 27
Zettler, Bill, 105, 187
zombies (habits), 93–111
belief part of, 88, 95, 99–100, 107
cue (trigger) part of, 88, 94, 95, 96, 107, 109, 129, 153
energy savings from habits, 93–94
harnessing your, 84, 95–101, 97
marking the objective, 102
mental contrasting technique, 99–100, 108, 258
multitasking caution, 106, 108, 211, 212
neurological cravings, 93, 98
Pomodoro technique, 24–25, 97, 99, 103, 103–7, 104, 108, 132, 138, 149, 151, 151, 253, 258
process vs. product, focus, 101–2, 104, 104, 106, 107, 109
reward part of, 88, 95, 97, 98–99, 107
routine part of, 84, 88, 94, 95, 96–97, 97, 107, 109, 129
starting and, 105, 137, 141, 143, 152
summary, 107–8
zombie alliance (planner-journal), 130–37, 131, 140, 149, 152
See also procrastination
“zone, the,” working in, 144–46, 154
Zuckerberg, Mark, 216
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