Barrett Ryan’s Reviews > A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel at Math and Science > Status Update

Choking happens when working memory is totally occupied, and unable to balance all necessary concepts for reaching a solution; chunking condenses these concepts in your mind, to leave more space for working memory. Recording goals, big and small, takes a load off of memory, to focus more effectively on particular tasks. Procrastination cues should be logged over time and slowly addressed to transform habits.

The key to overcoming procrastination is utilizing willpower to cultivate a more productive reaction to a habitual cue.

Focused-thinking & diffuse-thinking can be integrated together to maximize retention. Chunking is a process whereby memories are condensed by association to free space for numerous recall processes. Procrastination is a habitual barrier to effectively processing and retaining new information.

Focused-thinking and diffuse-thinking are two modes of thinking we switch between. The former is more intensive, while the latter is more abstract. Focused-thinking can block our initial ability to solve problems, by hyper-fixating on an erroneous approach (einstellung). Procrastination forces sparse focused-thinking, resulting in a strong disadvantage of information retainment.

Let’s begin!