Nutshell: It’s about time: how to make time for – and commit to – study

Mastering two simple techniques will help us make the most of the time we have available for regular, effective study.

Journalist and author Oliver Burkeman is not one to shy away from being contrarian. And he has plenty of things to say about a challenge we all face: how we can keep our heads above water when there are so many calls on our time. He believes that “The quest for increased personal productivity – for making the best possible use of our limited time – is a dominant motif of our age.” And, for Burkeman, that quest is not a positive one.

Sound familiar? At work, at home, with our colleagues, family and friends, there always seems to be so much to do. We may find ourselves ping-ponging from task to task and commitment to commitment with little or no time to take stock. Worse, Burkeman believes that the very time management techniques that have been developed to help us make tough decisions about how we spend our precious time can actually make things worse. They can loom large to such an extent that, rather than offering a solution, they become part of the problem: “More often than not, techniques designed to enhance one’s personal productivity seem to exacerbate the very anxieties they were meant to allay”.

As you embark on this course of study, the challenge of carving out enough time to get everything done is most likely looming large for you too.

So, what to do?

Burkeman’s thesis is seductive. Spending yet more time thinking about how to spend our time may seem counter-intuitive. The fact remains, though, that you will need make the most of the time you have available to help embed study into your routine and schedule - and this can be hard.

Not everyone sees time management as a burden. Research by a team at Concordia University has led to some interesting conclusions. By looking at a range of cross-disciplinary studies over a period of more than 30 years, they concluded that the true value of good time management is not really about enhanced performance at work. Rather, its biggest impact is on our wellbeing, in particular, life satisfaction and lower levels of distress and anxiety.

Maybe, then, as you plan for your learning, you might take into account two key techniques that will help you to make time for, and commit to, your study – without feeling a sense of Burkeman-style overwhelm.

Timing matters

We probably know instinctively when we do our best work, whether we focus and achieve most before everyone else is up and about or whether we’re likely to be burning the midnight oil.

According to author Daniel Pink, these are instincts we should trust. In his book When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing Pink introduces us to the science that proves that when we do something can be as important as what we do: chronobiology. Timing, it seems, can make all the different when it comes to getting things done.

Chronobiology is the study of our natural daily physiological rhythms. Pink calls it the “hidden pattern of the day”. It affects our mood, energy, cognitive abilities and, ultimately, our performance, revolving around three stages:

• Peak: our mood rises – best for deep-focus analytical work, requiring mental alertness – like study.
• Trough: our mood declines – suitable for simple administrative tasks such as answering emails.
• Recovery: our mood picks up – ideal for work that involves mental ‘looseness’, such as insight and creativity – considering ‘the bigger picture’ or reflection.

Our own peak/trough/recovery cycle varies according to our specific chronotype. And this has a big impact on how productive we can be at different times of the day.

With his characteristic turn of phrase, Pink broadly divides people into three main chronotypes:

• larks: morning people who peak in the morning;
• owls: evening people who peak in the evening, and
• third birds: somewhere in between.

Approximately two-thirds of us fall into the ‘third bird’ category, while around 20% are owls and 15% larks.

We can work out your own chronology type by simply ask ourselves:

• what time do we usually go to bed when we’re on holiday – or when we have nothing much to do the next day?
• what time do we usually wake up on those days?
• what is the midpoint between those two times?

For example, if we normally go to bed at 2am and wake up at 10am, our midpoint is 6am.

• If our midpoint of sleep is 3.30am or earlier, we’re a lark.
• If our midpoint of sleep is 5.30am or later, we’re an owl.
• If our midpoint is somewhere in between, we’re a third bird.

While the traditional working day is more suited to larks and third birds than it is to the fifth of the population who are owls, we have more leeway about when we choose to study – which can help those midnight oil burners. The trick is to acknowledge when we’re most productive and play to our strengths when we’re planning learning schedules.

Motivation vs intention

So, we’ve worked out how we can use chronobiology to study at the optimum time for us. Now, though, we just need to get on with it. We might think that’s simply a matter of motivation: we want to study, so we’ll study. But we might also want to be fitter, but that doesn’t mean we’re putting our gym membership to full use.

Author James Clear believes that simply being motivated to do something is not enough, and that we need to get into the habit of doing something to make it stick. He reports on research which showed that the simple act of making a plan - “During the next week, I will partake in at least 20 minutes of vigorous exercise on [DAY] at [TIME] in [PLACE]” – made it much more likely that the people involved would meet their goal, in this case exercising at least once a week.

This kind of planning is known as an implementation intention. Clear argues that what we need to achieve a goal is not more motivation, but more clarity. It’s that clarity that will make things like regular study a more natural habit.

If-then planning

It’s an idea that underpins what psychologist, Peter Gollwitzer, calls “instant habits”.

In the 1990s Gollwitzer developed his implementation intention technique – better known as if-then planning. It’s a way of helping us harness a particular cue to trigger a behaviour or action that will help us towards our goal without having to rely just on willpower or motivation.

‘If-then’ cues are usually expressed in terms of:

If [a situation occurs] then I will [behave in a particular way]. 

Gollwitzer’s theory is based on the habit-forming technique of identifying the when [if] and how [then] so that we’ll be more likely to take actions that support our goals.

By encoding information in 'if X, then Y' terms and using these connections to guide our behaviour (often unconsciously), we can identify triggers (cues) to help us take the action we want to take.

In practical terms, we need to:

For example, successfully completing this qualification.

For example, studying regularly.

For example, identifying a specific time and/or place that is conducive to study.

For example, a regular routine that will help us to embed good study habits.

As a result, we might create if-then statements like:

“If it’s Monday between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. or Friday between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., then I’ll make space at the kitchen table and dedicate time to my study.”

Be specific

Being specific and intentional is key to if-then planning. Nebulous plans, such as “don’t spend too long on emails” or “study more” simply won’t work, because we won’t create the automatic link (the habit) we need to make us more likely to act. We’ll be relying instead on limited reserves of willpower or motivation. 

Precise, clear implementation intentions replace that willpower with an established, pre-determined plan of action, for example:  

“If it’s between 3 and 5pm on a Monday, then I’ll turn off social media notifications so as not to get distracted”. 

We can also use them to anticipate things that might derail us, for example:

“If it’s too noisy for me to study at home, then I’ll go to my local library/coffee shop where I can concentrate better”.

or to re-frame and counter our cognitive biases, for example:

“If I find myself catastrophising about never completing my course, then I’ll remind myself of the progress I’ve already made and the plan I have in place to keep studying. If this doesn’t help, then I’ll arrange a catch-up call with my coach”.

When we plan for when and where we will perform a new habit, we’re much more likely to follow through. A clear implementation intention helps us to act without having to dither about whether or not to do so, helping us to avoid the twin perils of procrastination and unhealthy distraction.

If-then plans show us that it’s best to plan for exactly when and how we’re going to act in ways that will help to make them a reality. That way, we no longer have to rely just on willpower or motivation, but can create habits that will support our goals.

Oliver Burkeman is right about the need to protect ourselves from a personal productivity culture that makes us even more anxious and uncertain about the things we have to do. But when we learn to focus on the things really matter to us; how (and when) to find the time to do them, and create simple habits that make them a more routine part of our lives, then the chances are that we’ll be boosting our wellbeing rather than depleting it. As you prepare to study on this FT Learning programme, these two simple techniques might make all the difference.