Distracted Studying
Hey everyone. My name is Chelsea, and if I were to give you one piece of information about myself, it would be that I am no stranger to the dead of night. As a harcore procrastinator, I’m used to woking on assignments to chirp of crickets, and I’ve greeted the rising sun on multiple occasions. I’m sure you all can relate in some sort - working deep into the night and feeling your eyelids droop, only to see the amount work still left unfinished and thinking “oh my god”. You devote your attention to your assignment, decide to take a “well deserved” break, go on your phone, and before you know it, an hour has gone by and your essay is still unwritten. I know I can’t be the only one.
As someone who tends to avoid studying, I often get distracted by the temptations of technology. But how do distractions play a role in studying? As your parents have probably lectured you about, it’s probably best to keep technological distractions away when you study. Not only do they prevent you from getting work done, you need to familiarize yourself with the material, forcing you to spend much longer times on your assignments. To prove this point, I decided to observe my fellow night-owl students in one of my favorite study spots: Regan Main, which is located in Segundo’s Regan Hall Circle.
As explained in an an article from the California Aggie, “Regan Hall is a collection of student housing buildings located in Segundo” (Marin, 4). Regan Hall was built in 1969 and it is UC Davis’ first co-ed residential hall. According to UC Davis’ housing page, Regan Hall’s namesake comes from two members of faculty: William Regan, a professor from the College of Agriculture from 1922 to 1951, and Susan Regan, who became UC Davis’ first female faculty member in 1922 (UC Davis Student Housing, 5). Regan Main is a lounge that all Regan residents are open to use to study, lounge around, or socialize. Since it is open 24 hours, it is not rare to find students studying here late at night.
Regan Main has a sparsely decorated upstairs study space, furnished with three wooden tables and plastic chairs. When I arrived at 11:15 pm, all of the tables were taken, with all of the students on their laptops or phones. While some seemed to be working on their homework assignments, many others looked to be on social media and other “non-school related” pages.
Although it was relatively late in the night, fatigue didn’t seem to be the main distraction in my observations - technology and outside conversation did. Almost all the subjects I observed had a laptop or phone of some sort. Observing one table, I noticed that a girl worked with her headphones in and didn’t talk to anyone, eliminating as many outside distractions as possible. Although she was on her laptop, it is likely that she used it for her schoolwork. She seemed engrossed in her work, and after diligent, distraction-less work, she packed up her backpack and left the area. Although she did use technology, it didn’t serve as a distraction as she used it purely to do her homework. By only focusing on her assignment, she was able to finish her work before anyone else in the room, allowing her retire earlier in the night.
The subjects at the other tables weren’t as focused as the girl in headphones. They took constant breaks on their phones, and since they all seemed to be familiar with each other, they held constant conversation. In a study by a professor at California State University - Dominguez Hills, Dr. Larry Rosen found that across all grade levels, 80% of students admit to often switching between technology and studying (Howard, 5). At 11:24 the occupants at the table to my right were all engrossed in a form of technology - two girls were on their phones, while a boy in a black sweater was using his laptop, seemingly working.
At 11:47, a girl in boots focused solely on her assignment, while the boy in black sweater and girl in pink sweater made conversation. At 12:04, the girl in boots leaves the area, which leads me to believe she finished her assignment before the other occupants, who were not as focused as she was. As University of Michigan professor Dr. David Meyer states, “under most conditions, the brain simply cannot do two complex tasks at the same time,” as tasks like doing homework and using Facebook use the same area of the brain. While the girl in boots concentrated on her task at hand, her tablemates were constantly caught up in conversation and other distractions, which led to longer time spent on their assignments.
At 1:15, the occupants at the table to my left were constantly in conversation, and all used technology, which is advised against in an article by Annie Murphy Paul, a fellow at the New America Foundation. The article states that “because of the time spent on distracting activities… upon returning to the assignment, the student has to re-familiarize himself with the material.” Thus, “the assignment takes longer to complete” (Paul, 17). Throughout the night, the students jumped between working on their homework assignments, to using their laptop and phones for non-school related reasons, to talking to their friends. This forces them to constantly switch gears when returning to their homework, resulting in them finishing their work much later than their less distracted peers.
While it may seem impossible to put your phone away when you’re doing homework, it could help you drastically improve your study habits. Keep the distractions at a minimum, and you can finish your work a whole lot quicker. Study buddies are nice, but only if everyone stays on track, and while those texts and notifications are oh so tempting, it’s probably better to keep screen usage to the bare minimum. However, if you do find yourself needing a place to study, Regan Main is a great place to be. Thank you for listening to my late night rambles - I hope you learned something today!
As someone who tends to avoid studying, I often get distracted by the temptations of technology. But how do distractions play a role in studying? As your parents have probably lectured you about, it’s probably best to keep technological distractions away when you study. Not only do they prevent you from getting work done, you need to familiarize yourself with the material, forcing you to spend much longer times on your assignments. To prove this point, I decided to observe my fellow night-owl students in one of my favorite study spots: Regan Main, which is located in Segundo’s Regan Hall Circle.
As explained in an an article from the California Aggie, “Regan Hall is a collection of student housing buildings located in Segundo” (Marin, 4). Regan Hall was built in 1969 and it is UC Davis’ first co-ed residential hall. According to UC Davis’ housing page, Regan Hall’s namesake comes from two members of faculty: William Regan, a professor from the College of Agriculture from 1922 to 1951, and Susan Regan, who became UC Davis’ first female faculty member in 1922 (UC Davis Student Housing, 5). Regan Main is a lounge that all Regan residents are open to use to study, lounge around, or socialize. Since it is open 24 hours, it is not rare to find students studying here late at night.
Regan Main has a sparsely decorated upstairs study space, furnished with three wooden tables and plastic chairs. When I arrived at 11:15 pm, all of the tables were taken, with all of the students on their laptops or phones. While some seemed to be working on their homework assignments, many others looked to be on social media and other “non-school related” pages.
Although it was relatively late in the night, fatigue didn’t seem to be the main distraction in my observations - technology and outside conversation did. Almost all the subjects I observed had a laptop or phone of some sort. Observing one table, I noticed that a girl worked with her headphones in and didn’t talk to anyone, eliminating as many outside distractions as possible. Although she was on her laptop, it is likely that she used it for her schoolwork. She seemed engrossed in her work, and after diligent, distraction-less work, she packed up her backpack and left the area. Although she did use technology, it didn’t serve as a distraction as she used it purely to do her homework. By only focusing on her assignment, she was able to finish her work before anyone else in the room, allowing her retire earlier in the night.
The subjects at the other tables weren’t as focused as the girl in headphones. They took constant breaks on their phones, and since they all seemed to be familiar with each other, they held constant conversation. In a study by a professor at California State University - Dominguez Hills, Dr. Larry Rosen found that across all grade levels, 80% of students admit to often switching between technology and studying (Howard, 5). At 11:24 the occupants at the table to my right were all engrossed in a form of technology - two girls were on their phones, while a boy in a black sweater was using his laptop, seemingly working.
At 11:47, a girl in boots focused solely on her assignment, while the boy in black sweater and girl in pink sweater made conversation. At 12:04, the girl in boots leaves the area, which leads me to believe she finished her assignment before the other occupants, who were not as focused as she was. As University of Michigan professor Dr. David Meyer states, “under most conditions, the brain simply cannot do two complex tasks at the same time,” as tasks like doing homework and using Facebook use the same area of the brain. While the girl in boots concentrated on her task at hand, her tablemates were constantly caught up in conversation and other distractions, which led to longer time spent on their assignments.
At 1:15, the occupants at the table to my left were constantly in conversation, and all used technology, which is advised against in an article by Annie Murphy Paul, a fellow at the New America Foundation. The article states that “because of the time spent on distracting activities… upon returning to the assignment, the student has to re-familiarize himself with the material.” Thus, “the assignment takes longer to complete” (Paul, 17). Throughout the night, the students jumped between working on their homework assignments, to using their laptop and phones for non-school related reasons, to talking to their friends. This forces them to constantly switch gears when returning to their homework, resulting in them finishing their work much later than their less distracted peers.
While it may seem impossible to put your phone away when you’re doing homework, it could help you drastically improve your study habits. Keep the distractions at a minimum, and you can finish your work a whole lot quicker. Study buddies are nice, but only if everyone stays on track, and while those texts and notifications are oh so tempting, it’s probably better to keep screen usage to the bare minimum. However, if you do find yourself needing a place to study, Regan Main is a great place to be. Thank you for listening to my late night rambles - I hope you learned something today!