Speed is not your superpower: reflection is!

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Some people would be superspeed- and few would choose to be slow. But SLOWING down IS a superpower. Let’s look at why!

Slowing down feels like a luxury in our very busy world. For good reason- slowing down lets you experience and understand things at a deeper level, with more emotional and intellectual involvement. When we are busy, the idea of experiencing things and enjoying them can feel like a treat. Still, reflection, a slow review of what you know and feel, and consideration of information you have is a superpower that flows from slowing down.

The myth of multitasking

Learning requires that you actively work with an idea—not just passively look, listen to words, or watch videos. When your brain starts an activity, it:

• Sets a goal
• Identifies what is needed for that goal
• Identifies and ignores irrelevant distractions
• Monitors progress

Your brain can do this well for one activity at a time. When multitasking, the brain is not able to efficiently manage these steps.

One of the most toxic ideas for college students —and probably adults in general—is that we can do more than one task at a time equally well and that doing so will save us time. It doesn’t. Humans cannot pay attention to two tasks at the same time. What we can do is switch tasks. Switch tasking is necessary for life but not effective for a lot of the work you need to do to learn.

Your brain can manage multiple functions simultaneously if they do not demand active attention. For example, you are reading these words (I hope) and breathing (I’m sure) right now. Your brain oversees breathing automatically as it does not need attention and is actively focused on reading. If you begin to cough or something prevents you from taking a deep breath, your active attention switches to breathing, and you are no longer reading. Simple idea, right? You can study and listen to music- but at some point, you may find yourself singing the music and not noticing what you learned. Your brain switched focus on you. It’s the same with video games and studying- you can’t do both equally well. Your brain can only focus on one actively, leaving the other to be done poorly or not at all.

Even so, many of us try to multitask, thinking it will save time or keep our attention focused on a task.

Attempting to multitask:

• increases the chance of errors, including making judgments, thinking about consequences, and retrieving what you already know
• lowers your ability to understand, pay attention, and perform well.
• increases your stress level, causing you to feel overwhelmed, and even make you react impulsively.
• Lowers your ability to disregard irrelevant information, for example, movement and sound in your environment, which then increases distractability
• affects the quality of your work
• increases how long it takes to complete work

Since you are not truly multitasking, switching between tasks can limit the action in your brain that allows you to work automatically, tap into existing knowledge easily, and generate new and novel ideas.

What could you do at the same time you are working on your academic work?

• simple, repetitive physical activities
• doodling on paper while listening to a lecture (as long as you do not need to pay attention to what you are drawing)
• listening to music without lyrics or to white, brown, or green noise to block distractions
• eating or drinking something that does not require attention to avoid choking

Slowing down to work and focusing on one task will increase your chances of success.

The problem with fast

Doing things quickly can mean being efficient- but more often, it means getting the task over with. Getting the task over with means you don’t see the value in it, you don’t experience the process, and you don’t get the satisfaction of completing the task to the best of your ability. Doing things too fast can lead to regret as you weren’t fully present in the moment, didn’t ensure that you understood the importance of what a class covered, or left you with misunderstandings and confusion.

Fast often equals rushed. Fast often equals surface level. Fast often equals regret.

Fast vs. slow thinking

According to Daniel Kahneman, author of Thinking Fast and Slow, your brain has 2 thinking “systems.”

System 1 is automatic, fast, and nearly impossible to avoid. It is good at assessing situations and communicating. It uses prior knowledge nearly effortlessly. You can see why it is useful! We use System 1 all the time.

System 2 is always running in the background. When system 1 alerts system 2, system 2 takes over your thought processes. This usually happens when things are difficult, require computation or consideration, or involve higher risk or costs. System 2 thinking requires most (or all) of your conscious thought. It is very capable and takes work to tap into, which can be a problem when you need it—for example, for statistics class.

What does this have to do with college? System 2 thinking can have profound benefits in your learning journey. Students who rely heavily on System 1 thinking- fast, automatic, and requiring little effort are not likely to learn or perform well in college classes that require you to learn new theories, language, and working methods. However, students who put effort into using System 2- the slower, intentional thinking- and training themselves to slow down to use it have an advantage.

Your slower thinking system can make meaning from what you see, hear, and experience. The trick is finding ways to slow down so this part of your brain engages AND pushing through the hard work required by using this type of thinking. It is easy to think fast, it is more work to think slow.

The many benefits of thinking slowly!

Being present in your own life

You have one life, and this is your chance to build it.

Setting goals is important for planning for the future. Being present in the moment, fully immersed in your own life, is important, too. In fact, the main regret people have—regardless of age—is that they did not take the time to be present and enjoy the moments and opportunities they had.

Stress, anxiety, and a feeling of being overwhelmed all make it challenging to be present in your own life.

Being present means:

• Being fully alive, including all your senses
• Engaging with your environment and recognizing your physical and mental feelings without judgment
• Giving your experience your full attention
• Recognizing your needs and taking care of them

Being present benefits your health- in all dimensions. It also helps you to learn more deeply, think more clearly, and avoid regret.

To be present in your life:

• Take advantage of the unique opportunities in college.
• Be aware of risks and open to new experiences.
• When you are in a new environment, look around, observe the space and people, and listen to the sounds.
• Put down your phone or other distractions and spend a few moments immersed in the place you are.
• Make eye contact with people around you and give them your full attention.
• Think about experiences and how they enrich your life- including physical, emotional, and intellectual ways.
• Learn what puts you into a “flow state”- a mental state in which you are so involved in what you are doing that you no longer think or worry. Use this state when you are overwhelmed and stressed.
• Focus on the process you are using and involved in, be present in class discussions, pay attention to what happens in your classes, and walk through the steps you are taking to learn.
• Spend time each day thinking about how you are doing. Check-in with your body to see how you feel and what you need (and then take care of your needs). See what is working for you and what is not working, and make changes based on this awareness.
• Identify what you use to keep your distance from the world—this could be your phone, for example. Set goals for yourself to put those items away. It could also be staying in your room, which helps you keep your distance—in that case, set goals for how and when you will leave that comfortable, safe space and interact with others.

Walking through learning experiences can help you identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) and prepare for the next time you face a similar learning experience.

Recognition and Regulation

Recognition and regulation are important parts of slowing down, experiencing life, and learning to the fullest. These key activities allow you to be present in your life and anticipate and work towards the future you have planned.

You will use your ability to regulate your emotions and reactions and reflect on what has happened, how you’ve reacted in the past, and how you’d like to respond in the future.

Regulation

Regulation refers to the ability to monitor and manage your emotional state and behavior. It is what makes you comfortable in your body, able to manage challenges,

You use self-regulation to

• Monitor how you are feeling and doing
• Manage your emotion
• Manage your behavior
• Think before acting

Being able to regulate your emotions and behavior helps you to:

• Calm down when angry or upset
• Manage your mood when sad or anxious
• Think and react in flexible ways
• Adapt how you work to other people
• Adjust to change

Reflection

Being able to reflect is a unique superpower that lets you accurately review what has happened and determine how to move forward. Reflection slows your reactions and thinking, helping you think more holistically.

Building SLOW skills

Slowing down to deepen your experience and understanding of your life is not something that we are trained to do. In fact, you might need to work hard to develop these skills.

Let’s look at 4 skills for slowing down.

Building SELF-REGULATION

Self-regulation is a skill; like all skills, it can be improved through practice. Since self-regulation is about knowing yourself and controlling your actions and reactions, it relies on understanding yourself.

To build self-regulation skills:

• Be open to change
• Identify your triggers
  • Build self-awareness
  • Be aware of others
• Know your goals and keep them in mind
• Work on your self-discipline
• Build habits that help you stay calm under pressure
• Be aware of consequences
• Work on your confidence (this is why self-recognition is important!)
• Practice adjusting your perspective by considering what you can do with the situation.
• Create a plan for when you find it hard to manage your emotions. For example, you could include steps like removing yourself from the situation or environment or reaching out to a person who can offer support.

During challenges, take a step back and breathe before reacting.

• Avoid reacting until you can think about the situation (sometimes, this means removing yourself to a safer space for your reaction).
• Consider how the situation affects your goals.
• Adjust your behavior and reaction to be productive.
• Reframe negative thoughts into actions you can take.
• Identify what success will look like and feel like and how it will affect your life.
• Focus on how you will feel when you are done with the challenge.

Improving LISTENING

Effective listening is an empathetic behavior- meaning you feel with someone as they speak. Empathetic behaviors improve your ability to focus on what is being communicated, your connection to the speaker and topic, and your understanding of the material presented.

Active and effective listening requires that you take in what the speaker is communicating with their words, body language, and materials and then reflect it back to them. Active listening is a set of steps and processes that you use to ensure that you can fully engage with what you hear.

Listening actively means hearing, understanding, and reflecting what is said.

In a classroom, active listening can:

• Help you focus on the class
• Improve your understanding
• Alert you to what you do not understand so you can seek clarification
• Build relationships with your classmates

Active listening steps you can take:

• Focus on the goal of the communication (which means identifying it before you listen when possible)
• Pay attention to the words a speaker uses and what they mean in the context of the conversation.
• Notice the speaker’s nonverbal cues and how they interact with the words they use.
• Monitor your understanding, writing brief notes about things you need to look up or verify after class.
• Avoid interrupting.
• Use nonverbal signals, including nodding and facial expressions, to show you are listening.
• Use words like “I see,” “OK,” and “I understand” to show that you are paying attention.
• Avoid making judgments.
• Ask questions.
• Rephrase your understanding.
• Avoid distractions like your phone or looking down or away.

Active and effective listening requires that you give your full attention to the speaker, demonstrate that you hear and understand, clarify any unclear points, and take time to process and respond to what you hear.

Ensuring careful OBSERVATION

We are constantly observing the world around us, and most of what we see is processed and disregarded automatically. Our brains determine if what we see is relevant to us- deciding if we need to pay attention to it to stay safe and healthy or if what we see is important or interesting. This means that we are good at noticing big things that are new or out of place but may ignore details that we should pay attention to. In a classroom lecture or when reading course material, for example, our brains will pay attention to images or drawings but may disregard blocks of text, numbers, and anything that does not stand out. We need to work at observation to ensure that we get what we need from what we see.

You may have to observe things as a participant—being part of what is happening—or at a distance by watching. Your observation might be obvious to others (like listening in a classroom) or more low-key, like looking around your college library or in a public area.

To use your observations for learning (for class or other reasons), you’ll need to:

• Understand what you are observing
• Know why you are observing
• Pay attention
• Ensure you retain what you see
• Use what you saw

Steps for improving your observational skills

• Walk slowly and look all around you when entering a new space
• Identify the things you expect to see and then notice the things that are a surprise to you
• Use your senses (vision, touch, smell, hearing) when you observe an environment or person
• Take pictures or notes on what you see (hint: ask professors if you can take a picture of a screen or board in person and online capture the screen)
• Avoid distractions while observing- put away your phone, computer, or anything that distracts you
• Pay attention to people’s body language, movement, and facial expressions
• Ask yourself questions about what you see
• After you observe something, take notes of what you remember (this is great after class as well)

Effective observation is an active process that gathers information about a person, space, or topic based on your senses.

Experiencing WONDER

There are 2 definitions of wonder that fit college.

1. the desire and curiosity to know something. This feeling can help you focus on your coursework and learn deeply.
2. a feeling of surprise and appreciation, usually for something beautiful, unfamiliar, unexpected, or unexplained.  You may wonder about a topic or theory or why something is the way it is. You could wonder about something that a person has created or how something works (or doesn’t work).

Either way, wonder is something to seek out in college- after all, you are constantly exposed to new people, ideas, and knowledge during college!

How to use curiosity

• Learn some basics about the topic; curiosity usually emerges once you know enough to get started.
• Generate questions about the material you are learning and then answer them.
• Talk to other people.
• Seek out new information sources, especially those that disagree with what you already believe.
• Take a different perspective and see how someone else perceives the same idea or topic.
• Make a list of what you don’t know or could learn
• Try something new related to the topic you are learning about

Ways to encourage yourself to feel wonder

• Study something carefully in small, focused parts.
• Look at something created by a master to understand why and how it was done.
• Experience something through someone else’s perspective (look at an instructor’s enthusiasm and adopt their energy).
• Pay attention to small details, especially those that stand out.
• Make sure you understand the big picture and why the idea or item is essential.
• Change your lens—look at the same item from a new perspective (for example, consider a topic in a course from a different point of view or use other ideas to help you understand).

Reflection and mindfulness as tools

Reflection and mindfulness are two processes (or tools) you can use to slow down and deepen your experience of your own life. They also lead to success because you will better understand yourself and how to approach challenges.

Reflection is the process of thinking about what has happened and how and why it has happened (or not). Mindfulness ensures that you clearly pay attention to the moment and what is happening around you.

Reflection and mindfulness work together to help you understand where you are and how you got there- and to direct what you’ll do moving into the future.

How to reflect

Think about the event or material you want to reflect on and:

1. Identify how you feel.
2. Write down what comes to mind quickly.
3. Sit quietly and walk through an event or material step by step.
4. Write specific goals about the topic or event you want to know or understand.
5. Avoid judgment or negative thoughts. You cannot change the past, but you can use prior experience and learning to determine what to do in the future.
6. Note your strengths and abilities.
7. Identify challenges you had and how you can approach things differently next time.
8. Make notes on your process and the specific event or material you reflected on (hint: write this as a journal entry or short story).

Ensuring you are mindful

Mindfulness is a state where you are fully present and aware of yourself, others, and the environment. When you are mindful, you are calm and observant. For most people, being mindful is intentional and requires practice and steps to reach this state.

Actions to take to encourage mindfulness:

• Concentrate on taking deep, calming breaths.
• Visualize success and the steps you will take to get there.
• Take brain breaks where you sit quietly and think without interaction with people or technology.
• Pay attention to your feelings and identify where they are coming from.
• Think of the past as over and done, and choose to live for today. This means using techniques to stop yourself from overthinking or self-criticism.
• Work to understand others and respect that they can have different experiences and points of view.
• Treat others with compassion and kindness by accepting their needs and differences (including how they think and experience the world).
• Treat yourself with compassion by accepting that you are not perfect, offering yourself support when needed, and acknowledging your needs.

Using metacognition

Metacognition refers to you being aware of and understanding how you think. This process of thinking about how you think is a powerful tool for learning and change- both important parts of college learning and experience!

In practical terms, metacognition relies on you constantly asking yourself questions, including:

Do I know:

• What I know and don’t know about the topic?
• Which strategies will help me be successful?
• How to plan my work?

Can I:

• Take the steps I need to for success?
• Solve problems as they happen?
• Modify my actions and approach as needed?
• Evaluate my results?

Ask yourself: Do I have a plan? Can I monitor my understanding and activity and adjust my actions as needed? Can I analyze my work, thinking, or learning for success?