Kind of like I can appreciate the need for an annual gynecological exam without ever learning to love it.
Speed training isn't really that bad, but it definitely doesn't feel good. It's not something I look forward to nor is it something that I would just go out and do if I didn't have a training goal out in front of me. But after 2 interval workouts a week for 22 weeks, I had a reservoir of perseverance that I could tap into during my marathon that just wouldn't have been there had I not toughed out those Yasso 800s and Pyramids.
Practicing doing what is hard when you don't have to do it, gives you something to draw from when things get hard and there's no choice but to push through. And doing it first thing in the morning sets a much higher threshold for "difficult" that you can carry with you the rest of the day. That's one of many reasons that I have always been a morning exerciser.
But there is another reason that my new found appreciation may have emerged that is related to proper sequencing of my daily activities. Up to now, my intuition has always led me to wake up from a good night's sleep and immediately begin absorbing the day. It used to be email and social media and then it became apparent that my day wasn't off to a good start if I was giving my first and best energy to other people's agendas. So I decided to replace the email and social media checks with reading and annotating -- preferably a book of my choosing. This has turned out to be a much better way to start my day and I continued doing this up until this week.
What has changed?
Well, I was introduced (via podcast) to Josh Waitzkin. You probably know him as the child chess prodigy who was the subject of the book and film Searching for Bobby Fischer...if you know him at all. I didn't. I'm not a follower of chess. Don't even know how to play. I could name the pieces on a chess board if you asked me, but that is the limit of my knowledge. I almost didn't listen to this podcast because I questioned how it would apply to me. But I am SO glad that I did now.
It was not about chess. And he is not about chess. Josh Waitzkin is about learning and how to do it best. He theorizes that most of us have constructed our days in such a way that we actually hinder our own ability and desire to learn. Not only that, but our daily architecture for life is something that has been internalized since childhood by conventional education.
That got my attention. Because if there's anything I notice about education as I watch my kids trudge through school, it's that the emphasis is not on learning. Education is -- and always has been -- data exchange.
Teacher dumps data on student in the form of lectures, notes, reading, etc.And this is when everyone is doing it correctly. When it's done badly. It's all just data that gets stored and dumped and compiled into assessments of teacher and student success -- and failure. Data is mostly used to shame. Grades...test scores...class rankings...teacher effectiveness ratings...All things that are revered in education but do absolutely nothing to promote learning.
Student reorganizes data and dumps back on teacher in the form of tests, papers, and maybe an occasional project. The result is more data for teacher to use in coordinating future data dumps and for the student to use in coordinating future absorption techniques.
Waitzkin is all about learning optimization and he actually consults with high performers around the world who are looking to be better at doing things. Most of them aren't focused on a renewed relationship with learning -- they usually have a more specific professional or personal goal in mind -- but Waitzkin transforms the architectural structure of their day so that they are actually learning as much as possible and that ends up helping them achieve their goals.
His method? Well, you should read his book, The Art of Learning, but for those of you who are thinking to yourself, "Dammit, Elise, you know I'm never gonna get my book club to choose that and I just don't have time for anything extra," here's a capsule.
QUALITY OUTPUT FIRST. Specifically creative output.
This week, I have made my very first activity either writing or running. No email. No Facebook. No Instagram. No Reading. I pour everything that I have internalized overnight onto the page or onto the road. (On running days, I still come back and write before I accept any input because I haven't developed a good method of recording my thoughts while I run and it would be very rude to my running partner is I stopped to jot down my thoughts down on a 3x5 card every 90 seconds...which is how often I have thoughts when I'm running.)
But I digress.
This isn't necessarily intuitive or habitual for me and it's definitely not institutionalized in our culture. It completely flips the script on what my lifelong belief has been which is to shock my system with as much info as possible when I'm at my most rested. Instead, Waitzkin suggests that what I should actually be doing is using those moments of high energy to focus on my own creativity.
Wow.
But has it worked? Heck yeah...and almost immediately. It turns out that I have a lot to report after a night of sleep -- even a night of bad sleep -- and if I just start writing (or running) it all comes flooding out. I used to lament the idea that I always had my best ideas when running and then couldn't remember them later in the day when I sat down to write. That hasn't been a problem this week because I empty my tank first and then fill it back up rather than waking with a full tank or arriving home from a run with a full tank and trying to refill it. There just isn't any room.
And these intervals of learning and creating can continue (and have continued for me) throughout the day. Like speedwork. Periodic discomfort in the form of creative output or eustress (look it up)...followed by rest and recovery. Ending with output that we can internalize overnight and fill up that tank for first-light output.
A few disclaimers...Waitzkin says way more than this in his book and it's not the only suggestion he has for improving learning. But I'm not summarizing his whole book. Maybe if this piques your interest and you give it a try, you will find some extra time in your day to read it yourself. I highly recommend it.
On a larger scale, I find myself wondering how we could apply to education right now or if it is being applied and I'm just not aware of it. It seems like a 2mm tweak that might have a huge impact...regardless of school, teacher, or student resources. The only thing it requires is a few uninterrupted moments at the beginning of the day and maybe each class. Empty the tank before you refill it again.
It also seems like something that could be done without the need of legislative action, school board meetings, or staff development -- all input, zero meaningful output -- which, in my estimation, haven't addressed learning in quite some time.
I look forward to your thoughts.
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