As you are all aware, our lives as graduate students can easily fall into a mind-numbing routine of academic reading and writing. Before we go any further, I want to make sure you know that I won’t be attempting to give you an out – you’re going to have to read and you’re going to have to write (often for hours or days or decades on end). What I will try to provide here is a way to break up that monotony and allow you to not become so dragged down by your routine. We’re looking for cohabitable distractions – a completely not made up term for things we can do while working to help keep us engaged in our work but with a rejuvenated mind.
 
Setting. Maybe you have an office, maybe you have a cubical, maybe you share a desk or workspace. Whatever it is, it’s yours and it’s where you feel obligated to work. If you’re like me, you probably have set meeting and class times and office hours where you are required to be *there*, but you probably also have hours each day where you’re just working on homework, grading, reading or writing. Don’t feel tied down – take your show on the road. Find a nice sunny spot outside in the morning where you can work for a few hours (or until your laptop battery gets dangerously low). Hit up a local coffee shop (look for those with free coffee refills) or other eatery and get a corner table alone for an afternoon. You can adjust your seating arrangement to limit distractions if you find yourself becoming unproductive. Visit one of the campus libraries or just the common spaces in a building you don’t venture inside of very often. (Natural light is a nice change-up for me as my office is windowless.)
 
Sounds. You probably already have your favorite study music (big soundtrack guy myself – The Mission or Oblivion are two excellent choices), but I’d encourage you to mix it up on occasion to help keep at least part of your brain on a new wavelength. A fun and easy and free way to do this is to find a playlist creator on YouTube or Spotify or somewhere and let them choose the music for you. Pace and volume of the music probably will be dictated by your mood and personal preferences, but you need something that you can *mostly* ignore. Something not so familiar that you forget it’s playing and it loses its distractibility, but it can’t be so jarring that you can’t focus on your work. White noise can help to fill the void (I used to study in the dorm laundry room on occasion), but there’s something soothing to the soul about music. Crowd noise is sort of nice medium between the two if that works better for you. The murmur of people has a music of its own but also is more organic than a tumbling load of towels.
 
Movement. I fidget. I own a spinner and a clicker. I twirl pencils and click pens. I spin my Aggie ring. (Did you know that if you spin your ring seal side down, it’ll eventually right itself seal side up?) Downside to all of this is it’s insanely annoying to anyone in your proximity, so look for quiet ways to let my hands rest. Doodling is a fun past-time for me. Takes your mind off the task at hand just enough to let you rest and refocus. Plus you can decorate all your research notes with stick figures and sheep. I’ve mentioned my LEGOs in an earlier article, but there’s typically at least one set on the desk on the bookshelf that I can roll around or disassemble and reassemble if I’m in need of a quick sanity break. Taking a quick walk around the hallways can help clear the cobwebs and get your mojo back (just make sure you use headphones if you’re going to take your sounds with you on your stroll – your neighbors appreciate it). If you’re working from home, take a five-minute break and pet your dog or, if you’re like me, wrestle with that child who’s been anxiously awaiting “work time” to end.
 
Like I said at the onset, I can’t get you out of the extremely mandatory work of a graduate student. I can offer up this advice: focus when you must, but not overly so. Find ways to break up your monotony enough to allow yourself to think clearly and, when necessary, creatively. Thanks for reading and good luck! Feel free to add your own tips in the comments below.

--- Jeffrey Keese
Jeffrey Keese is a Ph.D. student in the College of Education