Interspersal

Quick term definition here: Interspersal - the action of breaking up your homework into chunks separated by little tasks that make it more manageable.  It is absolutely paramount to college.

To Intersperse, you stop three or four times per assignment and do something else.  Set up the breaks beforehand so you don't cheat.  Like you can stop every few pages or problems or vocab terms learned, etc.  Make the tasks in between little, like things that take no more than 5 minutes, or you will be Interspersing all night long.

There are three kinds of Interspersal
1) The "I have a bunch of stuff to do that isn't homework": this is what you do when you need to do a bunch of homework but also have to clean and do laundry and wash dishes and go for a run.  This is the kind of Interspersing that isn't fun.  You stop every few pages and sort laundry, then stop and put a load in the machine, then stop and do dishes, then stop and put the load in the dryer, then stop and put on your running clothes, etc.

2) The "I hate this subject so I need motivation to work on it": this is what you do with your gen eds, or super boring assignments.  Let yourself watch one cat video on youtube per page of notes, or stumble once per problem, or eat a starburst every five vocab words.

3) The "I really want to watch that TV show but I also have to do homework": this is where you take really long "commercial" breaks so that you can still feel vaguely productive whilst watching "How I Met Your Mother".  You have to synthesize the presence of commercials because they don't usually exist anymore.