Mental Warm-up
Relevant sections in Living Confidently with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLDs)
Finding Your Voice with Dyslexia and other SpLDs
p 152-154 Mind set: mental preparation
Gaining Knowledge and Skills with Dyslexia and other SpLDs
p 158 Mind set
Examples of use in:
Finding Your Voice with Dyslexia and other SpLDs
p 146, 185, 187, 218, 247
Gaining Knowledge and Skills with Dyslexia and other SpLDs
pp 189, 244, 292, 306, 371, 510
Text equivalent of video
Definition and terminology
Mental warm-up is the process of getting your mind active for some task you are about to work on, in much the same way that people warm up their muscles before taking exercise or engaging in sport.
Mind set (2 words) and mental set are alternative names for mental warm-up. Mindset, one word or with a hyphen, is a very different concept.
In Finding Your Voice with Dyslexia and other SpLDs, I was writing about the mind and it seemed suitable to call the process mind set. This is the term you should look for when using the books I wrote.
Mind set as 2 words is too easily confused with mindset as a single word, which means mental attitude. In response to this confusion, I’ve chosen to use mental warm-up in this website.
I first came across the process as mental set which is the term Peter Russel uses in The Brain Book.
Why, when, how long
Why
Mental warm-up is the process of getting your mind switched on to any task that you might be about to start: learning a new physical routine; reading a book for a class; listening to a lecture or talk; going to a meeting; packing for a holiday; in other words anything that you need to think about.
In outline:
- The process energises those neural networks that are already connected with the task you are about to work on; or it sets up some neural networks that will be useful.
- These networks are then available to provide links for new information or for repetition of a previous session.
- The links help more information to be stored in the chunks of working memory and so increase the capacity of working memory (see video Capacity of Working Memory).
- The firing together that leads to neurons wiring together has a better chance of happening; this is an important process in learning (see video A role for neurons).
You need to be active and deliberate as you use mental warm-up; passive processing won’t activate your mind.
As a result, your mind is more ready to engage with what you are about to do and the task is easier than it would have been.
When: time
It is worth experimenting with when to do mental warm-up:
- just as the task starts
- about 5-10 minutes before starting the task
- some time in advance, say before setting out from a different venue.
Doing mental warm-up means your mind is already engaged as you start the task.
When: what sort of tasks can be helped by mental warm-up?
Mental warm-up can help any task that requires you to think. A few examples from a wide range of possibilities:
listening to a teacher doing an assignment
reading a book learning a new practical skill
sitting exams attending a meeting
going on holiday working out train times
taking part in sport internet searching.
How long
- Mental warm-up need only take 1-3 minutes.
- If you need to take longer, you could set a timer to make sure you are deliberate about the transition from the warm-up process to working on the task.
Methods
I have divided the methods into groups: ways, context, details.
Start with suggestions that sound like they might suit you, but always check whether a method is really working or whether the way it doesn’t work is pointing you in a better direction. In the diagram, there is a branch ‘other’ because I’m always aware that people don’t think the same way and I never assume I have covered all the options.
The first group to consider is the ways you might use:
- you can jot words and ideas randomly on a piece of paper
- you can use different coloured pens to separate ideas
- you can construct a mind map of ideas
- you can sketch the ideas (don’t aim for perfect drawings)
- make lists
- you can record on an electronic device
- go for a short walk or imagine a walk while mentally warming-up
- sing the ideas
- and any other way you find works.
You have to choose ways that don’t disturb others around you. If you find very physical ways work for you, then it is possible to imagine the physicality while doing the mental warm-up.
The second group relates to the context of the task:
- What is the task? What do you need to do?
- Does it fit into a wider context? What is that context? What do you know about it?
- Who else is involved?
- To what extent are you interested in the task? Remind yourself.
- If you aren’t interested, can you attach a completely different interest to the task so that it becomes more appealing to you?
Being aware of the context helps your mind deal with any fresh ideas.
The third group involves going into the details of the task, or topic:
- What keywords or key ideas are there?
- Are there technical terms involved, or subject specific terms? What are they?
- As you look at the material you have, are there any words or ideas you don’t know? Look them up if you have time, but list them anyway. Listening for their meaning can be a way of engaging with the task.
- What are your questions about the task?
You can stay more active when you have mentally warmed-up and tasks can be done more effectively and possibly more enjoyably.
What works? and then
The basic principle is that when you switch your mind on to a task or topic that you are about to do, you are more satisfied with what you achieve and it takes less effort.
You will need to experiment and observe:
- How does a task go when you don’t do mental warm-up?
- What’s the difference when you do mental warm-up?
- Did you choose the methods that suit you?
- What other methods can you try? It’s useful to have several options to choose from.
- Do you want to see if something completely different will work better for you?
Once you have found how to use this process and what methods work for you, it’s up to you to use them: to respect yourself, your energy and your time and to keep benefitting.
You may find that you have a selection of options that work well for you and then one day, you have to do a task that just isn’t helped by your tried and tested processes. You just have to re-start from basics and see how to handle the new task. Treat it as an adventure.
Connected videos
References
Russell, Peter, 1979, The Brain Book: Know Your Own Mind and How to Use It, Routledge, London