Use Psychology to Improve Your Everyday Life at UC Berkeley
How do I deal with procrastination? How do I feel better about my relationships? There are many big questions like those that are common to the student and human experience. Because I felt confused, I decided to explore these questions in my cognitive science coursework. Here are five psych topics I found useful to understand during my time at Cal.
1. Harness Morning Motivation
Explanation. Did you know every morning you wake up with a tank of willpower? This motivation naturally decreases throughout the day, but these elements drain it faster:
- Decision-making
- Maintaining social norms
- Inadequate sleep
Application. Whenever I have to be productive, I try to make life as straightforward and simple as possible. For example, if I’m trying to make it to my morning lectures, I will have my clothes laid out within reach the night before, so I don’t have to question if the cold morning air will be the reason I skip lectures that day.
2. Build Good Habits
Explanation. Everyone’s time revolves around habits, and they can be analyzed from the behavior triad model. Three elements perpetuate a habit:
- Motivation (desire to do it)
- Ability (how easy it is to do it)
- Prompt (trigger to do it)
Application. If I want to undo a habit, I focus on decreasing one of the three elements. For example, if I don’t want to use my phone while studying, I can decrease my ability to access it by placing it in another room. If I want to build a habit, like texting my parents every day, I would set an alarm to prompt me to do so.
3. Beat Procrastination
Explanation. If procrastinating is an issue for you, it might help to know that common reasons why people procrastinate:
- You have not clearly defined what you are doing, or don’t know what you want to accomplish when you begin
- You habitually push things back
- You are overworked, or have a secondary gain from procrastinating (such as downtime)
Application. To address these common reasons, I try understanding the scope of the task (sometimes not knowing how to do a task and what it entails is the biggest obstacle), and identifying tangible small steps to begin working. If procrastination is a habit, I tackle it from the behavioral triad model perspective. I make sure to schedule downtime so I can trust that there will be a break instead of sneaking it in during work time.
4. Form Positive Relationships
Explanation. Social relationships and support are significantly predictive of happiness and well-being. These factors increase relationship satisfaction:
- Sharing and celebrating each other’s good news
- Being playful
- Seeing the other person in a positive light
Application. Being able to share positive feelings with other people is very precious. I also make sure to pay attention and value my loved ones’ accomplishments. Also, breaking up the normal routine with playfulness facilitates bonding. Finally, I like to think about my friends’ intentions positively: my friend is stressed and busy instead of choosing to ignore me, and I can find a time to check in with them again later.
5. Know Your Human Social Needs
Explanation. We all have some fundamental social needs as humans, and we are wired to fulfill them. These needs include:
- Feeling a sense of understanding and control
- Feeling good about me and mine
- Feeling connected and having a sense of belonging
Application. Understanding these needs explains a lot of human actions I felt confused about. For example, they are why people get defensive when insults are targeted at their identity (rather than things they did), why people form a certain interpretation about social situations even though they are complex and ambiguous, and why people do so much just to fit in. Addressing these needs leads me to feel good.
I hope that understanding these five common student life concepts from a psychological perspective can benefit you on your Cal journey by giving you more control over your thoughts and actions.
Hosea Chen, UC Berkeley Class of 2024, majored in cognitive science and minored in creative writing and data science.
Want More?
- If you’re interested in learning practical psychology, check out classes Hosea recommends.
- Advice on how to manage a busy schedule.
- Get inspired to find happiness at Cal.