Yippee-Ki-Yay, More Productive Studying!
The Today Show yesterday revealed the five most beloved holiday movies based on a recent survey.
According to the list, the most beloved holiday movie is It’s a Wonderful Life, followed by A Charlie Brown Christmas, Home Alone, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and The Polar Express.
What’s sadly missing from the list? Die Hard.
Some of you may claim that Die Hard isn’t a Christmas movie because it wasn’t released during the holiday season. The movie, starring Bruce Willis, was released in July 1988.
But here are five reasons why Die Hard is, in fact, a Christmas movie, according to Parade:
1. Die Hard is a heartfelt movie about coming home for the holidays … just, with explosions.
2. Bruce Willis' John McClane is the kind of family man we love to root for … especially at Christmastime.
3. Die Hard values family over greed and materialism—a solid Christmas message!
4. Die Hard actively utilizes its Christmas setting.
5. Die Hard is a little formulaic, over-the-top, and comforting—just like so many of the best Christmas movies.
I’m in the camp of recognizing Die Hard at least as a classic Christmastime tradition—if not a full-blown Christmas movie. A few days ago, I found myself wanting to watch the movie. But it wasn’t available for free on any of our streaming services. And I particularly didn’t want to spend $3.99 to rent the movie.
But that’s when my miserliness became a boon. While I couldn’t find Die Hard, I found something just as enjoyable to watch—Die Hart. Although Die Hart was released in 2020, I had never heard of it until just a few days ago.
In Die Hart, comedian Kevin Hart plays a fictional version of himself who, tired of being the comedic sidekick, wants to be the leading hero in an action movie. To become an action star, he has to go to one of the world’s best “action star schools,” led by Ron Wilcox (played by John Travolta).
What’s unique about Die Hart is that it was originally made for the Quibi streaming service, where its shows were meant to be watched on mobile devices. This also meant that all the videos on Quibi (short for "quick bites") were all under 9 minutes.
Never heard of Quibi? Well, it lasted only about seven months before it failed and shut down.
Roku eventually acquired most of Quibi’s assets—including a portfolio of original programming that included Die Hart. Now, everyone can watch Die Hart for free on The Roku Channel.
Season 1 of Die Hart includes 10 episodes, each shorter than 10 minutes. Season 2, appropriately titled Die Hart 2: Die Harter, is currently in the works, too.
Truth be told, I have a hard time watching movies. I just don’t have the attention span to do so. If I watch a movie at home, I’ll inevitably find myself scrolling through my phone, losing focus, or just falling asleep midway.
You might yourself in the same situation when you’re studying for the bar exam.
When you’re reviewing a three-hour video lecture, reading a 100-page outline, or completing 100 multiple-choice questions, you might find your mind wandering, or at least not being as fresh at the activity’s two-hour mark as you were when you began.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Instead of having a lengthy three-plus-hour review session, try breaking up that study session into smaller chunks—just like how Die Hart was a series of 10 back-to-back 10-minute-or-less episodes instead of one two-hour movie. Although I managed to binge watch all 10 episodes of Die Hart, it didn’t seem as daunting as sitting through an entire movie because I was able to stand up, stretch, get another beverage, and do whatever I wanted to do before beginning the next 10 minutes of the show.
Breaking up your task into smaller chunks or intervals is nothing new or unique. There are lots of apps out there focusing on focus, and most of them rely on the Pomodoro Technique, which has been credited for helping students and workers make their working sessions more focused.
The Pomodoro Technique, named after a tomato-shaped kitchen timer the inventor of the technique used when timing his intervals, is relatively simple: select a task to work on, set a timer, work until it rings, and then take a short break. Rinse and repeat. A good rule of thumb is that you should take a five-minute break every 25 minutes. But if you want to review your materials a bit longer, you can certainly do a 10-minute break every 50 minutes, though the shorter intervals are recommended. The key is to break up your work into smaller segments and give your mind a break before tackling the material again.
Research shows that taking short breaks increases our ability to concentrate, which allows our brain help to quickly revive and prepare itself for the next segment of time.
Think you need to watch the entire three-plus-hour video lecture on Evidence in one sitting? Heck no. Break that video into smaller segments.
The key to the success of the Pomodoro Technique is to work straight through the short time interval, without interruption. This means no replying to texts and no checking Facebook, Twitter, IG, or whatever your social media of choice is during that 25 minutes of work.
There are lots of apps that incorporate the Pomodoro Technique to help you focus. Here’s a list of nine best, according to Geekbot. I use Forest.
So avoid those marathon study sessions. Sure, get in your hours of studying, whether it’s six, seven, or eight or more hours of studying a day. But give your brain short breaks to reset and refresh. You might just find yourself being more productive while spending less time being so.
