If you’re eager, you aren’t fighting against it.
Undergrad and grad students need this to thrive.
🧲 What Mental Pull are you feeling right now?
A Mental Pull is something that pulls on your attention, begging you to DO something.
YouTube, Social Media, and interests/hobbies all create a mental pull feeling in us.
Wouldn't it be helpful if class assignments pulled you too?? Well they can!
✅ You Also Need a Solid Productivity System
Mental Pulls are an important driver of productivity – they reduce the effort needed to get your schoolwork done, making it easier to be productive. But it’s difficult to feel that pull for your schoolwork when you’re overwhelmed by just how much work you have to do.
So you also need a solid productivity system that also makes it easier for you to manage your time, stress, and ADHD (if you have it). This frees your mind up to find and follow those Mental Pulls.
⚒️ Our Tools Make it Easier for Students to...
- Feel pulled to pay attention in class and get your work done
- Manage your time, stress, and ADHD (if you have it)
- Connect your interests with your schoolwork
- Be productive without the struggle
📊 Take Our Free Self-Assessment
How well are you managing your Mental Pulls and productivity? We developed a simple 4-factor framework for understanding the psychological factors that drive these. Take our free 5-10 min self-assessment to get a customized report on how you're doing in each of the 4 areas.
🧠 Do You Have ADHD?
When your ADHD brain is distracted, what is it looking for? A strong mental pull. Not what your instructor says you should be working on, but activities that generate that strong pull.
To thrive with ADHD, you need to get good at managing your mental pulls.
You need to learn how to (1) strengthen the irresistible mental pull of assignments you know you "should" be working on and (2) weaken the mental pull of distractions like social media that you don’t want to be focusing on.
This is consistent with ADHD research and my own experiences of getting through school with ADHD! Our Academic Trainer program shows you how.
Hi, I’m Dr. Matt Jarman
You can call me Matt. 😁
I’ve been obsessed with productivity since high school and have been teaching about topics related to productivity for about 20 years. My interests in productivity led me to get a PhD in Organizational Psychology. In graduate school, I was mentored by the amazing Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (author of Flow and considered a father of positive psychology) on research looking at the connection between a mental pull and creativity. I then taught as a psychology professor for 6 years before deciding to help a larger audience of students with Productive for Good.
I believe discovering and pursuing the things that excite you is critical for enjoying life AND for thriving in school (and your career). Over the years, my passions have led me to perform around the world as a professional magician, learn to speak Spanish and French fluently, and to study and teach different forms of movement (martial arts, juggling, social dance).
I’ve also found ways to integrate these with my work as a student and professor, allowing me to do better work and actually enjoy it! I want to make it easier for you to do the same.
This is what students are saying…
"I've tried a lot of different methods for productivity or time management, but nothing seems to really stick for very long. I think the Academic Trainer, because it's interactive and short, worked out a lot of the issues that other productivity systems have. If you're struggling with time management and task management, and particularly if you have ADHD, I think the Academic Trainer can be very helpful."
– Bryan (Grad Student, Cornell University)
Who are You?
Click below to understand how the Academic Trainer will help you in your situation.
Three Ways We Can Help You:
Whether you're an undergrad or grad student, we can help you to stay excited and productive in your schoolwork, day after day, even when it’s boring or stressful. And even if you have ADHD.
FREE Learning Hacks
Free access to a growing collection of learning hack guides to doing well in school and enjoying it.
Academic Trainer
Personalized guidance on feeling pulled to do your work and managing your time, right when you need it.
1-on-1 Coaching
Weekly 30-min virtual coaching sessions with me to help you troubleshoot and improve your process.
Other pages you may be looking for:
- School faculty, staff, & admin – Here we have info about how we can help you to support your students. Click here.
- Parents of students – Here we have info about ways to support your child in school. Click here.