Did you do your homework?

Most of us relate to homework with school.

Door Bell.
Mom opens the door to a bunch of kids who ask if their friend can play with them.

Mom calls out his son. Asks if he finished homework and makes a decision of letting him play based on that crucial answer.

Indeed. Like many kids, even I have made excuses like, yea mom I finished – even though it wasn’t. Or told her I’ll come back and do it, even though I know I’ll be too tired and eventually I’ll be rushing through it in the morning before school bus arrives.

As a pre-teen I dint know how long this habit or culture of homework will last.

I know now.

I never stops.

It keeps coming and keeps coming.

And if you feel you got no homework, think again.

Homework culture was inculcated in school life, according to my understanding, so that students can revise what they studied in school that day, and maybe use it to think further i.e. extending the boundaries of logic/reasoning/thinking.

Though most students argue, this is unnecessary, and many countries even execute such rules of “no-homework”.

But don’t the elders or policy makers of such states realize what inactivity they are pushing the younger ones into? With a habit of no homework, how will one to learn the art of retaining information and reproducing it whenever necessary? How will one learn that a basic equation or logic can fit into more than one things? How will the younger generation be pushed to think out of the box?

To give an example, will an entrepreneur have no homework? Will he not come back home and think/note his daily learning? Will he not make a mental account of the data he processed the entire day?

Or will a manager not recall after going home, about the deals he signed or the papers he filed or the people he dealt with?

The thinking process after coming home initiates a lot of healthy thought process. Some conscious and some sub-conscious. If I can go back home today and recall the mistakes I made, most likely, I will not repeat those mistakes.

See how it works –

• I think of my mistake.
• I track back my path, what led to what. (which will require remembering past events too)
• I make a mental note that there issues led to a bad decision.
• Then think why did those things happen? What led to them?
• Reach the major root causes.

The next time any of those causes or any scenarios which can lead to those come up, I will be mentally prepared with an algorithm. That now this can happen and then this can happen – which happened last time too – which eventually led to that loss or wrong decision.

So this time, I will take an alternate path to do my work. I will ensure the same mistake is not repeated because I remember where it led to last time. And because I did not cease to do my homework.

Take another example, imagine if doctors don’t do their homework. If they don’t recognize us the next time we meet them. Or worst case – they are not able to cure us because they cant remember what our symptoms mean! Probably if a doctor sees a peculiar case or a new symptom, he would go read/research about it or consult fellow doctors. But if he doesn’t do his homework – doesn’t consult nor any research, imagine the risk on patient’s health.

So not only doing homework, doing it timely is also important. And that is a habit developed in us during our tender years in school. Maybe we shrug at helping the kids around us to do their homework, or let them go easy if they don’t, but it the long run it will leave a negative impact on their personality.

Additionally, it is important matured people do their homework too. Maybe its just a lazy office job, maybe its just a cooking lesson, maybe its just a walk or a chat with a neighbor which happened that day, revise it in your head before sleeping. Take a small note of something you casually noticed but dint feel important that time. Think about your right and wrong decisions.

Most likely, it will help you sometime somewhere someday.

P.S :

In near future (April end) I am writing a series of “un-posted letters” on my blog and inviting guest posts for the same.

The compilation of this would have letters you never posted…the ones you wrote/wanted to write to your mother/teacher/neighbor/boss/husband/friend/ex but did not.. There is no need for names, you can address them to “an inspiring soul” or “a long lost friend” or “love of my life”..

Leave a comment in case you’re interested to be a part of this.