Coming to college, I really decided that I wanted to work out. Luckily, the Rec Center is free for us students. My friend, Zach, is a workout enthusiast and helped me to start a new awesome work out regimen. I decided to start working out with him rather than going alone. It seemed to make my workout 100% better. I felt better, more enhanced and just more fit. This fits in with a topic in Psychology 1001 where we have an enhancement of performance among various things due to being in a group or around others. It happens when we study too quizzing each other and stuff we want to push and make sure we always get the right answer. It also happens within teams in sports and stuff. Now, I tend to do a lot of tasks that I'm just not feeling in groups so i have a better work ethic and push myself as hard as I possibly can. Yay, for working in groups!
Love to Work Out
Congrats on your new healthy lifestyle! I think the steps you're taking not only in fitness but in studying as well are going to benefit you for many years to come. After all, the habits you create in college, are the habits that you'll bring with you as an adult. I definitely agree in how groups enhance one's performance and achievements in all aspects of life. Whether it be school related, fitness, diet goals, or even enhancing relationships, groups act as a support system than enable people to achieve their goals. When transitioning to college, I have found that study groups as well as my athletic team at the university to be a large reason of my freshman year success.
I have to agree with you, doing things whether studying, working out, etc. in a group makes everything more enjoyable! However, you must find the right group of people to work with that will push you to better yourself. Many times when people are in group settings you can get off track and be less efficient. Although, everyone enjoys being around others you must weigh your options and decide if it is actually worth spending the time in a group if you will not accomplish things. For me, I would become frustrated working with people who are not as conscientious and organized. I do not like to waste time and I often become annoyed when I am in a group that does not complete things efficiently.
I agree that working in groups definitely has it's perks, but it also has some disadvantages as well. I completely agree that working together in some scenarios lends way for members to push their teammates to achieve a better end result, like in sports. However, working in groups can also bring distraction and procrastination. I find that when working in groups, particularly with friends, its easy for one member to get side tracked, then everyone else follows and we end up playing games of 2K9 or NHL. Although some circumstances offer great opportunities to excel and a higher level while working with groups, sometimes going your own way may be what you have to do to complete your work.
I know exactly how you feel. A lot of the times I just don't have the motavation to just do my homework, or go work out, or whatever it is. So having a study group where I know someone will always be on my butt about studying is really helpful. Sometimes I'm that guy who will plan the study meeting and get everyone to come, I think everyone know those days or time periods where you just have random motavation to get everything done, but some days I would rather swim in the Mississippi then do my homework so having friends (social facilation) when studying is really helpful.
I agree that working in groups really does enhance performance among many things. You used great examples, working out and studying. These are two things that require a lot of motivation. I often find myself struggling to get to the gym, but if I plan to go work out with a friend I do not have any problems at all. I think having another person to push you and to keep you from backing out is great motivation. I also sometimes struggle with studying late at night. I usually just want to go to bed or watch a movie with my roommate. I recently started going to the library with a couple of my friends and now we go every night. It seems like my closest friends are the ones that I work out with and study with since we have similar interests and take our schoolwork seriously.
I believe that working in groups is helpful with trying to achieve a goal. I do disagree that working in groups is always a performance enhancer though. I do agree it can hold people accountable to do a task because other people do give motivation in order to get something done or get better. A majority of the time I do think people slack off in groups when it comes to studying or making a project. This is why I personally would not work in a group.
I've also noticed that working out with someone helps make me want to work harder but it also allows me to work harder. When you have someone to compete against it helps you push yourself more but having someone to lift with also allows you to have someone to help you get that one last rep when you physically wouldn't do it yourself. You have to be careful who you work with though because sometimes that person might just want to chat and you wont be able to get any studying or work done.
I totally agree with you that working in groups can really enhance performance. But sometimes working in groups can produce the opposite effect as we have seen in social loafing. Sometimes working in groups for school projects is extremely frustrating for me because some kids realize that don't have to do anything when there are other people in their group that are concerned about getting good grades. Of course social loafing doesn't really apply to working out but in group projects it has huge effects.
Enhancement of performance is something we, as college students, work especially hard at every day. We are constantly finding new ways to study, exercise, etc. that will make us better. I have also found myself to be more motivated and get more out of workouts when going with a friend. We push each other and are able to get more done. Throughout the past couple years of college, I have also found new ways to enhance the way I study.