Many students struggle to focus on studying- and who can blame them? Of course Facebook or their dog is more interesting than the work in front of them! The problem doesn’t lie in finding the work uninteresting, but rather knowing how to focus even if the work is uninteresting.

Of course, it helps if you try to find something even a little interesting in the work. Try to find something you enjoy in everything- it will make your time studying much less painful.

Here are a few things you can do to make sure you don’t lose focus of the work in front of you, regardless of how interesting it may be:

Remove Distractions

Turn off your phone

Everyone knows this already, but so many students still struggle with it.When you focus on your phone, you don’t focus on studying. Checking your phone every few minutes can easily cause you to spend 3 hours on a task that could have taken you 1 hour. If you’d rather avoid that- maybe turn your phone off, put it on silent or get one of those apps that lock your phone for a while.

Turn off the TV

Some students like to have the TV on “in the background” while studying or doing homework. What happens when an ad for ‘Keeping Up With The Kardashians’ comes up? Drop the study and wonder if Kylie really is pregnant. A great distraction.

To avoid this scenario, make sure to turn the TV off before you start studying or move away from the TV if family members are watching.

Close the Door

People and animals can be just as distracting as the TV or your phone! When studying, try to use a room that has a door you can close. Talk to family members beforehand and tell them that when the door is closed you are studying and don’t want to be distracted. Chances are they’ll leave you alone to study in peace.

If you have a very noisy family or one that doesn’t understand the concept of a closed door, you can head to the library or a cafe with free wifi to get your study in.

Clean your Desk

This step can make your room (or wherever else you study) look better as well as helping you to stay focussed during study. It’s like a 2-in-1! Having a clean desk means no unnecessary/ distracting things. During my exams periods, I clear my entire desk and put the stuff that was on it somewhere else until my exams are over.

It really helps you to focus on studying when there is nothing else to focus on. No pictures of last December in Disneyland or mirrors to make funny faces to. Just you and your work, having a great time.

Maximise Concentration

Exercise

Do you ever sit down at your desk and feel like you’re going to fall asleep any second? How are you supposed to concentrate on your work when you’re in this mood? The answer? You’re not going to concentrate when you’re in this mood. The solution to the problem is snapping yourself out of this mood.

Enter exercise.

Dr. John Ratey, author of “Spark – The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain“, claims that focus is improved for 2-3 hours after you exercise. It has also been proven to increase energy and productivity! So if you ever find yourself in the ‘I’m-going-to-fall-asleep-any-second’ mood, go for a run or play soccer in the park with your friends for a while and then come back to the study!

I found this great Infographic on the benefits of exercise over on The Vedix:

Sit at a Desk

Don’t study in your bed or on a couch- you’ll probably be tempted to fall asleep! Not to mention the amount of distractions it will introduce. I’ve even read some research that suggests that studying in your bed can be harmful to your sleep. You teach your body to associate the bed with work- which is the opposite of sleep!

When you study, study at a desk, with both feet on the ground and on a comfortable chair that isn’t one with those little swivelly wheels on it. Spinning around on a chair is great fun and therefore- a great distraction.

Time

Don’t ever try to study for longer than an hour. Try and figure out for how long you can really concentrate on your study. For some students, it’s 20 minutes and for others it’s an hour. You’ll know your time is up when you notice yourself getting easily distracted or working more slowly than at the start of your study session.

It doesn’t matter for how long you can concentrate on your study but it does matter that you respect that time and stick to it. If you’re not concentrating to the best of your ability at all times during your study, you’re not working efficiently. In other words, by studying for longer than you can concentrate for, you’ll be spending more time studying overall.

Once you know how long your ideal study time is, set a timer at the start of every study session and work until it runs out. Having a timer will help you resist the urge to look at your phone and focus on studying.

Know When You Are Effective

Find Out When You Focus on Studying Best

Different students are effective at different times of the day. Maybe you find that you absolutely cannot study in the morning and prefer the evening. Or maybe the middle of the day works out best for you. Find when you study best.

Memorise during this time

After you’ve found when you study best, you should study in this time! Do the tasks that require the most mental effort in this time-things like learning new concepts and revising for exams. Don’t do your everyday homework in the time that you study best.

Do Homework Around this Time

Do your homework around the time that you study best. For tasks that don’t require much mental effort, you can even listen to music- it may help you concentrate.

Set Goals

Why set goals? Because goals work. They help you visualise what you want and how to get there. ‘Just working hard’ will never yield the same results as ‘working hard towards a goal’. It won’t just get you better results, but better results for less work.

If you know exactly what you’re aiming for, you can figure out exactly how to get there instead of spending unnecessary time on tasks that aren’t needed to achieve your goal. If you need some help setting achievable goals, check out this study planner that will make it much easier!

Know why you want to reach your goals

If you know why you want to reach your goal, you’ll be more inclined to work for your goal. You’ll be more inclined to focus on studying because you know it will help you to reach your goal!

You can access free goal setting printables at Free Stuff Library when you subscribe at the bottom of the page.