It happens to the best of us. Sometimes, the mind plays tricks and behaves in an elusive way when we should study or work. It does everything except what it should. If you have trouble focusing on anything and getting a project done, you are in good company. Learning to focus is a skill everyone should have. Learning to eliminate distractions, focus efforts, or plan a routine, however, shouldn't be as painful as pulling out a tooth. You can guide your overactive mind and put it to good use, getting better and better. Read on to find out how.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Practice Active Concentration
Step 1. Take notes as you work
One of the most effective ways to actively focus on what you are doing is to write by hand. Contrary to digital writing, manual writing forces you to get involved in the concepts you are learning in a more concrete way. You will have clearer ideas on the subject and will assimilate it in a deeper way.
If you find it hard to pay attention to meetings or in class, take notes more actively. Don't stop writing. Maybe you will also write down information that will not be very useful later on, but you will avoid wandering among thoughts that have nothing to do with the lesson
Step 2. Scribble
For a long time, drawings for their own sake have been attributed to the chronically distracted, but it has since been discovered that some of the more active thinkers are also active "scribblers". If you draw (meandering lines and nonsense included) while trying to be careful, you can engage your mind and stay focused. In fact, some studies have shown that this helps control boredom by encouraging the mind to be awake and more likely to learn.
Step 3. Speak aloud as you work
Your roommates may think you have some wheels out of place if you talk loudly while studying or working. However, it has been shown that, just like constantly scribbling and taking notes, this method also actively helps you to assimilate what you read and the ideas you are faced with. As with writing, the vocal formulation of concepts forces you to put into words what you know. This process will kill you two birds with one stone - not only will it make you more active, it will be easier to remember what you have learned.
If it embarrasses you, look for an isolated and quiet place to study, otherwise wait for your roommate to leave for a chance to try. However, don't worry about what he will think. Talk to yourself. Basically we all do it
Step 4. Visualize the right answer, nothing but the right answer
To avoid skidding, pilots are trained not to look at the tree they would like to dodge, but at the space they want to go to. Successful footballers move to open spaces, the best guitarists find empty spaces to play perfect notes. People who study or work successfully insist on taking the right course of action and the correct method of getting to the finish line.
It may seem so obvious that it is silly. However, if while reading a text your mind finds itself wandering elsewhere, imagine yourself doing it correctly. Tell yourself to read mindfully and pay attention. Change your mindset and look towards the space where you will do the right thing. And then do it
Method 2 of 3: Set a Schedule
Step 1. Find the best time to work
Are you a morning person or an owl? Maybe you can do your best after lunch. Identify the phase of the day when you are particularly awake and structure your life accordingly. There is no point in pretending to be an early riser if, after all, you would like to study at three in the morning. Listen to your needs and do what you find most effective.
Step 2. Structure each day as soon as you get up
Making a personal plan helps you eliminate inappropriate thoughts and stress. Compartmentalize every commitment you have on a certain day, trying to predict the time it will take to accomplish it. Allow for extra time - you may need more time to write the first draft of an essay or prepare that presentation to take to work.
Try your best to accomplish one commitment at a time. When it's time to have breakfast and read the paper, just think about this. You don't have to worry about studying for the English exam knowing that you will be taking it from 4:30 pm onwards, after work and before going to dinner
Step 3. Actively work on both long-term and short-term goals
It's best to repeat yourself why you're doing a certain thing to be able to keep yourself on track and visualize the overall picture. Remember the long-term goals, keeping in mind that the little things will allow you to complete a bigger plan.
When you sit down to study your trigonometry notes, one of the most annoying distractions is having thoughts like “Why am I doing this? I should go out and live life”. In those moments, it's helpful to remind yourself why you're studying: “I have to pass this exam to graduate, enroll in specialty, and become the leading pediatric neurosurgeon in the country. I'm doing it for this plan”. Breathe deeply and then go back to the books
Step 4. Create a routine and then edit it
Monotony can become a real distraction. Try to predict acute moments of boredom. Try to structure your day by alternating different types of activities. Don't do housework after housework, alternate between studying and cleaning, or get some exercise. Don't reply to all emails at once, just a few, then take a break for another productive activity. At the end of the day, thanks to this method, you will have done a lot of things.
It doesn't necessarily work for everyone. Try to understand how you work best. Is it more effective for you to sit down and correct 20 essays at a time? Go on like this. Get yourself a glass of wine and get to work
Step 5. Take scheduled breaks
Breaks are important, but you can be tempted to stop at particularly inappropriate times; for example, as soon as an essay starts to get complicated, you take a break to forget an obstacle found in a paragraph or page. However, if you decide to rest regularly and do your best to adapt, you will be able to be more productive and relaxed.
If you're going to be a long day, you might find the 50-10 technique effective. With a lot of work to do, let yourself be completely absorbed by the project for 50 minutes, and then take 10 minutes to relax. Get up from your desk, take a walk, watch the video of a bulldog jumping off a trampoline, do whatever you think is necessary to clear your mind. Then, get back to work
Method 3 of 3: Eliminate Distractions
Step 1. Find a comfortable work environment
There is no perfect place to focus. Maybe you find it better to leave the house and work or study among the people, sitting in a bar, but for some this is distracting and arouses a certain intolerance. Similarly, your ideal place could be the living room at home, sitting in front of the desk; on the other hand, the Xbox might tempt you way too much. Try to identify the moments of greatest distraction and create an environment that eliminates it.
- One day, try to write down anything that distracts you. If instead of studying you open Facebook, write it down. If you should be working on an essay and find yourself playing guitar, ditto. And the same is true if you daydream about your girlfriend instead of listening to the lesson.
- At the end of the day, review the list to see what tends to distract you. The next day, when you get back to studying or working, try to create a space where you can eliminate these distractions. Close the internet while you study, or go to a place without Wi-Fi. Put the guitar in the cellar, or leave the house. Keep your cell phone in a drawer and stop texting your girlfriend. Then, when you have some free time, you can do whatever you want.
Step 2. Embrace the distractions you can't control
Sometimes, it is virtually impossible to intervene, and there will always be something that will distract you from work. Although you have found the perfect place in the library and go there in a quiet moment, all of a sudden, a gentleman who is reading the newspaper next to you starts coughing vigorously. What to do? You have two solutions:
- Go away. If the distractions are unbearable, don't react badly, and don't stand still, wasting time. Get up, keep your things and find a quieter corner of the library.
- Ignore. Put the headphones in your ears and listen to ambient music to overpower the distracting noises, or let yourself be completely absorbed by the reading so you don't even notice what's going on. This person is not trying to annoy you on purpose. Do not get mad.
Step 3. Try not to get distracted by the internet
Sometimes, it seems like the web was made on purpose to ruin your life. The distance between the English essay to write and the spiral full of wrestling videos and emails of your girlfriend is practically nil. You don't even have to close the Word window to open the browser! If you can, log out while you work. Hide your cell phone, turn off Wi-Fi and get to work.
If you have trouble working on your computer or need the internet to do it, cut your head off. Block the websites that distract you the most by using a program like Anti-Social, otherwise download a software that allows you to open the web only at set times. In the meantime, you can focus, and that evil whirlwind called YouTube won't be able to draw you to it
Step 4. Set priorities
One of the most distracting things is finding a balance between all the commitments in your life: work, school, relationships. In this way, you think that you will have to give up on something. When you set priorities, however, you can control them, manage them and do everything according to the established order of importance and deadlines.
- Make friends with to-do lists. Write them on post-its and stick them in the places you frequent the most. Pick one thing at a time to work on, and keep making this effort until you are done with it completely.
- Did you know that in some cases it is possible to do two things at a time? Check the to-do list to join someone and make your day more efficient. Do you have to study for a math exam and do your laundry? Review your notes while you wait for the washing machine to finish, then tick both off the list. You will carry on with the household chores and topics to study.
Step 5. Don't think that you can only be distracted by your surroundings
In fact, the most debilitating distraction there is has nothing to do with YouTube, Facebook, or the lively couple chatting next to you at the bar - it's up to you. Our minds can get distracted and go wherever they want, and it is up to us to call them up and decide how they should behave. No matter the place, the commitments of a certain day and the projects that need to be finished, you decide to complete a task. Calm your mind and get to work. Nobody can stop you, only you.
Try meditating in the morning or doing deep breathing exercises to focus when you start to feel overwhelmed by events. People who have trouble concentrating tend to go through an increasingly tangled spiral of distractions, and it's hard to get out of it. Reverse the cycle by learning to anticipate it and reassure yourself
Advice
- If you want to focus, try closing your eyes and taking a deep breath. This way, the brain will only focus on one sense.
- The secret to good concentration: sleep. Try to get the right amount of sleep for most of the week. Recent studies have shown that resting promotes the development of the IQ.
- Concentration applies to all activities in life. It should become a well-defined habit. Try to do one thing at a time with your full attention.
