Coronavirus really hit hard on our studies. With almost 1 year gap in our educational career, It’s hard to get back on track of studying especially when there are so many distractions around. Be it the fear of corona itself or social media or habit of studying that have been lost over several months, It’s hard to focus on your studies.
Here we present effective ways to focus on your studies :
1. Make study goals and to-do list
It’s better to plan ahead to what you are going to study and how much you are going to study. Then, make goals that you are committed to fulfilling. With every goal, you fulfill, tick it on the to-do list. You will feel a sense of achievement every time you complete the task. Compliment yourself and reward yourself. This will help you to be committed and focus on the study as you want to achieve the goal you have set.
2. Find a suitable study space
Before studying, it’s crucial to find and organize the study space. Study somewhere that is quiet and free from distractions. Don’t study in bed. Studying in bed will make you feel sleepy and you cannot focus on studying while lying on the bed. Instead, look for a study table and sit upright in the chair. Study in the well-litted room, not the darkroom. Bright light will prevent you from dozing off. Organize everything you need before studying, either it is books, note copies, pencils, a pen, or a calculator. Make sure you have everything you need to prevent yourself from distractions. Also, keep water bottles and light snacks nearby. It’s important to stay hydrated while studying as it helps to refresh your brain.
3. Block all the distractions
So, you sat down to study and you are highly committed and focused on study. Just then you get a notification on your phone that caught your eye and you thought to check it out. But without your knowing, you end up watching memes and TikTok for several hours you were supposed to study, and then, you are filled with regret and start cramming the books. It’s a similar story for many students especially when there are so many distractions around. Either it is Youtube, Facebook, or Tiktok, these distractions make you lose your focus and once you lose your focus, it takes at least 25 mins to regain the focus and concentration. So, it’s better to block all these distractions beforehand. There are plenty of apps available in the play store which blocks these websites and apps for the time set. This will help you focus on your studies.
4. Watch other people studying
Watching other people studying can help you to focus on your studies. You might say this is absurd. But trust me it works! Humans are highly affected by other’s behavior. This is the reason why when you watch someone eating, you get hungry and when other people are studying, you want to study as well. Now you might be considering for group study. But WAIT ! Don’t do that. Most of the group studies are not effective and you might end up gossiping more than studying. The best way is to search for study vlogs or study with me videos on Youtube. There are plenty of videos out there where you can see people studying and some even do a live session of their study. Watching the video of people studying would make you want to study and you can focus on your studies for long hours.
5. Listen to music
Listening to music can help you focus on your studies. While for some, it might be a distraction but it is proven that music stimulates our brain which helps us to focus. Choose the music you like, don’t go for heavy metal or rock music. A calm, ballad music helps you relax your mind which will help you focus on your study and improve your memory. You can find several pieces of music for studying on Youtube.
6. Study in short bursts
The study has proven that studying continuously for long hours is not effective. It is due to the recency effect that states the human brain is focused on primacy and recency and tends to lose focus in between. So you tend to remember what you studied first and last but forget what you studied in between.
So, study in short bursts. Instead of studying for 2 hours, you can break down the 2 hours to 4 study sessions of 25 minutes each with 5 minutes break in between. This will trick your mind that you are not studying for 2 hours but just for 25 minutes. This will help you to focus on the study and remember everything that you have studied.
7. Teach yourself
Well, this must sound funny but this is an effective way to stay focused. Instead of studying, pretend like you are teaching someone. This helps you to focus on the study as it tricks your brain that you are not studying but teaching someone. Talk to yourself and teach yourself, pretend you are giving some home tuition to yourself. This will help you focus on your study and studying will be fun.
8. Study difficult chapter first
Usually, we tend to study easy chapters first which makes us lose focus because it is something we know and is easy. Start with a difficult chapter first so that you would keep the focus on it. Also, as the recency effect, the topics which we study first, we tend to remember better. Our focus remains high when we start studying which makes us able to understand difficult chapters. Don’t leave difficult chapters to study later as you will probably not understand it later on. Also, studying difficult chapters that you do not know much about will trick your brain that you need to study, and thus, you will be able to focus on your studies.
9. Study at your peak brain times
There is exactly no time when you should study. Some people say that if you study in the morning, you can focus well. The other says you tend to remember when you study before you go to bed. There is no hard and fast rule on when you should study. You should study at your peak brain times. If you are a morning person, you can study early in the morning and if you are a night owl, you can study late at night. You need to figure out the best time to study when you feel you are most active and focused.
10. Take dummy exams
Studying is not just enough. You must check if you really remember all the things you studied. So, it’s better to take the test in between. When you don’t want to study anymore, take a test in between. Set a timer and solve questions from the old question set and then check it yourself and give marks. This will not only help you to remember what you have studied but also helps you to focus on your study.