Find a quiet area, such as a private room or a library. If you like fresh air, go outside to an area that is reasonably free of distractions, and somewhere you can still connect to Internet, if necessary. Keep in mind that everyone has their own studying environment preferences. While some prefer to study in quiet, others thrive in a bustling environment that mimics white noise. Always believe in yourself. If you don’t know your studying preferences, experiment in different areas, studying in a group or studying solo, studying with or without music, etc. Your ability to concentrate and be productive in different environments will reveal itself rather quickly.
All your materials should be within arm’s reach so you don’t disrupt yourself by going to retrieve your things when you’re in the zone, studying.
This includes throwing away food containers, paper garbage, and other miscellaneous items.
Your laptop or computer could serve as a huge source of distraction when you’re trying to concentrate.
Once you know the time of day that you’re more energetic, you can make sure you study during those times, increasing your ability to focus and concentrate on your work.
Some people may find study partners distracting. When looking for a study partner, try to find someone who is sensible and focused, maybe even more of an active student in class than you are. That way, you are always pushing yourself to stay matched with them.
For bigger projects, develop a bigger incentive to reward yourself for your extra hard work.
Making notecards. For vocabulary or academic terms, making notecards and flashcards and repeatedly reviewing them can help with memorizing words, terms, and concepts. Drawing. Some studying requires reviewing structures and diagrams. Copying those diagrams and structures, and drawing them yourself allows you to create and visualize what it is you’re trying to study, therefore making it more memorable. Creating an outline. Creating an outline may help with mapping out bigger concepts including the smaller details. It can also help create visual sections and groupings of information that may help recalling details when exam time approaches. Using elaborative interrogation. Elaborative interrogation is basically producing an explanation for why something you’re learning is true. It’s like you coming up with a defensive reason for why a fact or statement is important. You could also use this method to talk about concepts out loud and make yourself more familiar with the material by justifying and explaining it’s significance.
Actively participating with your studies makes the material more meaningful and able to hold your interest, which, in turn, makes concentrating on it easier.
Be here now. This simple and effective strategy helps bring back your wandering mind to the task at hand: When you become aware of the fact that your thoughts are no longer on your studies, say to yourself, “Be here now,” and try to reign in your wandering thoughts, and focus back on your study material. For example, you’re in class and your attention strays from the lecture to the fact that you’re craving coffee and the last bagel at the café is probably gone by now. As you say to yourself, “Be here now,” you fix your attention back to the lecture, and keep it there for as long as you can. Keep track of your mental wanderings. Mark down every time you catch your mind drifting away from what you should be concentrating on. As you get better and better with bringing yourself back to the present task, the number of times you break concentration should be less and less.
If you ever find yourself worrying about something while you’re trying to focus and concentrate, remember that you have a special time to worry about things. You can even try the “be here now” method to bring yourself back to concentrating. For example, give yourself a half hour before you start studying to worry about upcoming exams, your family, or whatever else is on your mind. Worry during this elected time so when you have to study, you can put all your attention and focus on doing that.
For example, instead of having the mentality of, “I have to study all of chapter 6 tonight,” set a goal for yourself with something like, “I will study sections 1-3 by 4:30, and then take a walking break. ” That way, conquering a study session transforms from a large, daunting task, to a smaller, more achievable portions. This sectional break up of study time increasing your willingness to concentrate and reach your studying goal.
Move around. Get up and stretch after sitting for about an hour. You could do some yoga, push ups, or any other kind of physical activity to get your blood pumping. These short breaks in studying will make the time you spend studying more productive and attentive.
