Maintaining Concentration While Studying
There are so many distractions that get in the way of studying for college students that it can be very difficult for students to keep their focus. Some are environmentally driven, such as video games and computers in the same room, loud music in the dorm, or the perpetual party down the hall. Other distractions are internal, such as learning disabilities, lack of self-control, and attention deficit disorders. Some of these distractions are easier to eliminate or reduce than others. However, there are some basic steps you can take to put yourself in a better position when you are finally sitting down to study.
The first step you should take when trying to hone your studying skills is to set realistic goals. It doesn’t make any sense to all of a sudden believe you are going to sit in the library for hours everyday diligently studying. Very few students are capable of pulling off such a routine. Study in smaller bursts to start. You are more likely to make use of a half hour period than to sit for two hours where you will be prone to day dreaming and will actually start looking for anything to distract you. Start off with these smaller blocks of time and build them into longer chunks as you become more comfortable.
Set a goal for each time you study. This could be a certain number of problems to complete or pages to read. Again, make these goals reachable within the time frame you have set up for yourself. It is human nature to have a number of thoughts cross your mind as you are studying. Write down the thoughts that are pertinent to the subject material. This way you can return to them after you have completed your goal for that particular study block. Once you reach your goal for a given study period, reward yourself. This could be in the form of 20 minutes on the computer doing non-related school things or chatting with your friend down the hall for ten minutes.
Many times students feel like they’re losing focus they say that they’re in a rut from studying. This often happens when students are attending to only one subject for a long period of time. Try mixing in another subject or two into a longer study period. This will help you keep your different subjects fresh. It is a good idea to take a break from one subject after awhile to let the material you’ve absorbed really soak in.
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This entry was posted on Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 11:04 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
