If you struggle to pay attention during meetings or during class, take notes more actively. Keep your pencil moving. Even if it’s not something that will be super-helpful later, you’ll keep yourself from wandering into other thoughts if you take notes.
If you’re embarrassed, try finding an isolated super-quiet place to study, or wait until your roommates are gone to get some alone time to try it out. Or just don’t worry about what they think. Talk to yourself! We all do it.
It might sound so obvious that it’s silly, but if you’re reading a text and find your mind wandering into other thoughts, picture yourself doing it correctly. Tell yourself to actively read and pay attention. Change your mind and look toward the space where you’re doing the right thing. Then do it.
Try your best to do one thing at one time. When it’s time to eat breakfast and read the paper, just eat breakfast and read the paper. You don’t have to worry about studying for that English essay if you know you’re going to study for it at 4:30, after you get off work and before you meet up for dinner. [5] X Trustworthy Source University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Division of the University of Georgia focused on research and community education Go to source
One of the most nagging distractions when you’re trying to sit down to study trig notes might be, “Why am I doing this? I should be out partying and living my life!” In those moments, it’s helpful to remind yourself why you’re studying: “I’ve got to pass this class so I can get my degree and go to grad school and become the most powerful pediatric neurosurgeon in Whitman County. My plan is in effect. " Take time for an evil laugh, then get back to it.
This may not be true for everyone. Learn how you work best. If it’s more efficient for you to plow through and grade 20 papers all at once, more power to you. Pour a glass of wine and get to it.
If you’ve got a long day ahead of you, some people find it effective to go for a 50-10 breakdown. If you’ve got a bunch of work to do, go all-out for 50 minutes and then take 10 minutes to do something relaxing. Get up from your desk, take a walk, watch a YouTube video of a bulldog bouncing on a trampoline, do what you need to do to get the break you need. Then get back to it.
Take a day and Try to write down everything that distracts you. If you’re supposed to be studying and you click on Facebook instead, write that down. If you should be working on a paper and you’re playing guitar, write that down. If you’re supposed to be listening in class and you’re daydreaming about your boyfriend, write that down. At the end of the day, look at your distraction habits. When you get down to work tomorrow, Try to create a space where you’ll eliminate those distractions. Close your browser while you study, or go somewhere without wireless. Put the guitar in the basement, or leave the house. Put away your cellphone and stop texting the dreamboat. They’ll all still be there when you’ve got free time.
Leave. If the distractions are insufferable, don’t overreact, and don’t sit there stewing and wasting time. Get up, pack up your things, and find a less distracting corner of the library. Ignore it. Plug in your headphones and cue up some ambient music and drown out the distracting wheezing from the other people, or just focus in on your reading to such a degree that you don’t notice it. He’s not trying to annoy you on purpose. Get on with it.
If you struggle to work on a computer, or you need the Internet to do your job, head yourself off at the pass. Block the websites you find the most distracting by using a program like Anti-Social, or download a time-restriction software that will only allow you to use the internet as set times. In between, you’ll be in charge, not the evil vortex called YouTube.
Make good friends with the “to-do” list and stick to it as close as possible! Pick one thing at a time to work on, and keeping working on that one thing until it’s done completely. [7] X Research source You can’t do two things at once, can you? Check your list for possibilities to double up and make your day more efficient. Need to study up for a math exam AND do the laundry? Review your notes at the laundromat and cross them both off your list, keeping up with home commitments and schoolwork.
Try meditating in the mornings, or doing some deep-breathing exercises to center yourself when you start feeling overwhelmed. People who have trouble concentrating have a tendency to spiral into different levels of distraction, making it worse rather than pulling themselves out of it. Reverse the cycle by learning to anticipate it and chill out. [8] X Research source
