Keeping focus during study can be hard for most students but a few easy steps can be taken to avoid distraction from the books.
For some students, studying comes easy and they can do it for hours without ever considering what else is going on around them. For others, every little distraction is an excuse to leave the books and forget all about papers and exams. These are a few easy steps the scatter-brained student can take to improve study habits.
Turn Off Your Cell Phone
This one sounds so easy but can be extremely hard for many students. The phone is their lifeline and without it, the world might stop. The world however, does not stop just because people can’t reach you for a couple of hours. Most people know how to leave a message and you can call them back on a break from the books.
Move Away from the TV
Click on and leave it on for background noise, right? The TV is one of the easiest distractions of them all. Pretty soon your eye will wander from the book or computer to the TV screen and hours might pass before you realize how much of your study time you have wasted watching whatever show was on.
Have Snacks Available
The kitchen and fridge in particular have a tendency to draw students out of chairs and away from studying. Getting up every 20 minutes to get a snack or something to drink is just another excuse to take an unnecessary break from the books. So stock up on snacks and drinks and take them with you to your preferred study space.
Time Your Breaks
Everybody has different attention spans. When you start looking out the window or realize you have read the same line ten times, it is a good time to take a break. Don’t let time run of with you though and set a limit to how long the break should be. Go for a run or get something to eat and drink. Call that one person, who can’t wait until you are done studying and then return to the books.
No Internet
Besides the TV this is the most time-eating, study-stealing device ever. You start by doing research for your paper and before you know it you have updated all your personal web places, written comments for all you friends and hours have passed with no studying done whatsoever. This one is hard and it takes some willpower to stay of the Internet because a lot of studying is done in front of the computer and it is real easy to click that icon. Again allow yourself time on the Internet but set a limit to how much time you can spend and stick to it.
Get Out of There!
All of the above can be eliminated if you go to a place where there are no distractions at all. The library offers quiet study spaces at clean desks with no kitchens to run to, no TV to turn on and limited phone use only. The library might get a little boring, but for the scatterbrained student, this is just what is needed to get the studying done and the grades up.
For more ion how to be better at studying read Learning Styles
