Read full review of BookwormHub.com

Being unable to concentrate during the studying process is the same as attempting to fly without wings. And in this article, we will cover how to “build” or “fix” them.  

Main Focusing Guidelines

Pick a quiet place

Noise distraction is all you need to disperse your attention and to have a counterproductive studying experience. So before getting started make sure to find a place where the number of sounds that can bother your ability to concentrate is reduced to minimum.  

Keep the air maximally fresh

Stale air is something that you may not always consciously notice, but it is also something that your body will always take into account as a respectful reason to decrease its intellectual productivity. To avoid mind struggles over it, the best thing you can do for yourself is to get a special sensor that measures the level of CO2 in the air. Basically, it beeps or twinkles with red color once you need to ventilate your room. This device is cheaper than you may think. It will serve you as a reliable tool that will not only precisely measure the purity of the air around you, but will also motivate you to use it on a regular basis and as a result – always work in fresh conditions.  

Comfortable chair and table

Any level of discomfort in any part of your body will always make it extremely difficult for you to stay focused while studying. If your educational workplace forces you to lean down too much, if the placement of your elbows is not completely natural, or if the position of your legs is not the way you want to – you have to take time to renew your chair and table. Otherwise, your mind will circle around complaining about how uncomfortable, unconcentrated and unproductive you are.  

Once you settle – turn off all notifications

The most obvious things are usually the most important. Shutting down the nosy distractions on your devices prior to your studying is no exception.  

Use a couple of devices

The whole point of studying is to concentrate on one thing. And to do it with higher efficiency you have to stay on the topic that you are working on by receiving the information from various channels. If you study by using only your personal computer you will get bored much quicker than if in addition to it you would also use an electronic book, a paper pad and pen. If you already want to take it to the next level – feel free to add to that list tv screen and whiteboard with markers. Keep in mind that adding too many devices may worsen your focusing abilities. Thus, if you also decide to use a phone and tablet, the whole process will turn into you running from one device to another. Then again strangely, but in some cases for some people it actually work.  

Having a pet nearby

We love our pets too much not to have our positive feelings activated every time they show up. But true fundamental science has nothing to do with emotions. They distract, interfere with pure thinking and lead to the relaxation of the mind, which is not good for a student to stay concentrated. That is why having your pet nearby while you are studying is not the best optimization move you can take.  

Too much time focusing and having no short breaks

If you overdo concentrating for too long on something that you are not even remotely interested in – your brain will start to look for distractions to refresh itself. Not all of the time the things it will pick up will reflect on your educational progress in a productive way. And since distractions are inevitable, the best thing you can do to keep your focusing abilities in shape is to consciously allow yourself to shorty distract on something positive.   

Drinks are fine, but food is not

A drink will better your focusing abilities only if it follows two conditions: it has to be a non-alcohol drink; it should be far enough from your devices so that in case it falls and spills on them it will not put you way outside of your schedule and budget. The best thing you can have is a sport bottle filled with water. In that case you will not get drunk, you will not get too much of the sugar and in case it falls nothing happens. But if you take any food to your workstation – there is no way you will be able to reach the top of your concentrating potential until you eat all of it.  

Overrated distracting factors

Having a slightly distracting objects is completely okay

Having something as yo-yo, tennis ball, a yoga mat or even a training apparatus will help you to better the circulation of your blood. That way, your organs will get more oxygen which will activate you and bring you more energy to spend on concentration. However, having something as rubik’s cube or a video game console can actually harm your abilities to concentrate later on. Since you have a high potential to awaken your challenging nature and set you a goal of solving a new task. And if you give into this temptation, you will lose a lot of time and mental energy.  

Chirping birds and other natural noises are actually good for you

Despite being called civilized creatures humans are still representatives of a very wild species. Sound of nature always accompanied us for millions of years, while we were hunting the preys and creating primitive yet important devices. For that reason, having some of these evolutionarily familiar sounds around us can be actually refreshing to our biological nature. So, closing the window to avoid hearing the sound of a bird will not only reduce the level of fresh air, but will also spoil your adaptation skills and will worsen your focusing abilities in the long-term perspective.   

Underrated distracting factors

Eat healthy, exercise and have plenty of sleep

Having the right diet and healthy amount of sleep will have a positive impact on your cognitive functions. That way you will be less moody, less aggressive and less intellectually conservative. You will become more present. It will manifest in your positive state of mind, concentration and abilities to cope with academic challenges with far less emotional expenses.  

Have time to exercise your physical abilities on regular basis

Being physically inactive will decrease your chances to store, process and use the information. It is completely fine if you don’t want to have anything to do with sport or even fitness. But if you don’t substitute it with one or a couple hours of your time on some sort of physical activity (at least walking) – the index of your concentration will slip and your brain will get old faster.  

Do not sit facing window

That way you will not only be distracted with what is going on outside, but will also create an extra tension on your eyes. As a result, your visual sensory system will get tired quicker, which will decrease your desire to continue being focused while studying. Sitting sideways to the window will eliminate these two negative impacts.  

No music is good for studying

There is no such thing as great music for focusing and having productive studying. Any music will always serve you as a subjectively esthetical distraction of your thinking. Especially if it is the music you appreciate. In other words, listening to music to concentrate is the same as eating food to get hungry.