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The Easiest Way to Concentrate on Studies

Elizabeth Skinner
Studying can be hard, staying focused might be an even harder challenge with so many distractions and fun content on multiple platforms. Social networks, communication apps on smartphone, games, and streaming video services are reachable and contagious.

How to concentrate on studies for long hours then?

Digital content made our attention span shorter than a goldfish, and it’s around 8 seconds due to the constant drive for new information. No matter how you tackle new technology that won’t go away, you will still have to learn new things.

Tips for Studying Effectively for Long Hours

There is no magic solution, but there are some steps that can help you stay focused on studying. The biggest distraction is often within the student. Every person is different and maybe has it’s own tricks to add, but generally, most people can benefit from strategies that will allow you to concentrate on studies.

Find a calm place to study

It sounds basic and obvious, but it's essential for your concentration that you have a suitable environment. Comfortable chair, organized and neat desk and little to no noises would be ideal. Remove all the things that can distract you like a smartphone, laptop, and TV.

Prepare the Props

Have your books, sticky notes, cards, pens, highlighters, rulers, and all the things you might need ready on the desk. It could be distracting if you go look for a pen in the middle of work. It may take up to 23 minutes to refocus on the studying.

Find your natural studying time

Are you a morning person, or you wait for everyone to go to sleep? Think about the time you had the most significant success preparing for the exam, and try to adapt your schedule to your natural rhythm. If you learn best during the night, make sure you still grab at least 8 hours of sleep.

Include well-thought breaks

You should take short breaks that will help your brain to digest the studying material. The best breaks include a physical activity like stretching or a short walk.
You could check what’s new on Facebook to cope with social media addiction crisis, but whatever you do, it should take 10 to a maximum of 20 minutes.

Take Notes

Studying materials can be overwhelming, and finding anchors that can be focal reference points could help you tackle this problem. Notes should be simple, with few keywords that will trigger your memory to the specific part of the learning topic.

Music and Studying Partner

These two won’t work with everyone. Music can in some cases help with studying, but even if it’s just a background sound and you like it, it is one more thing your brain notices. Some learn better with studying partner.
You should probably avoid closest friends because it is likely you will soon be distracted with internal fun and talks. Study partner should have the same level of social interaction skills as you, and preferably smarter than you.

Healthy Snacks

Fruit and water are the best choices for refueling. Energy drinks and sweets could give you a short burst, but you will feel bad once the effect is gone. Coffee is an excellent choice for college students, but also in moderate amounts.
If your working environment is ready, distractions are put aside, it’s time to sit and start studying. Similar principles apply when you need to prepare an essay or work on a collaborative project using a computer.
Although one of the advice was to avoid technology, if you have to use it, some useful apps will keep you locked in on the task. Tools like 'Freedom' or 'Simple Blocker' can block out unwanted distraction websites. 'Todoist' is one of the most popular To do lists app.
If you need to check the quality of your essay that is due tomorrow, Grammarly is an excellent app for grammar, punctuation, and style, and Edubirdie is an online resource for checking plagiarism.

For collaboration with fellow students, you could use Google Docs, or if you have more complex project Asana, Trello, and Podio are great choices.

Conclusion

If you follow these guidelines, you might answer the question of how to make yourself concentrate on studies.

Author's Bio

Elizabeth Skinner is a freelance author and essay writer with a background in covering educational and cultural topics. Elisabeth’s style is engaging and active in promoting positive ideas. Her mission is to transfer her to know how and rich experience in the form of high-quality articles and blog posts.