How to Concentrate on Studies: Practical Steps for Students

“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”
-Aristotle

The great Greek philosopher, Aristotle was correct when he stated these words some couple centuries ago. No matter how much you pretend that whatever your mind reads, you completely understand, it will always remain a lie if you are not true to yourself. We know that not every time you are focused on what you are studying. Sometimes the chapter might be boring or sometimes it might just be too tough for you to grasp the knowledge yourself. Hence, in such moments you intend to either skip the chapter or leave it for later. But have you ever tried to draw the conclusion what is the reason that you fail to concentrate on your studies or for that matter how to concentrate on studies?

We understand that, as a student, you are not living an easy life. From attending lectures, participating in extracurricular activities, and even working part-time jobs for a better college application to chilling out with friends, exploring new hobbies, and finding what you want to be, there is too much in your head. In all of this, when you are already dreadfully under pressure, finding inner peace to concentrate on your education may seem a tough task. However, to help you focus on your studies, here is the complete guide.

Easy Steps to Increase Concentration While Studying

“Why I can’t focus on studies?” was one of the most common questions we encountered when interacting with students on a personal level. The question here wasn’t that the students aren’t brilliant-minded or are bad at studies, but the fact that they don’t know what the correct approach and action plan for their academic approach. If you are a student reading this blog, you can relate to it. You are not a bad student, it’s just that you can’t find a way that answers how to concentrate on studies. Well, to help you get an answer to this valuable question and to ease your study burden, below are some tips that can be your ultimate study plan.

Create a Dedicated Study Space

Let’s start by finding you that perfect corner that gives you the motivation to study with utmost focus. Now, we do know that when the chapter is boring or there is too much to read or any exam is near, even the walls seem interesting, distracting you from your course and leading to breaking your concentration. Trust us, we all have been students once in our lives and have gone through the same struggles you are facing today. Only now the distractions have increased due to social media, but let’s take one step at a time. When you are willing to know how to focus on studies, then start by finding a table and chair that is in a peaceful corner of your room. Studying in an attentive position is better to increase your concentration rather than studying on a bed under your comforter. Because that will just lead you to laziness, affecting your study plans.

Set Specific Goals

The next step for you to take is to set realistic goals. Just because any assignment is pending or an exam is near, doesn’t mean you have to cover all the course in one go. Take your time to completely understand the topic and not move forward until you have grasped all the knowledge. Now, when you have got a lot to study, you better set specific goals to increase your focus. Instead of looking at the entire course all at once and getting overwhelmed by the pile of topics to study, you better outline what are all the concepts you must cover in one particular study session. Divide larger tasks into smaller ones so that you don’t feel under pressure. This will ease your mind, and you can accomplish your study goals.

Use the Pomodoro Technique

Now, talking about dividing your study time, it doesn’t mean you have to study for two hours straight with utmost concentration. No! One of the reasons you want to study but can’t focus is because you try to cover all the subjects at once. This leads to overwhelming pressure, and you end up with nothing getting done at the end of it. Instead of punishing yourself with dreadful study sessions of longer hours, you must try the Pomodoro technique. In this trick, you study for 25 minutes without distraction and take a five-minute break. This technique helps in increasing your focus and prevent burnout. When you have divided your longer tasks into shorter manageable goals, you can effectively apply the Pomodoro technique in your study action plan.

Study with Fresh Mind

Many students across the globe come up ranting that they can’t concentrate on studies. No matter how hard they try, at the end of the day when they open their books, they are just unable to make sense of the sentence they read even a million times. This can be the same situation with you when you sit down to study but just can’t focus on it. One of the reasons why your mind fails to grasp complete knowledge of the concepts is because you study in the evening.

Studying in the evening is surely one of the biggest disadvantages, as you have lived the day and whatever good or bad has happened will remain in your mind throughout the day. And when but the end of the day, when too many things are roaming in your mind, you can never give the required attention to your studies. Hence, when you are creating a study schedule, you prefer to study new concepts in the morning and keep your evenings only for revisions.

Minimise Distractions

When you want to know how to concentrate on your studies, the biggest advice anyone can give you is to minimise distractions. We know that it is not in your hands to get distracted every time. Sometimes, someone else disturbing you while you are in the middle of solving a complex sum can lead you to distraction, and forming the same concentration again may seem difficult. However, besides the unwanted distractions, things that you can control yourself are not using social media or switching off your phone while studying.

In today’s era, students have got various facilities such as the internet or AI to help them solve their assignments or assist in studying. However, the accessibility of the internet comes with various distractions such as the eagerness to check social media every other second. To avoid such distractions instead of using digital forums, try studying with the help of notes or textbooks as this will help you concentrate.

Write Notes in Your Own Words

To make study sessions fun and interesting, to increase your focus, and to ensure you understand whatever you read, the best trick here is to write everything in your own words. One thing we have mentioned throughout this blog is that students fail to grasp the true meaning of a concept even after reading it a few times. Why do students fail to understand because they are reading something written by someone else and they try to memorise it the way it is written? Trying to memorise a concept is always a bad idea, taking up more of your time as you must re-read it multiple times.

However, when you read something and break it down in your own simple words, you actually grasp the true meaning and there are chances that you may never forget it again. To make studying more fun and interesting, you can relate the concepts to something you like the most. For instance, if you are working on a periodic table and need to memorise it. Instead of blankly memorising the elements written as they are, try an innovative technique and transform it into a song or dialogue so you can remember it for a long time.

Take Enough Breaks

When you are worrying about why you are not able to concentrate on studies instead of giving your full attention to it, the reason is your mind wandering somewhere outside. Closing yourself in your room and making yourself forcefully study until one subject isn’t done is the worst way of studying. Till the time you understand your education as a burden, you may never be able to actually learn something. To ensure what you have studied it all stays in your mind, you should take a break.

In the Pomodoro technique, you get a five-minute break that allows you to freshen up for the next task. However, once you have completed an entire chapter or a subject, depending on your study goal, you must take a long break. In that break, one thing you must keep in mind is to maintain your distance from digital distractions, because there is nothing worse than social media scrolling. So, when you take a break, it is better to go for a run, walk, or do some meditation. In this manner, you will be away from your notes, but your mind will still be revising what you have studied.

Get Adequate Sleep

The answer to, “Why I can’t focus on studies?” can be several. But as everything in the human body is interrelated, so is the process of everything else. When you sit in front of your textbooks and try your best to study but you are either yawning or lost in your thoughts, it is because you haven’t got adequate eight hours of sleep. We know that when there is too much to study or an exam is near, you must feel guilty about sleeping or even taking breaks. But cutting short your sleep schedule is not the best way to increase your concentration or productivity for that matter. Because a sleepy brain brings a lazy body and when your eyes aren’t completely awake to read the topic and your mind isn’t fully functioning to grasp the concepts, you will be stuck in the same loop. This is why you must take a complete eight-hour sleep. Otherwise, Aristotle’s words will be the perfect fit here, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.”

Treat Yourself

This might seem like a stupid thought to you now but do remember, no one else in this world is your biggest cheerleader as you are, for yourself. The amount of hard work you put in to tackle a complex topic yourself, or how creatively you find a way to make your learning interactive, it is only you who can truly appreciate yourself. So, when you are putting all the effort into becoming a better version of yourself, you must give yourself a little reward after a study session. This not only helps you motivate yourself to study better and stay more focused but also helps you maintain your mental well-being. Now, to savor the moment of little victory, you can enjoy it with a piece of chocolate, a favourite meal, watch a movie you love, read a book you were waiting to read, so something that brings actual joy to your heart and motivates you to accomplish more of such targets.

Study Regularly

Finally, in order to increase your concentration and stay focused on your studies, something you must make a habit of is your regular study routine. Many students follow this one procedure where they don’t study the entire term and try to pull all-nighters at the time of exams. Even though this brings results for some students, when you are aiming for a brighter future abroad for your higher education, it is better if you make a constant habit of studying regularly. Now the repetition of self-creating notes can be monotonous, but to bring something fun to your learning methods, you can mix up your study materials or try different techniques like flashcards, summarization, or discussing with peers. Studying regularly will show your progress and along with boosting your concentration, it will also improve your overall academic success.

Create a Concrete Study Plan to Enhance Concentration

With the tips that we have mentioned for you in this blog, we now believe it will be easier for you to concentrate on your studies. We get that not always you are motivated to study wholeheartedly. However, if you keep procrastinating your studies, it will keep piling up and one day it will become so huge that you will feel overwhelmed. If you want to avoid such scenarios in the foreseeable future, it is better if you go for the Pomodoro technique. Try breaking your bigger goals into smaller ones that are easily achievable and instead of memorising whatever is written in your textbooks, identify a fun way to remember the concepts either with the help of flashcards or any other interactive manner.

Knowing the importance of education to build a stronger future, if you focus on your studies, you may actually be able to get admission to a renowned university abroad gaining practical learning. So, if you want to succeed in life and are aiming for a better future abroad, you can contact our experts today.