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How to Improve Concentration
Are you having trouble concentrating? Your problem may be one or some or all of the following:
You're Not Organized
It's easier to concentrate on the task at hand when you have set aside specific times for your other tasks.
- Write down all of the academic tasks you have to do, breaking them into their component smaller steps wherever possible.
- Every weekend, make a realistic plan for the upcoming week.
- Every night, make a realistic plan for the next day. Don't make your plans too ambitious, or you will always be failing to get through your list.
Your Comprehension is Poor
Your course material should hang together in a coherent pattern. If it seems like thousands of disjointed bits of information, then it will
be far more difficult to remember, and you'll have far more difficulty concentrating.
- Take your course outline and make a conceptual "map" of the main units in the entire course.
- For each chapter or unit covered, make a smaller map of the topics it contains.
- When you see the pattern of the course, your comprehension and concentration will improve.
You're Procrastinating
So you get organized and you set up a schedule, but you keep avoiding your work and finding other things to do. Try these:
- Re-visit your motivations. Remember, the current task is related to the course, which is related to the program which you chose, which is related to larger issues of what you want in life. "I want to do this" is a much healthier attitude than "I should do this".
- Develop a sense of progress. Break your study task down into parts. Each time you sit down to work, set an objective for that study session, enjoy the accomplishment of getting it done, and do something fun to reward yourself for making progress.
- Don't get sucked into perfectionism or fear of failure. Do your best, but don't waste energy on impossible ideals.
- Don't get too isolated in your studies. Talk about the material with instructors, friends and other students.
You're Neglecting Your Physiology
Remember, the mind and the body are not two separate things. To improve your concentration, get to know your own physiology better.
- Nutrition - It's harder to concentrate when you're operating on coffee, smokes, and junk food.
- Sleep – Sleep well to help you concentrate.
- Time of day - People have differing patterns of high and low energy throughout the day. Know your own patterns and plan your work accordingly.
- Exercise - A good workout sharpens the mind. If you skip out on exercise because of time restraints, your concentration will probably suffer.
- Drugs - Whether prescription, over-the-counter, recreational or just your morning coffee, drugs affect your concentration. Again, it is a matter of your own physiology, so pay attention and understand what effects they have on you.
Your Work Environment is poor
Take a survey of your work environment.
- Privacy - Find ways to eliminate unwanted interruptions.
- Noise - Too much or too little can both be problems.
- Temperature - Is it too high or low?
- Comfort - Watch your posture and support.
- Clutter - Get everything off your desk except the work that you're doing.
You can also engage in practices which, over the longer term, develop your ability to concentrate. Here are some suggestions:
- Meditation helps bring about a calm but alert mind, which is the basis for concentration.
- Yoga, Tai Chi, and other such practices are, in a sense, meditation with movement.
- Exercise and sports can bring about that same alertness and presence of mind.
Choose the techniques that suit you the best, and be aware of how the ability to focus and achieve presence of mind in daily activities is
transferable to your academic pursuits.
Adapted from University of Western Ontario Student Development Centre
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