35 Learning to Focus

Where To Study

In order to study successfully, students must learn to concentrate at a high level. It is important to know where we study best. Some students study well at home. Other students study well at a library or coffee shop. There is no best for all. Your best environment is based on you and your preferences.

When To Study

It is also important to know when we study best. Many students study most efficiently in the morning when they first wake up. Studying late in the day may be the only option for some students, but often we are tired at the end of the day, and this can have a major effect on study efficiency. Figuring out where and when we study best may take some time. Even when we find the best place and time to study, we also have to be aware of distractions, which can be internal or external.

Internal Distractions

An internal distraction includes thought processes, self-esteem, or confidence. It’s something that interrupts you from what you’re doing. It might also be a computer or cell phone — something that is controlled by you. Many students intend to study but easily get distracted by surfing the Internet, checking social media, watching YouTube videos, or receiving a text message. If you don’t absolutely need your computer or cell phone for your study, it is best not to bring them or turn them off. If you do study with your phone or computer, it is best to have all potential alerts turned off. Notifications of text messages, emails, or social media updates can all serve as a major distraction to your studying.

External Distractions

External distractions might be your roommates, family, or friends. Even if they are supportive of your study, it may be challenging to concentrate when they are around. Saying “no” is an important skill that may need to be utilized in order for you to have your study time without interruption.

Keep in mind that it may take 20 minutes to reach a high level of concentration. When we are interrupted, it takes on average, another 23 minutes to get back to the level of concentration that we were at prior to the disruption.^[1] If a student is studying for an hour and is interrupted twice, the consequence to study efficiency is devastating.

One way to try to monitor how many interruptions you incur and how well you maintain your level of concentration is to keep track of it. Take a blank piece of paper when you are studying and mark down each time you were interrupted.

Over time, with practice, you should be able to decrease the number of interruptions you incur. This will allow you to be most efficient when studying.

Multitasking

Video: Watch “Selective Attention Test” and see if you come up with the correct answers:

Students are considered extraordinary multitaskers, though brain science tells us that multitasking is a myth.^[2] More likely, they are apt to switch tasks quickly enough to appear to be doing them simultaneously. When it comes to heavy media multitasking, studies show greater vulnerability to interference, leading to decreased performance.^[3] Multitasking is now more often called “Task Switching” because that is what your brain is doing — switching from one task to the other.

Trying to do multiple things at the same time may seem like it may allow someone to accomplish more, but when studying, it often leads to accomplishing less. There are things that can be successfully multitasked. Someone could throw clothes in the washer and make a snack, then eat and read a book at the same time while waiting for the clothes to be washed. But if they try to text, check e-mail, watch TV and look at their X timeline all while studying, it won’t work well.

A study from Carnegie Mellon University found that driving while listening to a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent.^[4] Why would anyone choose to use less brain activity when they drive? Why would anyone choose to use less brain activity by task switching when they study?