Concentrate on Reading or Work

You might have heard that concentration is a natural gift: you're either one of those people who can read a whole novel in a day or you belong to the category of those who check what's outside the window every five seconds to spot the slightest variation in the same cloud. However, concentration is a skill you can learn with a little practice rather than one you're born with. There are steps you can take and strategies you can develop to make sure you maximize your time and get your work done without much distraction.

Steps

Creating the Right Environment

1. Find a quiet place. Consider the potential distractions of a place and choose one that has as few of them as possible.
   • The ideal place will vary from person to person: if the presence of other people distracts you, avoid libraries and common areas in your house. If noise is what bothers you most, the library could instead be the perfect environment for you.
   • Avoid spaces that you associate with other activities: these could work as a distraction. For example, studying where you keep your television might eventually encourage you to turn it on; studying in bed can work for some, but a nap could get in the way.
   • If you've chosen a space thinking that it could work and then find yourself distracted by something in it, get away and move into one without this distraction. Forcing yourself to ignore it while trying to read or study will only keep your concentration busy with something other than the task at hand.
2. Get the place ready for work. Make sure that there is enough light and room for you to keep your books and tools. Use a chair that keeps your back straight but is comfortable to sit in. Check that you have everything you need before starting to work. Getting up to look for something will break your work flow and might lead you to other distractions.
   • Proper lighting is important. In a dim environment, your eyes will get tired faster and this might lead you to take more breaks than needed. If you're using artificial lighting, position the source directly on the page instead of over your shoulder.
3. Listen to some music if it helps. The effect of background noise on our concentration is very subjective: you might work best in total silence or find music helpful in shutting out actual as well as mental distraction.
   • Listen to different genres of music and see which one helps you concentrate the most: you might be distracted by lyrics and prefer ambient music, or you might find the cadences of rap music can help you stay focused. Once you found the genre that works best for you, stick with it.
   • Creating a sound environment that helps your concentration doesn't necessarily involve music. You might prefer the background noise of a student lounge or coffee shop.
4. Sit down and do what you have to do. Although this might sound obvious, it's hard to bring yourself to facing the fact that there's work to be done and the sooner you'll start, the sooner you'll be through with it. Once you've prepared the space, picture yourself as a jet pilot, enter your cockpit and sit in front of the control board. There's a plane waiting to take off, and you're in charge of it!
   • You can also imagine a thin bubble around your body and work space: all that truly matters is what's inside. The bubble will burst as soon as you're finished, and let the outside world in again.
   • For this purpose, listening to music through your headphones is a good way to use sound as a way to place ourselves in a self-contained concentration bubble.
5. Return to the same space any time you need to concentrate. Developing a habit of reading or working in the same place has its psychological benefits. When you go there, your mind will associate the environment with the activity you perform in it (for example, reading) and get down to work faster.
   • Once you develop this habit, you'll no longer have to make an effort to start concentrating. By association, your mind will automatically read the physical transition into such space (a study room) as a mental transition into concentration time.

Pacing Yourself

1. Find the schedule that suits you best. This could be obviously dictated by other commitments, but you should first of all get to know how your body works. Once again, this is subjective. Whether you're a morning person or a night owl, pick the time of the day when your energy is at its highest.
   • If you need to maximize time to finish a large amount of work, leave the easier tasks to the part of the day when your level of attention is lower. For example, if you're writing an essay, do the thinking and background reading when you're more focused and format it or proofread it when you're less concentrated.
   • Having a fixed schedule is like finding the right space: training your body to associate a specific time with a task will make it easier for you to transition from leisure to work when focus-time has come.
2. Focus on one thing at a time. Multitasking is usually the privilege of those who have little trouble finding concentration in any situation. If you struggle with staying focused, however, limiting yourself to one activity is the best way to avoid getting carried away by other tasks.
   • Choosing the right environment and time plays a large role: this is why it is best to avoid places where you usually perform other activities, like bedrooms, kitchens or lounges. Because they are designed to exclude any interference, libraries and study rooms work for most people as the best place to concentrate.
   • Your mobile and laptop could be a great source of distraction. If you're reading on it and find yourself checking your e-mail too often, download the documents you're working on (if they're online) and turn off the internet connection, silence your mobile and keep it in your bag or pocket.
3. Subdivide larger tasks into smaller ones. Sometimes distraction can come from the assignment itself: if you feel overwhelmed by its size, make a clear plan of smaller steps you can take toward completing it. It will be easy to get down to work once this is broken into more manageable bits.
   • For example, having fifteen books to read in less than a week can be a little mind-boggling: make a list of which are more important and should be read more carefully; divide them into categories; make a schedule of which you should read on each day; devote some time to reading other sources where the main points of each book are summed up, so you know what to expect once you approach them.
4. Take breaks. It is unnatural for anyone to stay focused for a whole day. Not allowing yourself some time off can actually decrease your concentration and tire you out. Make sure your daily schedule includes several interruptions of different lengths where you can reboot your energies.
   • You can take more breaks as you start building up your concentration skills and decrease their number if you feel your attention span is getting longer.
   • For your breaks, choose activities that clear your mind, like exercise, or focus on something other than work, like cooking or chatting with friends.
5. Be strict with yourself when you follow your time schedule. If you're break is meant to last 10 minutes, enjoy them to the fullest but, once they're over, go straight back to work without hesitating.
6. Reward yourself. Giving yourself a little prize to look forward to for each period you've stayed focus is a good way to work faster and more efficiently. It also gives your mind more incentives to develop long-term concentration skills. This can be anything you enjoy doing.
   • The size of the reward should be commensurate to the task performed. After a two-hour study session, you can reward yourself by having a snack, while after a full day of work a good meal is more appropriate; a full week of essay-writing might call for a night out with friends.

Developing Efficient Reading and Learning Strategies

1. Read for purpose. The subject of study can work as a distraction in itself if you don't know how to manage it. Set clear reading goals based on what you're reading for. Determine in advance what information you need from the text and look for it rather than reading from top to bottom.
   • Make a list of problems and questions whose answers you might find in the text. This will turn your reading task into an investigative exercise and make you skip irrelevant passages. For example, if you're only interested in the overall argument that the author is making, find the paragraph where this is stated clearly and skim through the evidence.
   • Skim and scan. Skimming means reading for general meaning, while scanning is the way to best way to do it. Your eyes should be looking for key words and passages in the text. Pay greater attention to titles as well as opening and closing sentences in each paragraph.
   • You can pre-read a text by simply going through the titles and subheadings. After you've done this, you can return to it with a mental map of its overarching argument. In the second reading session, you'll know what to expect and which sections are worth spending more time on.
2. Engage all your senses in the reading process. Reading is much more than a visual activity: you can read important points or make comments out loud, write them down or mark the text. All these activities will create a connection between you and the text and involve your entire body in the learning process.
   • If you're a visual learner, highlight the text and make outlines to focus on it and remember it. If you memorize sounds better, use rhymes and acronyms.
3. Mark the text and take notes. Highlight or underline important passages and key words, take notes on the margin or on a different document. This will make it easier for you to return to the text and see what are the main points being made.
   • If you borrowed a book from the library, take notes on a separate piece of paper or your laptop.
4. Focus your energies on understanding the subject. When you read, it's possible that for your mind to wander down lines of thought that are unrelated to the information in the text. Repeat to yourself silently or out loud the main points in your own words to check whether you've fully comprehended the meanings of the text. Being interested in what you're working on is a major factor in our level of focus. If you can't connect with the text, here are some ways in which you can develop an interest in it:
   • Have a critical approach: ask yourself questions and feel free to disagree with it, by thinking of evidence against a specific argument.
   • Anticipate what will be said next based on what you've read so far; this can speed up the reading process.
   • Make connections with what you already know.
5. Restructure information into an outline. You can either picture one in your mind or actually draw it in your notes. This will help you summarize the arguments and focus on their overall meaning.
   • Even in this case, linking the information in the text with what you already know is the best way to relate to a text and make it fit into the larger structured knowledge you already possess.
6. Use self-regulation techniques to avoid distractions. If you have implemented all such strategies and still strive to focus, or you had no other option but studying in a place where there is no escape from outer interferences, here are some basic methods to help you shut them out:
   • Be Here Now: when you realize you've lost track of what you were reading or doing, tell yourself "be here now" to actively call your mind back to duty;
   • The Spider Technique: train yourself to ignore background noises and activities by realizing they're unimportant. This technique is named after the reaction a spider has after a few times its web has been shaken with an object. The first times, it will check if there's a trapped insect, but then it will stop connecting these vibrations to the potential presence of food and ignore them.
   • Worry List: keep a notepad next to you where you can annotate unrelated things you have to do that pop up in your mind while trying to focus on work. Once you've written them down, you won't forget them: put them aside and take care of them when you're finished.
   • Wedging: start by focusing on your work for a very short period of time, like 5 minutes. When this is over, you can take a short break if you feel like it, but as you do, make a commitment to return to work for a slightly longer period of time, after which you can take another short break and then work for even longer. This can help you build up a longer attention span.

Taking Good Care of Your Body

1. Have enough food. Skipping a meal or rushing through your lunch will not help you staying focused for longer. Concentration takes up a lot of energy. Being hungry while you're supposed to concentrate will make you lose your focus and eventually interrupt your work to find a snack.
   • Following a healthy diet is just as nourishing for your mind as it is for your body: balance nutrients and have regular meals several times a day. Breakfast is especially important in giving you enough fuel to make it through the day.
   • Staying hydrated is also beneficial to improving your concentration.
2. Get enough sleep. It takes rest to be energetic; the more you strain your body, the more this will also take a toll on your mind. Besides, the time when you're asleep is also the one when what you learned during the day consolidates into long-term memories.
3. Exercise. This will make you sweat out stress before a work or study session or release mental and muscular tension after a day spent sitting at the desk.
   • A good way to decompress after a long period of concentration are cardio activities like jogging or swimming. However, this also varies from person to person.
4. Use stimulants in moderation. Caffeine, sugar and other natural stimulants like yerba mate might help you stay focused, especially after a large meal when drowsiness takes over. However, consuming too much of them can make you feel agitated, and thus out of focus, or disrupt your sleep cycle.

Tips

• Some schools and universities offer learning and study skill workshops where you can develop personalized strategies.

Warnings

• If you feel your low attention span could be linked to a learning disability or attention deficit disorder, consult a doctor and ask for advice.

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Sources and Citations

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• Play Mental Tic Tac Toe
• Increase Your Attention Span
• Become Mentally Flexible
• Be Smart
• Make a Mind Map
• Exercise Your Brain
• Compartmentalize
• Become More Intelligent Than You Are Now
• Improve Problem Solving Skills
• Boost Brain Power

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