Can’t focus? The proven SECRETS to study with LASER FOCUS according to psychology
Introduction:
Let me guess, you have watched productivity video after productivity video... tried the Pomodoro method, download the apps, made to do lists. But when it comes down to it, you still don’t start.
You’re not lazy.
You’re not broken.
You’re just stuck in what I call the activation energy trap — that invisible wall that keeps you watching “how to be productive” videos instead of actually being productive.
Why these effective methods are not working for you?
According to psychology, our brain, our body, our energy doesn't always like changes.
The problem here is when we watch the productivity videos all the tips and methods that they are sharing needs consistency, discipline, and before all that you need to start but here's the problem we can't start because of the burden which is that we want to go from zero to hundred.
Instead…..
Now imagine, instead of planning to go from 0 to 100, how about let's plan to go from 0 to 30, 30 to 60, eventually 60 to 100. It’s all about tricking our brain, Breaking down big chunk of works into small bite sizes or setting fake deadline to finish the work. Here’s the thing before doing all these we need focus. Sometimes even while watching these productivity videos our focus shift to somewhere else. We just physically present in class but mentally we were on our dream vacation.
So the main enemy here is distractions. Thinking back we were not always like this, even though as scientist says the doom scrolling, dopamine hike, high screen time have reduced our attention span, we can’t completely avoid our phones in this fast-growing world. But to be succeed in this fast-growing world we need get our focus back and ace your exams.
Here are some tips to gain laser focus:
The ability to focus is a super power; It is what sets apart the achievers from the dreamers.
1. Don’t read textbooks:
Okay, hey, I know it's controversy, and you might think I'm crazy. But the thing is, reading textbooks is boring. We all need to accept that. We need to sit down, open the book, and read it page by page. It's really boring. It's exactly the opposite of what our brain wants, what the dopamine hits are. It's literally everything against what our brain thinks fun, activity, creativity. It's nothing in the book. So, what should we do? Instead of reading the book from top to bottom, read the introduction, read the prefaces, read the bold letters and information in boxes and notes. Skip to the practice questions. Skip to the answer books. Once you have the knowledge or a little bit warm-up about the chapter or the lesson you're going to go through, then come back and read the book. This way, you won't lose focus on the very beginning. Once you understand what is in the lesson, you will be interested in learning the lesson. Then, you will read the book very effectively without getting bored. You know what is going to come next in the book. That way, it won't be boring and you won't lose focus easily.
2. Let the cloud go:
We all know meditation. We all know meditation is effective. But are we doing it? No. Whenever we decide to meditate and sit down, our mind just starts to wander around the places. Multiple thoughts come to our mind, come towards us at once, attacking like a bullet. And this happens when we open our book and start reading, or when we need to solve a problem. As you read the question to solve the problem, suddenly your mind goes off to somewhere. It is normal, but it will take all of your time. So what I did is, I always keep a paper nearby while I was studying or doing homework, and in practice exams. Every time a thought pops up, even a single one, even just thinking that my nails look good, I just write it down in the paper. Immediately, just let the cloud go. Imagine the thoughts are like a cloud that's coming at you, just going to fog your mind, and separate you from your studying materials. But you know the thought, let go of the thought and write them. Extract the thought out of your brain and write them in a piece of paper and save it for later. Sometimes a billion dollar ideas may come from it, but it should not distract your work. Once you done working or taking a break then visit those thoughts.
3. Run sprints, not miles:
Runs, prints, not miles. What this actually means is, imagine you are opening a book and you have set a time limit for this particular chapter. Still you can't able to focus. The reason is, we all think we need to set time blocks.But the important thing is, you have to set goalposts. Like how much you are going to finish from this chapter, or in this particular topic. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel makes you move forward. So make sure to set a goalpost before start working. Once you set a goalpost, give a reward at the end, once you finish the goalpost. This way, you are not running miles without knowing where to end or where to finish, where to wrap up the study session. You know how much you are going to study, you have a clear plan. So, instead of making time block, do goalpost by deciding how much you're going to study.
4. Stop caring :
Stop caring about things that doesn't matter at all. Sometimes we open our phone for really important things, and suddenly we saw someone. What dress they are wearing? Oh, where are they? Are they on vacation? What are they eating? These kind of unwanted things come into mind when we use our phone every time. We have a limited capacity of caring. So instead of caring about the things that doesn't matter in your life, or even make you 1% better than who you are. Then stop caring about things. Because you have a lot much more to do and care about than these things. So make sure to give your caring to what really matters. Who really matters? Not some influencers or strangers. But to the persons you love, your parents, what are the hard work they are putting in. Once you start caring about their hard work, you will eventually get your focus to study.
You can do it,
If you’ve read this without losing focus then hey you are really set to change and get your focus back. I followed all these tips whenever I get distracted. I hope you get your drive back and ace your exams by following these tips. Afterall we are in control of our life right?