Everyone wants to be more focused while studying, right? And that’s certainly possible, but there’s something you have to know: most of the time, your ability to focus is tied to your physical well-being. That means that if you take care of your body, you’ll take care of your attention span.
- Get enough sleep
- Choose a place to study
- Be careful with your devices
- Find your ideal focus time
- Take breaks often
Get enough sleep
Because mental and physical health is so interconnected, it’s important to get enough sleep. Around 8-9 hours of sleep is ideal for high school students and can improve your focus drastically. Try not to use your phone for at least 30 minutes before bed, and make sure that your bedroom is dark and comfortably cold. Finally, try to wake up at a consistent time each day.
Choose a place to study
It’s really important to choose a good place to study. Try studying at the same place each time, since then you’ll start to mentally associate it with being productive and focused. When choosing a place to study, consider the possibility of interruptions from others, the general loudness of the area, and whether your study materials are easy to access.
Be careful with your devices
While technology can be really helpful while studying, it can also make it very difficult to focus. If you know that you often get distracted because of your phone, then leave it in another room or set a screen time password. You can also lock distracting websites on your laptop through different chrome extensions.
Find your ideal focus time
Most people have a specific time that they are the most focused during – this is called your biological prime time. Chris Bailey has some brilliant posts that explain it very well. Whether this is the morning or the night, it’s important to schedule your most strenuous tasks here. This means that you’ll have the most energy and attention span, therefore making you more focused!
Take breaks often
Finally, it’s important to take breaks often. Your attention span is like a muscle: when you exercise it, you need to take breaks or else it’ll start to hurt. Make sure that your breaks are short but frequent. This means that you’ll stay in a productive mindset, but you’ll still be able to replenish your attention span.
