In this age of technology, social media, and virtual games, it is very common for students to find it difficult to focus on studying. It needs a specific routine and some activities to prepare one’s brain away from all sorts of distractions or interruptions. Also, you can try some mind techniques and concentration exercises. In this article, we are going to help you with some tips to improve concentration while studying.

Tips To Improve Concentration To Help You Focus On Studying For Long Hours

1. Create the Best Environment

The first thing to do while getting prepared to study for long hours is to create the best study environment. This indeed helps you to focus on studying. But the study environment might not be the same for everyone as it solely depends on what works the best for each individual. For example, some might like to play some noise in the background while studying while others might want to keep it silent. So, you need to find which environment suits you the best to stay focused.

Here are some tips to create the best environment for studying:

• Make sure to have adequate space to hold all your study materials.
• Choose a study chair to keep you seated upright as slouching can lower your mood and energy.
• Some people find the coffee shop sound to work well to improve concentration while studying. You can get the music online. But make sure to use headphones while playing that. This also helps in an environment where there are other background noises.
• If you are studying for long hours, you can use some comfortable cushioning at your back to prevent your back from hurting.

2. Create a Study Schedule

Setting aside time for studying is the best way to take care of the huge academic pressure. Besides, it also helps a person become more disciplined and serious about his responsibilities. So, set some specific time in a day for self-study. This can be either for 2 to 3 hours in the morning or the evening. Also, some even find it better to study late at night. Find the time of the day when you think you can focus and memorize the best.

3. Create a Study Ritual

The idea of a ritual of any sort makes a person a slave of habits. A study ritual helps students to make self-study a part of life. Here are some tips to create a study ritual to improve concentration and focus:

• Prepare yourself a cup of coffee as part of the pre-study ritual as coffee works as a mind stimulant and increases focus.
• Get rid of clutter from your desk or table where you study.
• Get hold of study materials and stationery.
• Close the windows and doors.
  Keep your mobile on flight mode or vibration.
• Get ready with the headphone in case you need background music.

4. Keep Yourself Away from Distractions

One of the most effective ways to focus on studying for long hours is to keep yourself away from distractions. But this is not as easy as it may sound. Children, especially teenagers, find it very hard nowadays to stay focused since there are too many things around them to distract them. The first and best way to do this is to start with the cell phone. Either remove the mobile phone away or keep it on silent mode. Also, stay away from places where there are electronic devices like TV, music system, and video games, etc.

5. The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro technique helps students to take care of one thing at a time. It is one of the most effective ways to focus on studying. All you need to do is split your sessions into small sessions. Choose one task for each session and set a timer for that. The idea is to keep on working on that task until the timer rings. After that, you take a small break and then move on to the next task.

You can set the timer for 25 minutes for each task and then take a 3-5 minutes break. In case you do not finish the task in the given time, you can extend it for another 10-15 minutes. After you work on 3 tasks consecutively, then you can take a long break of 25-30 minutes. Thus, it will help you to stay focused without getting burned out.

6. Prepare Your Mind To Stay Focused

• Many students find it hard to sit and study for long hours. So, how to prepare your mind to focus on studying at a stretch? Mind is the most powerful weapon to help you achieve what you desire. But you need to train your mind to oblige to your requests. Here are some useful tips to prepare your mind to improve concentration and focus:
• Meditate for at least 15 minutes a day. If you do not get time to meditate, simple mindfulness practice for 10 minutes a day can even work. Just put all your focus on the activities you are doing for these 10 minutes and say in your mind what you are doing. For example, if you are eating, say in your mind, ‘I am eating,”. As you say this, put your focus on the food, how it tastes in your mouth, and how the spoon feels in your fingers. Use all your sense organs to focus on the present activity.
• Use auto-suggestion to enhance confidence and positivity in your life. The best way to do this is to use positive affirmation. For example, if you wish to improve concentration, say to yourself,” I can concentrate very well while studying.” Use these kinds of affirmations before sleeping at night. Let them get inside your subconscious mind to show results.
• Keep your mind stress-free. Stress fills your mind with tension and worries. You can never concentrate if you do not have a clear mind. So, keep yourself away from worries. Listen to good music, keep good and positive company, be hopeful about life, and have some goals to achieve.
• Practice some concentration exercises. Light a candle and keep the flame at your eye level. Keep staring at the blue hue of the flame for 15 minutes. Also, you can try online activities or games that help to improve focus.

7. Take Care of Your Health

Your body is the main source of energy and concentration. So, make sure to eat healthy food. Also, start doing some exercises to keep your mind and body fit. Besides, sleep for 7 to 8 hours to feel fresh every day. Avoid late-night parties or games. The more you remain fresh, the better your concentration is while studying.

8. Invest Time in Planning

Proper planning can help students stay motivated and focused. Studying without a plan is like a journey without a route or destination. Take time out to plan for your study. This plan may be about the curriculum or even your career. Here are some tips to get you started:

• Set a time limit for completing each lesson for each subject.
• Make sure to evaluate your progress every week. You can do this simply by preparing a test for a subject once a week.
• Keep enough time for revision one month before the exam.
• Plan your day in such a way so that you get enough time to prepare for study.

9. Learn To Memorize Things

Poor memory can demotivate students and be a barrier to focus on studying. Students can learn and practice useful techniques to improve their memory. Here are some tips:

• Use flashcards to memorize study notes.
• Focus on visual learning in case of complicated subjects. Watch a video or study a picture to understand better.
• Think yourself to be a teacher and teach the lessons that you have just learned.
• Write the main points after you learn a lesson.

10. Take Help of Technology

There are many apps, websites, and software that can help you to focus on studying. Here are some of them:

• Todoist (https://en.todoist.com) – This app helps you to manage your tasks and goals.
• Trello (https://trello.com) – It helps you to divide big tasks into small ones.
• Freedom Focus Sounds (https://freedom.to/log-in) – You can download coffee shop sounds from here.
• Coach.me (https://www.coach.me/find-your-goal) – It helps you with goal-setting.
• Freedom.to (https://freedom.to) – It helps you to block unwanted sites and apps.

Hopefully, after reading this article you know how to focus on studying for long hours. Once you practice the tips and concentration exercises mentioned in this article, you can easily improve your concentration.