Making Concentrating Easier

Listen to your body

The fact of the matter is that we all have high-energy periods of the day and super low-energy bouts, too. When are yours? If possible, study during your high-energy time. You'll be able to focus better and retain the knowledge you're inputting into your brain. Any other time will just be an uphill battle.

• For some people, this will be bright and early in the morning when they still have plenty of energy for the day. For others, they get their juices running at night, after powering up for a while. Whichever is yours, listen to your body and study during that time.

Get enough sleep

The benefits of sleep are practically innumerable. Not only are your hormones regulated and information synthesized, but it helps you fire on all pistons the next day, too. In fact, trying to focus while overly tired is physically similar to trying to focus while drunk. If you can't concentrate, this could be why.

• Most people need between 7-9 hours of sleep a night. Some a little more, some a little less. How many hours do you like to sleep, when you don't have to set an alarm? Try to get that every night by going to bed a bit earlier than usual, as required.

Eat healthy

You are what you eat after all, and if you eat healthy, your mind will be healthy, too. Aim to eat your favourite colourful fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean meats and dairy, nuts (not greasy fries/chips and fattening candy), and good fats, like the ones in dark chocolate and olive oil. A healthy diet will keep you more energized and make it easier to put your mind to the test.

• Avoid white foods like white bread, potatoes, flour, grease and sugar. They're just "dead" foods and sugary drinks that cause you to crash in class and at study time.

Take control of your thoughts

You are your motivation when it comes down to it. If you convince yourself you can focus, you can. Grab your mind by the horns are start thinking positive: you can do this and you will. There's nothing stopping you but you.

• Try the "5 More" rule. Tell yourself to do only five more things or five more minutes before quitting. Once you've finished those, do another five. Breaking tasks up into smaller chunks makes things easier for those with shorter concentration spans and it keeps your mind going longer.

Do the least pleasant tasks first

While fresh, you can sizzle with the highest powers of concentration at your disposal. Do the most critical and deep background concepts early before moving onto easier (less challenging) but necessary grinding out of details. If you do the easier tasks first, you will be thinking about and stressing about the harder ones the whole time, reducing your productivity and ability to focus.

• That being said, avoid bogging yourself down when reading, or getting stuck and defeated on difficult problems or essay questions. Sometimes the least desirable part of an assignment may be too time-consuming and it could drain/kill all your available time. So try to limit your time and self-supervise to move on to easier matters, if absolutely necessary.