Constant notifications from social media and all the noise around us break our attention into small pieces, which can make us spend many hours on studying or working without getting the results we want, which can make us feel very tired and empty.
How to improve concentration and focus while studying? This is a very big problem for everyone who wants to keep learning new things, and while it might seem like the more time we spend on studying the better the result should be, this is not always true, because real productivity depends not on the amount of time we spend but on the quality of that time.
The Principle “Work Smarter, Not Harder”
Many people think that being successful in studying depends on how many hours you spend sitting at a desk, but in reality, what is happening in your mind during that time is much more important for your success.
Focused Work Versus Unfocused Work
The human brain is not made to do many things at the same time, because when you try to listen to a podcast, answer messages, and read a textbook all at once, your mind has to “switch contexts,” which means that every time your attention jumps from one task to another, your brain uses energy and time to restart, which makes your work slow and not effective.
Imagine that you are reading a difficult book for five hours, but you get distracted by your phone every fifteen minutes, so your brain does not have time to get deeply into the topic, make strong connections, and process all the information, which means you might read everything but not remember anything, and if you compare this with just two hours of deep, focused work, when you are completely away from the outside world, you will be able to learn and remember more in those two hours than in five hours of distracted studying.
Deep Work
The idea of “deep work” became very popular because of Cal Newport, and it is a state of full concentration where you work on one single task without any distractions, pushing your mental abilities to their highest level, because it is in this state that the most important discoveries happen, the strongest knowledge is formed, and the best projects are created.
So to get into this state, you should not just study, but you should also create the right conditions for yourself to be able to go into a deep state of learning.
Rest Is the Key to Productivity
Working smarter also means that you need to rest in the correct way, because breaks are not a waste of time, but they actually help your brain “recharge,” combine the information it has received, and stop you from feeling burnt out, so taking short but regular breaks, for example, by using the Pomodoro technique, can greatly increase your overall productivity and your endurance.
A Library Is Not an Old Tradition, But a Very Effective Life Hack
- The Effect of “Social Proof”: A library creates a special atmosphere, because when you see tens or even hundreds of other people who are also working very hard on their own tasks, this has a very powerful psychological effect on you, and this is called “social proof” because we tend to copy what other people are doing, so your brain sees that “Everyone around me is studying, so I should be doing that too,” and this creates a silent but very strong motivation that helps you get past your inner resistance and laziness.
- Minimum Distractions: A library is a place where distractions are kept to a minimum, as there is no television, no chores, no family members who talk a lot, or unexpected guests, and even the sound of phone notifications seems out of place, which forces you to consciously “turn off” everything that can bother you and get into your work, so the whole environment — the quiet, the rows of books, and the study tables — tells your brain that this is the time for serious mental work.
- Creating a Ritual: You can turn going to the library into a powerful ritual, because by getting ready to go there, you give your brain a signal that a period of concentration is about to start.
And this helps you get into the right mood even before you sit down at your desk, and this ritual helps you separate your time for rest and your time for work, which is very important for being productive.
Exercises to Improve Concentration and Attention
| Name of the Exercise | Description |
| Breathing Meditation | You should sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and focus only on your breathing, feeling how the air goes into and out of your lungs, and if your thoughts start to wander, you should gently bring your attention back to your breathing without judging yourself, doing this for five to ten minutes |
| Counting Backwards | You should start counting backwards from one hundred to one, by subtracting three each time, for example: 100, 97, 94, 91…, because this exercise needs constant attention and does not let your brain get distracted |
| Focus on Sounds | You should sit in a quiet place and try to hear as many sounds as you can all around you, first focusing on the loudest sound, then on the quietest one, and then you should try to catch the three farthest sounds and the three closest ones |
| Mind Elevate | This is a mobile app that offers a variety of games and exercises designed to improve your concentration and attention, including many different kinds of mental puzzles, guided meditations, and focus-building activities that are made to help you train your brain to be more attentive |
| Remembering Objects | You should put ten to fifteen small items on a table, such as a pen, a paperclip, and a coin, and for thirty seconds you should try to remember their location, and then you should cover them and try to list all the items and their order |
| The “One Sheet” Technique | You should take a clean piece of paper and for ten minutes you should write down everything that comes to your mind, including thoughts, worries, and ideas, because this helps to “clean” your mind of mental noise before you start studying |
| Peripheral Vision Training | You should focus on one point right in front of you, and without looking away, you should try to notice as many details as you can on the sides. |
Creating the Perfect Workspace and Routine
Besides doing exercises, it is also important to create conditions that help you concentrate.
- Preparing Your Workspace: A clean and organized desk is already half of the success, so you should remove everything that you do not need, leaving only what is necessary for the specific task you are doing, and you should also put your phone away from your sight or turn on “Do Not Disturb” mode.
- Healthy Lifestyle: Not getting enough sleep, not eating the right food, and not being physically active directly affect your ability to concentrate.
So, regular physical exercise improves blood flow and the amount of oxygen that gets to your brain, while a healthy diet and enough sleep help your brain recover its resources.
- Pomodoro Technique: This is one of the most popular techniques for being more productive, and it works by breaking your time into twenty-five-minute “tomatoes” with five-minute breaks in between, and after four “tomatoes” you should take a longer break that is fifteen to thirty minutes long.
Because this technique helps to stop you from burning out, it keeps your concentration level high, and it turns a big task into a series of small steps that are easy to complete.
Overcoming Distractions
External Distractions
- Phone: This is the biggest enemy of your concentration, so you should put it in another room, turn off notifications, or use apps that block them.
- Noise: You should use headphones with noise cancellation or listen to white noise, which helps to block out outside sounds.
- People: You should explain to your family members or roommates that you need time for focused work and ask them not to distract you.
Internal Distractions
- Worry: Often, thoughts about things you need to do or problems you have can distract you from studying, so you should try the “thought dump” method, where you write down everything that is worrying you on a piece of paper and then you put it away, because this helps to free your mind.
- Tiredness: If you feel like your brain has “turned off,” you should not try to force yourself to work, but you should take a short break, walk around, or drink some water, because sometimes five to ten minutes of rest can be more productive than one hour of trying to do something without any result.
- Boredom: If you are bored, you should try to change the way you are studying the material a little bit, using different methods like reading, taking notes, watching videos, or explaining the material out loud.
Conclusion
The effort you put into will pay off many times over, because giving up multitasking, creating the right environment for work, and doing regular exercises will help you become truly productive, and in the end.
It is much better to spend two hours in a state of deep concentration than it is to spend five hours with a scattered and unfocused attention because the result will be much better.