College Study Skills

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QUESTION:

I tend to drift off a lot when I study and end up wasting a lot of time. How can I maintain my concentration when I study?

ANSWER:

This is a huge problem for students… And, for good reason!

There is just too much to keep track of and rememer when you’re in college (papers, exams, quizzes, events, your personal life, that birthday card for your mom, feeding the dog, remember to take your vitamins and protein shake, etc).

It all boils down to clutter. If your mind is cluttered, you are not going to have an easy time focusing much on anything - even if it happens to be something you like!

So, the real problem is clutter and the solution involves putting all the noise in your head aside temporarliy while you focus on your task.

Lets say you have a reading to do for tomorrow’s psychology lecture. You know that it’s a longer reading (compared to some of the others you’ve done) and so you estimate that you’ll need about an hour. Now, you reason, if you could focus intensely, you’d only need 30 minutes.

So, how can you accomplish more in less time?

Here’s a quick method to apply to get you out of your jam for now (later on - when you have the time - you can explore some indepth advice in my downloadable grade boosting course, EasyGPABooster):

• Go to your study place. It must be quiet and free of distractions (food courts, libraries sometimes, near your classrooms, etc)
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• Go alone. Friends/Buddies are a guaranteed distraction
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• Get settled, open you books, etc.
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• Now, take a moment to de-clutter… Whatever’s on your mind - put it aside for the next 30 minutes that you’ve determined you need. Nothing else should matter during this time except your reading. Nothing!
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• Skim the reading so you know what to expect. Observing the headings can help to size up what you’re about to read.
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• Now, start reading quickly (as fast as you can go witout sacrificing your comprehension of the material)
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• If thoughts interrupt you…. STOP, take a moment to RE-FOCUS, and start again
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• If you maintain this focus, you will find it easier to focus

Now, this is a very effective method and you can start using it immediately to start seeing results. Often, however, students still find it hard to focus (no matter how hard they try to de-clutter). If you’re having problems getting past the noise in your head, download your own copy of EasyGPABooster. In it, I describe:

• how to manage your time better
• how to take good lecture notes
• how to figure out what the professor wants you to know, and
• how to study effectively

These topics are important because they really help you in the long run from having to become overly cluttered in the first place. If you can master these areas, you’ll find that you won’t be as ‘cluttered’ as you are now, so much so, that you’ll be able to find time to do things other than study!

Remember, the top 5% students (the A-students) - they work a lot less harder than you think. It’s all about strategies and techniques.

Try my method above first and see how that goes. If you feel you still need help, come back to easyGPAbooster.com and download the course.