Do you know what makes humans different from all other living species? It is the ability to think consciously and subconsciously. The human brain is evolved to have this wonderful quality, which sets it apart from its ancestors. However, sometimes this boon becomes a curse, leading to overthinking and creating problems in focusing on specific tasks. The remedy is in our mind, but we often do not know how to access it.
This problem isn’t yours alone. Millions of students, including myself, face the same issue. Since childhood, everyone has told us to focus on our studies and not get distracted, but no one ever teaches us how to do it. We don’t understand what they are talking about because we lack even the slightest idea of what “focus” truly is. It’s not their fault either; no one taught them, and they grew up hearing the same advice, “Focus on your studies.”
The best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago. The next best time is now.
So, let’s forget what we weren’t taught and focus on what we can do with the rest of our time. I want to share a few strategies that I’ve adopted to get rid of this problem, and yes, they actually work.
Get Rid of External Distractions
First, get rid of any external distractions. In short, put your precious phone away for a while. I know it’s difficult, but you need to do it. You need to kill that urge to check notifications every minute, as it will never let your mind rest and be thoughtless. If you need your phone for study purposes, turn off notifications for all social sites or download an anti-distraction app to stop all the useless notifications.
The Pomodoro Technique
If you’re not familiar with this technique, I suggest you look it up. It involves dividing your study time into 25-minute sessions and trying to study without distraction during those 25 minutes. After each session, take a break of 5 to 7 minutes. During that break, do any physical task rather than a mental one, then sit down for another session. This technique is quite helpful as it’s proven that the human brain cannot focus on one thing for more than 25 minutes. So instead of having one longer session of distracted concentration, we can easily have smaller sessions of focused concentration.
Being Aware and Awake
This is the bedrock of any meditation method you will come across and the easiest way to stop your mind from getting distracted. This is so important that you can forget any advice of mine but not this. This is the method even Gautam Buddha adopted to be thoughtless. So, what is this method? It’s nothing—literally. Just sit there and watch your thoughts. Simple, right? Yes, it is simple. Whenever you feel distracted and your mind is running amok with hundreds of thoughts, don’t try to bring it back to your study; that will make things worse. Instead, just sit back and observe your thoughts. Be aware of each and every thought. No need to judge whether it’s good or bad, just watch it as you would a movie. You will find that the moment you become aware of your thoughts, they fade away, leaving you thoughtless, calm, and serene.
Combining Techniques
By being aware and awake, you can become thoughtless at any moment. Combine this with the Pomodoro Technique to have a 25-minute fully focused study session. You can also put sticky notes on your study table with words like “Awake,” “Aware,” “Observe,” etc., to help you stay present and thoughtless whenever you get lost. I did this, and it helped a lot.
I went to the office, and my manager assigned me a task. The moment I started typing, I felt the pain in my thumb. Even though it was a minor injury, it was enough to divert my concentration from my work.
After lunch, my manager asked about my progress (which was almost zero). He said, “It is urgent. I need you to complete it by the end of the day so we can deliver it to our team.”
In the three hours prior to lunch, I hadn’t done anything. But by the end of the day, I completed my work and delivered my code to the onsite team.
Story over.
So, what just happened here?
Suddenly, I forgot my pain and concentrated only on my work. The pain was still there. The work was still there. Initially, my priority was my pain. Then, my priority shifted to my work. This is what happens with concentration.
It is all about priority.
When you start studying and then suddenly open Quora, YouTube, or Facebook, you get diverted because studying is not your priority at that moment. But during exams, you wouldn’t dare to divert from your studies even if there is a family function or wedding at home.
Concentration is nothing but a state of mind that keeps reminding us of our priorities.
How to Increase Your Concentration?
Increase your priority. If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse.
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