StudyPass - Session 6

When you sit down to study do you find it difficult to stay focused on on-track? Do you find yourself constantly distracted?

Students report that they often find themselves easily distracted by phone calls or sms from friends, instant messages and email, facebook/bebo/myspace/twitter, internet surfing, computer games, television and family members.

You must develop the habit of removing distractions from your environment before you sit down to study. If you don't, your best intentions will always be sabotaged.

You don't have to study long hours every week to achieve great results this year ...

If you create highly focused study sessions, with clearly defined written objectives, where you concentrate your efforts on the critical 20% of actions that will give you 80% of your results, you can achieve much more in less time.

However, you will also need strategies that will deal with distractions so that you can maintain a high level of concentration during these sessions.

So here it is: 7 steps to dealing with distractions ...

1. Allocate weekly study time slots.

If you study at different times during the week, whenever you find some spare time or when there is nothing more exciting to do, then you will find it all too easy to be distracted ... because you're simply filling in time. You will find that the distractions are almost welcomed!

When you allocate time intervals during the week for study, you draw a line in the sand that says: "this time is only for study". You increase your level of commitment to yourself. You will find that you are much less prone to distractions because you have raised your level of intention.

So, allocate weekly study time slots and make a commitment to yourself to stick to these. At the end of the year you will thank yourself for doing so.

2. Define a study session objective

When you write a clear objective for your study session it focuses your attention on a specific goal. You are less likely to be distracted if you have in your mind a clear objective that you are working to complete by the end of a fixed period of time.

So, start your study sessions by writing a specific, clear, achievable, realistic objective that has a fixed time by which to achieve it by.

3. Remove the phone.

During these study sessions ALWAYS turn any mobile phone you might have to silent and put it in another room. I can't stress this enough. Remember we are talking about highly focused study sessions. Any distraction, even a single sms message, has an effect on your attention and so on your effectiveness. Always remove it from your environment before you start your study sessions.

Have your family members answer any landline calls simply by saying that you can't get to the phone now, but will call them back soon.

4. Turn off the computer.

If you are studying from text books and study guides then turn off your computer during these sessions. See if you can do all your paper-based study in a chunk.

If you need to use the internet for research, make a list of questions that you want answered before you start. Set yourself a fixed amount of time to do this and stick to it. Before you do this research, make sure you close any instant messaging software so that your friends cannot interrupt you while you're online.

If possible, try and consolidate all your computer work at the end of your study session.

5. Turn off radio and TV.

A distraction is anything that can pull your attention away from what you are doing in any moment of time.

Whenever you allow radio or TV in your study environment you are allowing the possibility for something of interest to appear in your environment. Remember, the people who put together radio and TV programmes do so with the intention of catching the attention of their audience. They are paid very well to do this so chances are they will succeed!

Make sure you cannot see or hear any TV or radio from your study location.

6. MP3 Players and Music.

I know, you're probably screaming ... don't take away my MP3 player as well!

Actually, I am a fan of using music with studying. But, you need to use the right music for a right purpose, not just as background entertainment.

I will cover using music to study in detail in another session, but for now I would recommend avoiding listening to music with lyrics during these focused study sessions. However it's great to use just before and just after each session.

7. Communicate with members of your household.

You must make it clear to everyone in your household that you should not be distracted under any circumstances during these sessions. Unless there is some immediate threat to your safety, politely ask them to leave you alone until you have finished.

So there it is ... 7 steps to avoiding distractions.

The next time you sit down to study make sure you try all these steps ... They will go a long way to helping you improve your ability to focus and concentrate.

If you struggle with distractions in your study then this really could be the one email that makes the difference ... but only when you put it into action. Give it a try. 

Until our next communication ...

All the best

Geoff Peterson

StudyPass

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Growing Minds, PO Box 633, Christchurch, Canterbury 8140, NEW ZEALAND