Exams sound chilling and why won’t they?
Examinations showcase your hard work and that’s how they are not only important but also significant. But then again, studying sounds like a lot of work. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. We definitely can say that studies are tedious and monotonous, but we need to understand that examinations are essential. And studies would be the only aid. But first, let us look at the common issue and try figuring it out. Let’s look at why is it so hard to concentrate while studying.
Why is it difficult to concentrate?
Life would be so easy if we can just focus and grasp whatever we are studying. But unfortunately, when we sit down with our books, everything seems interesting, and our mind wavers. It is all fun and games until examinations are round the corner.
So, why is it difficult to concentrate?
An easy answer to this would be that hard work is not flowery, and it needs discipline, making it taxing. Often students feel bored, tired and unmotivated while preparing for exams. It is common to feel discouraged, and tired. This leads to procrastination and wastage of time, which further amounts to last-minute anxiety. But, when you have examinations knocking on your doorstep, you need to pull up your socks and get preparing.
How to concentrate while studying?
Photo by Nicolás Flor on Unsplash
There are many ways in which you can concentrate and motivate yourself to sit down and study. But before that, it is important to note that the trick and the plans would work only when you begin to train your mind.
Whenever I find myself procrastinating, I just try to think how anxious I would get towards the end of the deadline. This makes me ditch my laziness. The point here is to have that sense of fear, that can make force you to go ahead, switch off the television and take out your books. But then that just steps one. Fear can just force you; it can’t help you to do it nicely. Actually, if you are studying with a lot of fear-induced, you would not be able to focus at all, because only worries would consume you.
So now that you have your books ready in front of you, what’s next? Sure you would love to stare at your walls blankly, check your phone and even feel the need to get up for short breaks. In one line- you’d constantly fight to concentrate. Some people have this amazing ability to have control over their minds. They can focus for hours, but then again, they have trained their minds long enough. But that’s for them, what can we do? For me, the next step is to just shut myself off and fake it till I make it. A recent survey says that 48% of people actually do this while studying. If you try to fake concentrate, you might actually find yourself concentrating after a little while. This is helpful but not every day.
This is how the cycle goes and now that we have discussed it, let us try to find basic ways in which we can actually build a healthy study routine. So here are a few ways that can help you build that routine.
Also Read: Top 10 books to read for personal development
WAYS TO MOTIVATE YOURSELF AND STUDY HARD FOR YOUR EXAMS
There are n number of ways that students try before exams, some of them may even sound ridiculous. Well, whatever works, right?
Here, I’ve enlisted the few ways common ways that are practical and easy, that can help you stay motivated, focused and concentrated for exams.
- Ditch your cell phone- Let’s just face it. Our devices are our biggest distractions. One pop up and we can leave everything just to check it out. The first step would be to stay away from your cell phone. Limit the time you use it, and switch it off while you’re studying.
- Find your silent corner- Where you sit down to study matters a lot. You can’t study in your drawing room and expect no distractions. Therefore it is essential to study in a place that is silent and comfortable.
- Plan your days – Having a planner by your side helps a lot. Discipline requires a routine and vice versa. So go ahead, and make a schedule of your week, and divide your hours. This would give you a sense of purpose that is necessary.
- Set goals – Setting small goals in the initial days would be very helpful. Once you’ve achieved them, you’d be encouraged to work harder. Then you can set much more challenging goals. This way, you would not only align yourself towards a healthy routine but would also be covering your syllabus.
- Stop running from it- By ‘It’ I mean, hard subjects or hard topics. You can’t keep running from them. Start to study them in your initial days of preparation, because then you’d have plenty of time to revise them. Once they are covered, you’d feel like a huge load is off your chest.
- Organize group studies- Group studies are both fun and helpful. Arrange a study space where your friends could come over for discussions. Just make sure that you don’t let the group study turn into a gathering. That would be a sheer waste of time. Once you are done, you can surely go ahead and have a fun time with your friends.
- Seek help- your examinations are taxing, but your life isn’t. Don’t be shy and seek help. If there is something that you need help with, don’t delay it and straight-up go seek some help.
- Sticky notes – Well, they aren’t just colourful and cute. They can be of great help. If you are having a hard time with retaining, write them on sticky notes and stick them around places where they would be in your sight.
- Write and revise- writing gives you the much-needed practice that you need right before your exams. They give you flow and also help with time management. Try to understand a concept, put away the book the then write to revise. It is helpful beyond words.
- Take good care of yourself- Remember that you can ace your exams if you are not taking good care of you. Maintain a healthy diet, exercise and go for short walks to catch some fresh air. Treat yourself with relaxing breaks after you have achieved your targets. This would not just motivate you to study better, but also prevent you from feeling mugged.
So, those were the common ways in which you can boost your concentration and help you study with determination.
Make the most out of your examinations and always know that only you are your competition.
All the best!
Good post. I learn something totally new and challenging on sites I stumbleupon everyday. It will always be helpful to read content from other writers and practice a little something from other websites.