Ignore the Noise: Strategies to Get Focused!

Everyone has had the experience of sitting down to read and realizing, after a page or two, that the mind has wandered from the grocery list to the television in the other room—everything except the reading.

How is your concentration? Complete the Concentration Evaluation form in the Picked Fresh section of this newsletter before reading further.

Levels of Concentration

Like other study skills, concentration is a skill that can be improved and developed. Educators break concentration into three levels: light concentration, moderate concentration, and deep concentration.

• Light Concentration: During the first five minutes you sit down to study you may be restless or easily distracted. You may daydream, wiggle in your seat, or notice people talking in another room. Very small amounts of information can be learned at this concentration level.
• Moderate Concentration: After approximately five more minutes, you are likely to enter a state of moderate concentration. This stage is characterized by increased interest in the reading, the topic, or the lecture as you start to get more invested in the information. You are less likely to be distracted by sounds, and you settle into your seat and stop fidgeting. Limited amounts of information can be learned at this concentration level.
• Deep Concentration: After the first 10 minutes of light and moderate concentration, you may enter a state of deep concentration, and remain completely engrossed in your studies for the next 40 minutes. This is where the most effective and efficient learning takes place, because you are absorbed by the subject and are difficult to distract. If you are distracted briefly, you are able to get back into the topic quickly. Learning is efficient and optimized at this concentration level.

Many students never get into deep concentration mode. Instead, they move back and forth between light and moderate concentration because of constant distractions, or because of lack of motivation and interest in the subject matter. These students find they spend a great deal of time studying and still accomplish very little, as shown in the graphic above.

Skills for Good Concentration

Some people are naturally able to concentrate while others have to build concentration skills. Good concentration skills include the abilities to focus at will, sustain concentration over a period of time, and focus on one thing at a time.

Ability 1: Focus at Will

At the start of an instructor’s lecture, look around your classroom for a moment. Some students are still holding quiet side conversations, some are rifling through their backpacks, and some are sitting up straight, pen in hand, listening intently. Why can some students focus at will and others take a good deal of time to settle down? The ability to focus at will is a skill that everyone can learn. Try these tricks:

• Verbal Prompt: When it comes time to focus, give yourself a verbal prompt. Tell yourself “I am clear, focused, and organized, and I will pay complete attention now!” Be strict with yourself. View your verbal prompt as a must-do command to yourself and continue to practice focusing as you use the prompt.
• Physical Prompt: When it comes time to focus, give yourself a physical prompt. Athletes often use physical prompts to put them in the right psychological space before an event or training session. You can use any type of physical movement for a prompt, so long as it carries with it a message to your mind and body to focus and pay attention. For example, stand up, bend over, touch your toes, inhale while standing back up, and sit mindfully in the chair as you exhale. Another prompt might be to lift your arms over your head and bring them down in front of your face in a prayer position while taking a deep breath.
• Combined Prompt: You can merge a physical movement with a verbal prompt to create a combined prompt. In this case, give yourself the verbal prompt while performing the physical prompt.

Ability 2: Sustain Concentration Over a Period of Time

If you can enter the deep concentration cycle, sustained concentration won’t be difficult. If however, you jump back and forth between light and moderate concentration, you may need to pay attention to improving sustained concentration. Lack of interest, lack of motivation, internal distractions, external distractions, study times, class times, and learning-style issues are the main reasons that students have difficulty sustaining concentration over a significant period of time.

• Dealing with Lack of Interest: You have probably already noticed you are more excited about some classes than others. Lack of interest in a topic makes learning and concentration difficult. It’s important to look closely at why you are disinterested. You may feel confused and uncomfortable in the classroom environment. It may be you have a lot going on in your personal life, which distracts you from school. Perhaps you simply don’t understand how the topic relates to your career. Whatever the reason, it will help to explore it, write it out on paper, think about it, and discuss it. Talk to the instructor or campus counselor. Sometimes talking it through will help identify solutions. Second, it helps to find out why other people are interested. Identify and talk to a classmate who appears to be really excited about the topic. Ask the instructor why he or she likes teaching the topic. Sometimes enthusiastic people provide important links that energize us or help us understand the value of a topic more completely.
• Dealing with Lack of Motivation: As with a lack of interest, low motivation requires careful inspection and discussions with others to determine the cause. Often new students are overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin. They lose motivation because they don’t feel a sense of accomplishment. Goal setting is the best way to deal with this type of low motivation. By setting monthly, weekly, and daily study goals, and by rewarding yourself for progress, you will begin to experience greater motivation and excitement about classes.
• Dealing with Internal Distractions: Internal distractions are things you think about instead of your studies, or how you feel physically. It may be that you are worried about a course, or about your ability to understand the information. Perhaps you are worried about a personal problem. Sometimes you may be able to put the worry on hold while you study. Sometimes, though, the worry is too pressing and you have to stop everything until you deal with what is troubling you. Feeling tired, cold, or hungry will impact your concentration. Eat regularly during study time and stick to a consistent sleep schedule.
• Dealing with External Distractions: External distractions are things like noise, TV, music, interruptions by family members, phone calls, or an uncomfortable study area. Having a quiet, comfortable place dedicated to study is important. There is no way that you will be able to enter a deep state of concentration if you are interrupted constantly.
• Concentration and Time of Day: Each individual has a time of day when he or she concentrates best. Some people jump out of bed refreshed, while others struggle until they have consumed two shots of espresso. Some people feel sleepy in the afternoon, and others can’t sleep until well after midnight. Whenever possible, plan classes and study times when you are at your best. If you know you are a night owl, it is fine to study late at night. If you are an early bird, get up early and study in the morning. Optimize your performance by paying attention to your natural strengths and weaknesses.
• Concentration and Study Schedule: You can also improve your concentration by sticking to a routine with your study schedule. If you stick to the same schedule, you are more likely to drop into deep concentration after 10 minutes of initial study than if the routine changes daily. Following a routine leads to efficiency over time.

Ability 3: Focus on One Thing At a Time

Do you start your reading assignment, then take a quick pause to count the remaining pages? Do you start your homework for one class, simply to stop halfway through to look over the notes for a different topic entirely? If so, you are distracting yourself and preventing deep-level concentration. Instead, organize your study session by giving yourself clear and reasonable study goals and time frames. You can even use a timer and tell yourself, “I will read without stopping until the timer goes off.” When you have completed one task, take a short break and give yourself a small reward. After the break, begin the next task. This way you will feel you have achieved something at the end of each study period and you will be able to concentrate deeply on each task.

Monitor and Eliminate Distractions

Before you can eliminate distractions, you must first identify them, be aware of them, and plan a strategy to overcome them. If you find you are having difficulty concentrating, monitor your study session using the Concentration Tracker in the Picked Fresh section of this newsletter. In the first column, describe the study task. As a distraction arises, note it in the column marked “Distraction.” Outline its cause in the third column and then describe one strategy you might try in the future to overcome the distraction. The first row has been completed as an example.