Are you looking for a way to study with 100% concentration? Well, if yes then you are on the right page! The following section is a complete guide to studying with full concentration and avoid distractions. Make sure to read through for more information!

We live in a world of distractions. With easy access to the internet and mobile phones, it is becoming harder to concentrate during your study time. But some tips and tricks can help you build a good concentration level during your study time and we are going to talk about that here.

How do you study with concentration using a study plan?

First of all, you should have a study plan i.e. a schedule that you are going to follow by your heart. One of the biggest problems with today’s generation is the lack of discipline and adherence to a schedule!

It is easy to create a detailed study plan on paper, but one should keep the practicality aspect in mind as well. The best study plan is the one that goes along with day to day activities, giving you ample time to enjoy your life and balance your studies as well.

A good study plan ensures that all your daily chores doesn't come in your way when you sit for your studies. This means you can focus on your study time completely!

Here are the qualities of a good study plan:

Personalized & customizable: Your study plan should be based on your unique needs and not copied from someone else. You should personalize your study plan to improve on your weak subjects. With personalisation, you can set goals, milestones & targets for improvement in a particular skill/subject.

Another factor that you should keep are the customizations. Your study plan should be flexible to your evolving needs, and customizable based on your new goals or milestones.

Simple: A plan should be simple with clarity of all the activities that you need to do to complete your study plan. One example: Study Math on Monday, practice previous year question papers, and work on weak topics. This is simple, by which we mean that it has clarity of all the activities that you have to do!

Adequate & well distributed: The study plan should be adequate and properly distributed among all the subjects. No subject should be left out! Remember that you have to score well in all subjects to clear the examination.

This was about creating a study plan. Now, the next thing that you should know about are the distractions that you should be aware of!

Knowing your distractions:

Being mindful of your distractions can help you overcome the urge to engage in them and help you avoid them better. 

Social media is the biggest distraction without a doubt in today’s world. Knowing about what keeps you distracted from your focus will help you deal with it in a much more workable way.  

Now, one device that we use everyday is a smartphone, and it can help you find your distraction. Just check your phone screen-on-time data, and you will find which are the apps that you use everyday. Mostly apps like YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat are the ones that keep students away from their studies.

Once you identify your distractions, make a firm resolve not to engage in them during sessions of focused study. Keep the notifications off, and put the device on silent during this time, if needed.

Our activity guide to studying with concentration:

Now, we have explained the distractions part! In the following section we are going to discuss some practical activities to help you study with concentration.  Still, keep in mind the qualities of a good study plan as mentioned above!

We suggest you keep trying and build concentration on what works for you. The ultimate goal should stay consistant, that is, studying with concentration.

Activity 1: Improve your visual intelligence

Being able to visualize what you’re reading can help you grab the concepts better. Visual intelligence consists of multiple things such as pattern recognition, spatial recognition, and visual perception. Improving these skills will help overcome any learning difficulties that you might face.

Visual intelligence makes concentration easier for students. For example, you might have seen that in physics, professors bring up real life examples to explain concepts such as friction. Such illustrations are added so that students can visualize the concept and understand the content easily.

Therefore, if you are trying to study a concept and find it complex, then try to use your visual learning skills and associate the same with real life examples. Once you start implementing this, then you will become more experienced as a visual learner.

To become a good visualizer, you have to become better at those skills by practicing them

Activity 2 :Improve your listening skills

Good listening skills are critical to become good learners in life.  To listen actively, you need to pay all your attention and keep your mind present in what is being said. Proactive thinking here, can disturb your attention span and create a gap between the sender and receiver of the message.

Here’s what you can do to improve your listening skills:

Pay your 100% attention: put away all your distracting thoughts, and try to grasp what the speaker is trying to say. Avoid all other environmental factors that might be a potential distraction.

Do not judge: When you are trying to study, make sure that you do not judge the speaker, or the narrative. Judgment is subjective and it is a distraction. It drifts you away from the concerned subject towards your own sentiments and emotional experiences in the past.

Show your involvement: Good communication goes both ways, and you should show signs to the speaker that you are listening to them. Just a simple nod will help you to establish a better connection.

​Improving listening skills by practicing certain activities consistently and see your attention span move up

Activity 3: Brain-gym activities

Brain-gym activities are great for concentration building. These activities have been used by different modern education systems and are successfully helping kids  improve their focus and concentration on studies.

Practicing brain gym activities for 15 to 20 minutes in the morning after you wake up, and just before your study time in the evening, can have a tremendous improvement in your concentration level and memory power.

There are different activities included in brain gym activities some of them are,

• # Double drawing: This is the use of both your hands at once. Kids are made to doodle using both their hands together to improve their brain functioning.
• # The thinking cap activity for brain development and cognitive abilities.
• # Cross crawl to improve motor skills is a great brain gym activity.
• # Gravitational glider activity for effective motor skills and brain development.

Find a complete set of activities that you can do before your study time here

Activity 4: ​Deep breathing exercise to calm your brain

Stress is a big reason for being unable to concentrate on any activity, especially studying.

Deep breathing exercises like Pranayama, helps calm down your brain muscles and relaxes you overall.

When you take deep breaths, there is a boost in the supply of oxygen to your brain, stimulating your nervous system, which restores your state of calm. It will help you to stay in control of your psychological state.

Activity 5: Meditation

Breathing exercises and meditation are somewhat linked. Meditating regularly is proven to calm your muscles down to a level where your mind functions at the fastest pace.

Meditation itself is a practice of being mindful and staying in the present. If you are fully present in the moment, it will make it a lot easier for you to stay concentrated on studying.

A recent study shows how students with a habit of meditating every day have better concentration levels and the ability to learn faster than those who are not fully present at the moment.

Our brain functions non-stop. The web of our thoughts makes it harder for us to concentrate and stay focused. Meditating every day helps get rid of all the thoughts and clears up our mind to actively grab all the concepts that we’re learning hence building concentration towards studying. 

Not all kids can meditate effectively. Instead, they can practice kid friendly activities like guided meditation and creative visualization everyday.

Now that we have discussed how to study with concentration, we are going to talk about the things that you should not do!

Yes, certain things stop you from giving 100% in your studies. let’s have a look at all the factors:

Consuming too much caffeine

One of the biggest mistakes that people make, which makes concentrating difficult, is the high consumption of caffeine. One of the major sources of caffeine would be coffee, which is a good source of energy, but if you drink it in excess, then it will affect your health adversely. 

Caffeine triggers and boosts the production of catecholamines, which is a prominent stress hormone. Due to this, the insulin spike up which leads to a lot of inflammation making concentration difficult for you! Therefore, you should avoid consuming high amounts of caffeine while studying or before studying. Instead, if you feel tired, then try alternatives such as fresh juice/nuts.

Not getting adequate sleep

Lack of sleep will affect every aspect of your life, and this is common with people who do last minute night studies. The main reason that drives the last minute night sessions is the fear of failing before the exam. You must keep in mind that when you are tired, then you are not at your best. Instead, you should try to maintain & keep up with a schedule, where you sleep and take rest as a regimented person.

Using your phone/tablets/computers for a long period

Using your gadgets such as phones/tablets is not going to help you with your concentration levels. First, you must understand that these are not good for your eyes, and it makes you more tired than before.

What makes it worse is that it becomes an addiction!! One more bad habit is that many students use it in breaks, and again it makes them even more tired than before!! Instead, you should try to get some fresh air outside that refreshes your mind and body. Try to visit parks, or if there is no park, then try to go to your terrace and take in the fresh air. Once you are done with your studies, then you can use your gadgets back again.

Bottom-line

Building concentration toward studying is only possible when you are completely able to understand what you are studying.

When you work on visual, listening, breathing, meditation skills; then, you will be able to study with 100% concentration.

With proper knowledge on how you can build better focus at studying and improving your concentration level, you can grab the concepts better and much more effectively.

Learning is a continuous process, while it may seem like a lot of work if you are unable to understand what you’re studying.