Published on 12, July, 2020
Morning everyone!
I'm currently studying for a Masters degree at university and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on my work and find myself easily distracted or on edge (especially when studying in a communal space).
Has anyone else noticed they struggle to concentrate on studying or work-related tasks and if so, do you have any ideas on how to help or coping mechanisms?
Thank you!
Yes, this is my major issue too!
A couple of things that have worked well for me (a mixture of work and study, so may not all be relevant) is turn notifications off of everything - no sounds, banners, pop-ups of vibrates. If possible go full airplane mode. Depending on the task I also do 25 minute of focus and then 5 minute break. If I get to the end of my focus time and I'm still in the zone I keep going. My noise cancelling headphones are amazing too, wish I had got some years earlier.
Is it specifically the distractions around you eg the noise that's the issue or your focus in general? I've jsut read a book called Stolen Focus that talks about general attention issues. Whilst there are a number of individual actions it recommends, the gist is that there are a number of much wider societal changes that massively affect our focus. An interesting read though.
Thank you! I've tried a lot of these ideas and they work at times and at others they don't. It tends to be my focus in general, I can be quite frantic at times.
I'll pop that book into my reading list!