Welcome to the Episode 1 of our series on "Student Health".
We understand the plight of every student, whether you're in school, college or preparing for an exam, everyone has trouble focusing. We understand too well about the bursts of motivation we get that don't seem to last longer than a day or two. Believe us, we've all been through it.
So here, we decided to give you some tips that helped us in the long run.
#1 Study in short time slots
We have tried it ourselves, and we can say it totally works. Why?
Because every person has a limited attention span or focus, and when we study just to finish our target, we are actually wasting time.
Eg. Instead of studying for a period where you can actually focus, you stretch studying for hours without a break. When you are done with that long super-exhausting time of studying - you will feel overwhelmed with too much information, irritated & mostly likely take a break so long that you won't feel like getting back to studying for rest of the day.
What to do? Study for 30 mins, take a 10 mins break and resume with another 30 mins slot. This way, you won't exhaust yourself.
You can use a timer or your watch to time yourself - the famous Pomodoro method.
Note : As you study regularly, your attention span will increase in length & then you can gradually increase your study slots to 40minutes, 50minutes, even upto 90minutes.
#2 Write more
The area in our brain that stores memories is named Hippocampus.
As you read, input from your eyes go there and some of which is stored, some isn't. What if you sent more inputs? That'll increase the retention a lot --- This is what we do when we write.
Study a topic, write down the important points - bullet points - this will improve your retention 5 folds with time.
Don't believe us, try it out yourself!
#3 Decrease screen time
We've all heard that using mobile phones increases dopamine (Reward chemical) in our brains and makes us crave it more. It loves the easy things that's entertaining & rewarding, over working hard itself.
While that is one of the reasons to work on decreasing screen time, here is another one :
You need to rest your mind, let it wander off to be able to actively function, rather than passively get stimulated constantly!
Have you ever noticed how good ideas always seem to come while you're showering, in the loo or right before going to sleep?? Those situations & timings are just coincidences with one thing in common - Our mind is capable of generating ideas, solving problems & much more when it's free & wandering. We keep the mind super-busy with phones, tablets, even wrist watches; we focus our attention from one device to the next all day, always something to do. We don't provide our mind the time it needs, to think and rest.
Boredom isn't always bad!
#4 Stay active
Our mental health is related to our physical health a lot. When we stay active or workout, the rate of metabolism increases, which stimulates our brain too.
Not only do we feel better due to release of endorphins (happy chemicals which act on our brain post working out, to make us happy) but as we look good in the long run after working out, it gives a confidence boost. Who doesn't love a compliment, eh?
When we study or do any task with this happy and productive mood, everything seems easier and we finish our work much more efficiently.
Additionally, the disciplined life in general also aids in staying disciplined with studying or work.
#5 Sleep well
Many people are guilty of this, staying up late before the exams or sacrificing sleep on a daily basis for studying or enjoyment. You already know that it reduces your performance, right?
When we sleep, the brain consolidates our memories, hippocampus scans our temporary memory stores, declutters it of useless information and chooses what to keep in permanent memory. Without sleep, this process is affected and we end up with less information in our mind even after studying more.
Don't fall in this trap of pulling an all-nighter before exams. Sleep well regularly and specially before exams, you'll thank us later.
We wish you best of luck and hope that we could help you in improving your concentration.
Start a conversation in the comments or head on over to the forum. For more such content, visit us.
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