Group of students studying outdoor

Sob! I can’t focus. Do you understand? How do I study when I am:

Always hungry and tired?
Missing the fun around?
Physically uncomfortable?
Going to meet my girlfriend in the evening?
Just not able to study!

Ah, sit back and relax.

Those weird and pathetically ugly autotrophic organisms crawling over your brains, algebraic equations and logarithms erupting volcanoes in your mind, countless chapters on the World War bombarding bombs around you, and you? Having your nose to grindstone, trying to memorize at least one sentence, so that an hour later, you’re proud of yourself for having learned at least something. Isn’t it astonishing? It may gross you out to watch a daily soap that doesn’t interest you. But once that textbook is open, you won’t mind giving a watch to the idiot-box, would you? You may hate those kids who play baseball in the park nearby, but you won’t mind watching them by the door sill, even when you’re yet to finish off with two chapters. Why?

Why does everything else seem so interesting when you have to study? Why do you have to state punch-drunk excuses to get up from your desk, when your mom is right on your head ensuring you’re studying properly? To tell you the truth, it is extremely easy for teachers and parents to tell you to focus. However, the reality is, sometimes, it just doesn’t happen, no matter how hard you try. If similar things happen to you too, you aren’t alone. Let’s find out how to stay focused while studying, regardless of the chores you’re given, the people you’ve kept waiting, the phone calls you’re yet to answer, and your mind which refuses to concentrate. Hold on tight to each tip that follows below.

Switch Off Your Cell phone
Dreadful pointer, I know. Nothing’s worse for a teenager to stay without their cell phone even for a minute. However, if you can’t find yourself focused for a long time, you know that it’s the constant beeps in your cell phone that aren’t letting you learn that answer. Stop texting your friends saying ‘Dude, I can’t study’ or ‘how many chapters did you get done with’. If the reply says they’re done with quite a lot of chapters, you’ll get infuriated and troubled. Even if they aren’t through with a lot, you aren’t realizing but you’re wasting a good portion of your time sending texts. Remember, you don’t have enough time to kill, do you?

Soothing Music in the Background Helps
Bizarre as it may sound, while stuff such as TV, PC, or MP3 players are a big no-no while studying, research claims that listening to soothing music such as ballads or blues actually helps you stay focused. Try it. It might work for you. Create a playlist of some 50 soft ballads and blues, and put the playlist to play. One thing here worth mulling over is that, don’t spend hours and hours making that playlist. Just do with what all songs you have. Don’t keep on downloading new songs and waste time. You know, it’ll distract you from a hundred sounds outside at the least.

A New Timetable Every Day
How many timetables have you made/designed/drawn/followed? Hardly any. You see, the fault is, we plan our schedule for a month, and end up goofing up with it within just a couple of days. One of my personal techniques, tried and tested, is creating a new timetable every day. You don’t need to draw your schedule on a chart. Instead, just stare at the clock, and divide your hours. Suppose, 2 hours of continuous study require a 30-minute break thereafter. Chill, relax, watch TV, and then go back to study for another two hours. You don’t need to keep a check on your timetable as it does nothing but scare you even more. Just be true to yourself, and try not to get distracted in those two hours.

Try Different Places to Study
Your room, it’s a madhouse of stuff. You have a mirror, to keep you occupied for hours (here, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a girl or a guy). You have a great collection of hard rock albums, a handful of movie DVDs, and what not to divert your attention. How about studying in your living room? Or may be your parents’ bedroom? The idea is, looking for a place that doesn’t have much to focus upon is the best way of staying organized while studying. A lonely corner in your house is perfect in this case. Hey! Why don’t you go to your campus library, if things get worse? It has the perfect ambiance, silence, and a librarian standing on your head, every time! Now this will work for sure, trust me.

Studying. Now, how conveniently they abbreviated ‘Student-Dying’ as Studying. Well, drifting jokes apart, in the end, it all depends on how badly you want that A grade in your exams. You may try countless techniques and methods that tell you about staying focused while studying, but none of them will work unless you’re ready to work them out for yourself. Too much preaching? Erm…I thought so.