Hey guys, it's Practical Psychology here and today
we're going to be learning how to focus better, specifically throughout the school year.
This video is going to be presented by my friend over at Observe Entertainment
And I will include more details about his channel at the end of this video. So let's get started.
Honestly focusing during the school year can be very difficult. There are many factors as to why we have trouble focusing
But there are five broad reasons as to why this is.
First, weariness!
lack of sleep
Or just general exhaustion causes the brain to be tired as well the brain just like any other muscle functions less efficiently when tired
Therefore a tired body means that you will have a tired brain which means that you'll have trouble focusing.
So in order to counteract this, it is a good idea to get as much sleep as possible.
Take it from someone who has been through college: sleep is ever so helpful
But also very very easy to skip out on. So guys! make sure you sleep.
So, of course, sleep is important. If you like some tips on sleeping better, check out my book review on Sleeping Smarter.
Number two is stress.
Stress occurs when anything poses a threat to our well-being. This could be good or bad.
It could be something like a deadline in homework, finding a new job,
Moving into a new house or dorm room or the ever so famous
Syllabus shock. However it could be something like making new friends, discovering a new city or
Finding a new relationship. No matter the cause, when stress hits it distracts your brain and makes it difficult for you to concentrate.
Honestly stress is going to happen no matter. If you're a new student
attempting college for the first time or if you're a return student who has all the knowledge of the workload ahead,
stress will happen. In order to minimize it, it is easier to take each step as it comes. Break up things into smaller bits
Instead of seeing all the homework due the very first week just figure out what you have to do the first day.
Make a schedule and work day-to-day. That way your brain doesn't feel overwhelmed by all the information coming in.
Now of course as we go into the topic of anti-fragility
this is a good thing because with stress comes the opportunity for growth, but you also need to be able to manage that stress
successfully
So if you can break things down and look at just one part of a whole it may be less stressful.
Psychologically, it'll seem easier. It'll make it easier for you to accomplish that task quicker.
Third is multitasking. Although in today's world
It is viewed as a good thing to be able to multitask it really doesn't help concentration.
There's actually a lot of scientific studies on this and in the book, The Productivity Project where Chris Bailey takes a entire year and
dedicates it to studying productivity, he finds that
multitasking is bad and specifically for this reason: because we feel like we do more not necessarily
that we're more effective
And this is very important. The brains capability is optimized when concentrating fully on a single
task. If you remember back to my book review of The One Thing,
this is literally a one word sentence that summarizes that book:
"Upon the scattering of that concentration the brain's power is greatly weakened".
Consider it like this: the brain energy is like a can of the frozen juice concentrate from the grocery store. If you drink that
concentrate directly from the can it's super potent however as you begin to add water,
which would be the other tasks or influences, the concentrate begins to lose its potency.
After too much water is added, the concentrate becomes diluted and nasty. This is how the brain works as well: As you add more
and more outside influences
on the other tasks the Brain will lose its ability to concentrate more and more. The solution to the
multitasking distraction is similar to the stress factor in that it is organization.
Allow each task to have a specific time of your day. Say you're meeting new friends at orientation. Allow that time to be your friend- meeting time.
Don't think about the moving-in process or the first day of classes or any such thing.
Let each specific thing you're doing be the only thing you're doing. That way your brain will not be overwhelmed by information and influence
Allowing it to be used to its maximum potential.
Next on the list is boredom. This will be one of the single greatest
challenges for many students. The human Brain no matter the age yearns for
entertainment. That is why advertising is full of colors and noises. That is also
why TV shows only run about thirty minutes to an hour.
If they ran longer it would be difficult to keep the brain preoccupied and
entertained. In the school realm it is common for the brain to lose interest in the homework and classes quite easily. A brain that is
not entertained by the task at hand is a brain that will be distracted very
very easily. As one of the greatest challenges for the brain, the task of overcoming boredom can be daunting especially
when it comes to schoolwork. In regards to boredom one of the easiest ways to counteract it is to break whatever
task at hand up into smaller time allotments. For instance say you hated doing math.
Instead of working at math homework for an hour, work at it for 30 minutes.
If that's too much, try 15. The lowest amount of time
you should work on any given project , however, is about 10 minutes. Below that it is too
easy to spend the entire time staring at a wall and doing nothing. But, in short, to counteract the boredom, split up your homework into
small time segments. This will keep your brain more entertained as each assignment is a shorter period. So I love this tip and
probably one of the biggest obstacles to focusing, especially on your schoolwork, is being bored. The homework or the class that you're in is...
literally, it's just boring. You don't want to learn it,
you're not interested, but you probably need it in order to graduate or to earn your marks or to pass the class.
So how can you get past this boredom? Try to find ways to make it interesting.
Break it up into smaller bits. If you can, reward yourself after accomplishing some problems.
Maybe after ten problems you can eat some candy or go for a run or play a video game.
The last factor on the list are the physical factors
This is a pretty broad subject.
Physical Factors can range from the fatigue covered before all the way to a mental or physical
illness or disability. If your arm is broken it will be distracting to you when you were trying to write a paper.
If you have ADHD for instance it will be difficult for you to concentrate in general. Physical factors play a much larger role in
concentration than many give credit. The solution to this problem is obvious: Take care of yourself.
If you're worried about becoming physically injured then be careful during sports
or other physical activities. If you get sick often, sleep well, take lots of vitamins and eat a healthy diet.
If you have a mental or physical disability take the medicines prescribed to you.
"Taking care of your body is intimately tied into taking care of your mind."
I'm just gonna stop for a minute: that was a beautiful quote.
And that's it. That's five ways to concentrate better this school year.
If you enjoyed the video and want to see other similar videos subscribe here to PracticalPsychology and also over at my channel at
ObserveEntertainment. If you're interested in utilizing your mind and other interesting ways, check out the Art of Deduction for more great content.
But that's all that I've got for now folks. Cheers guys!
So that was Logan over at ObserveEntertainment
And he did a really good job at presenting this video. And especially during the time of this upload a lot of viewers will be
starting school, so it could definitely be helpful. I hope you guys enjoy this video and if you liked it click the like button.
Thanks for watching.
hi!