9 tips to avoid distractions while studying and learn quickly

Several recommendations to make the most of your study time and avoid getting distracted.

For some people, getting ready to study for an exam can be a real challenge, especially if they tend to get distracted during study time.

In this article we will go over different tips to avoid getting distracted while studyingwhich will help you significantly to boost your concentration when focusing on the topics you need to learn to get to master the subject and pass the evaluations in the best possible way.

9 tips to avoid getting distracted while studying

Much of the academic performance depends on our ability to concentrate on what we must study. With the passage of the days and weeks, the difference between eder to the distractions or not to do it is determinant if we want to learn well..

In the following list we are going to see several tips and recommendations to avoid being distracted while studying; applying them during the study days will guarantee to get the best out of them.

1. Find an appropriate environment

The first thing to do is to select a suitable place to study. There are several factors that influence the selection of the work environment. Ideally, it should be a quiet place, away from any annoying sounds (sonic pollution) among other distractions. (sonic pollution) and other distractions.

It is also advisable that the study place is not a place that we associate with rest (for example, our bedroom).

2. Gather the materials beforehand.

It is not enough to find a quiet place; it must also be a place where we have at hand the necessary resources for study; it is no use to study in a quiet place if we do not have the required material and that forces us to get up and go looking for things many times, which exposes us to distractions.

An effective way to simplify the process of studying is to properly arrange all the materials you will need before starting to study, so that the study will resultso that studying will be as uninterrupted as possible.

If you have the information on an external storage device or e-mail, it is recommended that you download it to your computer and keep it handy on your desktop for greater convenience.

3. Find study partners

Finding good study partners is an important motivational factor.We can learn better when we interact with people who have similar objectives and level of knowledge as we do.

Making study groups helps to cover more content related to the topics of the evaluations; each one could dedicate to study a topic in depth, and then, in the collective discussions of the study days, explain it to the rest of the classmates and solve doubts.

4. Keep food on hand

Having snacks available for study is a good way to enhance our way of making the most of our time. We can reward ourselves with a small snack when we finish studying a subject for an hour, for example, and then take a break.

Also, studying while hungry is very difficultDepending on where we are, finding a bar or restaurant may take too much time.

5. Take breaks

Breaks are important in order to consolidate the knowledge we are memorizing in the best way possible.. If we study in a row and do not allow our brain to process the new content properly, it will be more difficult to remember that content in the future.

The ideal is to take scheduled breaks. You can set an alarm to make sure you don't miss the time to interrupt the study dynamics. On the other hand, it is a good idea to define the exact time of each break. This is one of the easiest tips to avoid getting distracted from studying, because you just have to set alerts on your watch or smartphone and obey them when they ring.

6. Find the motivation

Getting ready to study against our own will is not something that favors our concentration, the ideal is to look for the reasons why it is convenient for us to study. In this way, we will be able to achieve an internal motivation that will help us to improve our concentration..

A good way to achieve this type of motivation is by to set a short term achievable goal, so that we can go after it and feel that we are moving positively towards its attainment.We can go after it and feel that we are making positive progress towards achieving it. For example, reviewing a chapter of the syllabus and finishing it in the next 4 hours.

7. Avoid postponing goals

Once you have everything you need to start studying, you may have intrusive thoughts that may cause you to procrastinate, you may have intrusive thoughts that make you procrastinate the studyand instead of sitting down to read, you start doing something else. This often happens when, for example, we believe that we will practically pass a subject and therefore we want to avoid thinking about it as much as possible, which happens by not deciding to study to prepare for the exam.

The ideal is to recognize these thoughts and combat them quickly. To do this, it is important that you follow sequences of short-term and very concrete actions. For example: "When I finish eating I will go to sit at my desk to study", "When I am at my desk to study I must open my notebook", etc. This way, you will always have in mind a clear idea of what to do and when to do it.

Don't let procrastination take control of your actions.When you have everything ready in front of you, immediately start the study activity you have planned and you will see how, as you go along, intrusive thoughts and the temptation to procrastinate will dissipate.

8. Manage anxiety

In general, the feeling of anxiety is present when we feel that we have many pending issues and we have not advanced anything. and we have not made any progress. Managing this anxiety is important, because if it is very intense it can paralyze us, as we try not to expose ourselves to anything that reminds us of this obligation.

One way to avoid this feeling so characteristic in exam times is to make a schedule with the topics to study, all in order of relevance. That way, we can focus on these tasks in a sequential way, favoring an immediate perception of our progress, and we avoid the anguish to take over our mind. The more orderly we are in planning our study day, the further away we will keep anxiety.

9. Regulate the use of the computer

Nowadays our academic and work activities revolve a lot around our electronic devices (computers, smartphones, tablets, etc.), which undoubtedly represents a help when getting information. However, we must keep in mind that these devices can also play a distracting role for our minds.

The ideal is to use them to get the material we need and the specific knowledge that can help us to study properly. If you see that you use them a lot to distract you, you can try to dispense with them while you study, or set clear limits to their use (for example, always have them disconnected from the Internet).

So, you have to adapt your study environment to what you know about what has a greater capacity to distract you. If you have noticed that the presence of a digital device causes your attention to be divided when thinking about what you may be missing at that moment on social networks, for example, it is best to limit your access to this parato or those Internet pages during the study session.

Bibliographic references:

• Fuentes, L. and García-Sevilla, J. (2008). Manual de psicología de la atención: una perspectiva neurocientífica. Madrid: Síntesis.
• Styles, E.A. (2010). Psychology of attention. Madrid: Centro de estudios Ramón Areces.
• Torrano, F.; Fuentes, J.L.; Soria, M. (2017). Self-regulated learning: state of the art and psycho-pedagogical challenges. Perfiles educativos, 39(156), 160-173.