<p>I understand stupid this question must sound, but does anyone have advice on how to become more productive and on how to concentrate better?</p>
<p>Well, when I need to get some studying or homework done, sometimes I deliberately put myself in a distraction-free place. Maybe I’ll go to McDonald’s and spend hours there on homework, so I’m not near a tv or internet or cats (home) or get drawn into discussions with classmates (student lounge). Just me, my books, a pen and paper.</p>
<p>Whenever I want to really focus on studying, I go to the library and sit in those little cubicle-like desks. I also listen to music, but I guess that depends on the individual. My key to hitting the books is to be motivated to study. If you force yourself to study with a negative attitude like, “I don’t want to do this” then it’ll be really difficult to concentrate and learn the material effectively.</p>
<p>Set up an over-arching goal for yourself such as, “I want to do this when I graduate. But I need a high GPA to do that. To get that high GPA, I need an A in this class. To get that A, I need to score high on those exams. To score high on those exams, I have to study for the next one”, and so on. Learn to do that and you will learn to enjoy your work. If you actually enjoy what you’re learning, trust me, studying will come much easier to you.</p>
<p>I plan out times I’m going to work on each class and actually stick to it. I don’t do it all at once, I spread the times out over the week so it’s a bit easier.</p>
<p>And work somewhere where you won’t be distracted.</p>
<p>Delete your facebook account</p>
<p>Refuse to text or facebook while you are trying to work. Get a good night’s sleep. Eat breakfast, take a brisk walk outside before sitting down to work. Set short-term goals. And be sure to back up your files as you work. Sometimes it helps to talk yourself through the paper you are writing before you try to write. Depends on how your brain works. If you get stuck, move on to a different part of the project and come back to the stuck part later.</p>
<p>A 50/20 or 45/10 work schedule works well for me, particularly for reading. I’ll sit down and read for 50 minutes, once I hit the time mark, or are about there but at a good stopping point, I’ll take a twenty minute break tops. Then it is back to more reading.</p>
<p>If you need background noise classical music. Music with lyrics causes your brain to try to decode the lyrics and can interfere with memory. If you get to into classical you can always try a white noise generator like rainymood. </p>
<p>Exercise. I’ve started running and it does wonders for your mood and productivity.</p>
<p>I like to make little lists of everything I need to get done for the day. This may not work for everyone but I like it. It gives me little goals of what I need to do for the day and that is easier to manage than keeping everything I need to do during the week in my head.</p>
<p>As some posters have mentioned…I typically create a list of all of my assignments and then allocate times to do each assignment. Creating lists and maintaining some semblance of a schedule has definitely made it easier to be more productive. In general, having a schedule has cut down on my mess around time and made me more focused when I do work. If I have something big, as in a 10-page paper, I sometimes even go so far as to give my remotes, controllers, cell, etcetera to friends on another floor and have them hang onto them until I’m done.</p>
<p>Ohhh, i really like that idea! I’m going to try that out.</p>
<p>Cal Newport would be proud of you all…</p>
<p>I agree that going somewhere free of distractions definitely helps. I tend to be a huge procrastinator and easily distracted, so to do work that requires a lot of concentration, I go to a quieter area of the library. I find that music helps when I’m writing papers, but I can’t listen to music when I study or read.</p>
<p>One thing that really helps me is to make a list of all of my homework. Generally, I write it down during the day, and then I check off each thing when I finish it. Also, if I have something that will take indeterminate time - i.e., studying or writing a paper, which might take longer than a problem set - I do it last so I don’t feel stressed about finishing it and having even more work to do.</p>
<p>go to gym at 6am. pick heavy things up and put them back down again.</p>
<p>I sit in the bathroom at home when my room or the living room is too distracting and I’m home alone.
Sometimes I go to the library but that can be distracting because it is too quiet.</p>
<p>Absolutely! I highly highly highly recommend meditation. There are many forms but in your case a good thing to do would be to take deep breaths - breathe in for half as long as you breathe out - and focus on the numbers as you count. Don’t think about anything else.</p>