One of the most important factors in any study routine is the level of focus that you can achieve.

Getting focused for studying is absolutely essential.

The more you’re focusing, the faster you’re going to be able to learn anything you need to learn.

Unfortunately, not many students are good at focusing. That means their study routines often end up being an hour of daydreaming with the occasional study fact to interrupt.

You can get focused for studying.

I know it sometimes feels like it’s impossible but most of that comes down to what those around you have taught you that just isn’t true. To get focused, you need to unlearn a couple of things and trust your gut on the matter.

What gets you focused on something?

Using these 7 tricks you can get more focused on studying in virtually no time at all. That will lead to more memorization, better grades, and a much faster study session.

1. Find Your Goal

Why are you studying what you’re about to study?

If you don’t know the answer to that question then how could you possibly blame yourself for not being focused on studying? Your brain wants to do things that are valuable.

If you can’t find a reason why studying is valuable then you’re not going to be able to do it effectively.

Ideally, you want that reason to be something internal like curiosity.

If you can’t do that then just remind yourself why you want good grades, or why you want to learn that subject.

Make sure to focus on any reason you have until you’re feeling a little boost in your motivation and focus. If you don’t feel that boost then you probably don’t have a good enough reason.

2. Time Consistency

By studying at the same time everyday, you can train your brain to get focused at the same time everyday.

Your brain will naturally shoot your brain up with good study hormones right before you end up studying. Not only that but you’ll have the advantage of a study habit to help learn everything you need to know.

This is something that takes a little time to fully appreciate but if you stick with the same study time for a week or two, you should expect your results of that study habit to improve noticeably.

Getting focused for studying comes naturally when you’re consistent.

Naturally, you’re not always in a position to set up a good study habit over the long term. It’s not ideal but if you’re low on time then consider How To Cram For A Test.

3. Speed Up

Sometimes, when your brain is really stuck on something unrelated to what you need to study, you may want to try this approach.

Focusing on focusing is tough.

Sometimes the best way to focus is to speed up everything until it’s so fast that you have no choice but to focus completely on the subject you’re learning.

If you’re reading something then read it so fast that you can barely understand what you’re reading.

If you’re going through flash cards then flip through them as fast as you can possibly keep up.

This strategy makes it virtually impossible to lose focus.

It can be stressful long term but you’ll find after a few minutes of using it, studying at a normal pace just feels slow.

4. Less Stuff

Failing to focus sometimes has to do with the material you’re about to study.

If you feel like you’re never going to be able to learn the material that you need to learn then change the material.

Specifically, you may want to reduce it.

What is the most important information that you need to learn?

Decide on that and decide that you’ll be happy if you just learn that most important information.

If you still aren’t getting focused for studying then re-asses what’s really most important and keep chopping off more information until you’re feeling comfortable with what you have to learn.

There is always tomorrow to study more of it.

It’s better to focus well on less information than focus poorly on more.

5. Boring Zone

Sometimes one of the most effective strategies to focus on studying is to leave the usual places.

Many students study in their bedroom.

While this can work, it comes with some problems.

Bedrooms are typically not the most boring room in the world. If you can look up and see a video game system, or a computer, or something else that you find fun, you’re much more likely to get distracted.

By going someplace you find relatively boring you can eliminate potential distractions from your study routine.

That means focus comes more naturally.

Instead of worrying about getting focused for studying you just study and the focus comes along for the ride.

6. Turn Off EVERYTHING

This is a little habit I’ve developed in the past.

It’s a combination of number 5 and number 2.

Right before you study, every time you study, go through the process of turning off every single potential distraction you have.

• Shut off your computer.
• Turn off your phone.
• Shut off anything that you find the slightest bit distracting.

That process of shutting everything down takes time. It’s a notice to your brain that you’re about to study.

This works in a familiar way.

First of all, you’re making it a whole lot easier to focus on the studying that you have to do.

Second, you’re starting a routine that can remind your brain that it’s time to start getting focused for studying.

7. Ask A Question

This is one of the most effective ways to focus but it’s also one of the hardest to apply to a school context.

It’s based on one fundamental idea.

When you are curious, you don’t need to try to focus. You just focus. It comes completely naturally. It’s focus in one of its most pure forms.

Look at the material that you need to focus on.

Ask yourself a question related to the information you have to study. Ideally, make it a broad and hard to answer question.

Then look to find the answer throughout the time that you’re studying. If you’re genuinely curious about the answer and expect to find it then this will be some of the best studying you can have.

This is not exactly an easy situation in most cases.

It requires you already know a little about the information you need to study (but not too much because then it’s pointless to study it.)

Look for opportunities to use this when it comes up but don’t feel too bad if you don’t see the chances very often.

At times when you’re really struggling to be curious, consider focusing instead on using memory strategies as described in this article. While genuine curiosity is ideal, accepting rote memorization is better than nothing.

Using these strategies getting focused for studying should come much more naturally.

One thing you do have to be careful about is stressed over this factor. It can take a while to get used to utilizing  some of these strategies at peak efficiency.

Getting focused for studying is important but don’t let it stress you out.

If you’re working on it then you’re worrying about it enough.

The key is to do it. Focus will come naturally with practice and time.

Image Sources: Flickr, William Warby, Kelly Schott, PXHere