Staying Focused on Your Studies If you find yourself doodling and dawdling more than reading and
remembering, try these solutions:
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Create a work environment in which you’re comfortable. The size, style, and placement of your desk, chair, and lighting
may all affect whether or not you’re distracted from the work
at hand. Take the time to design the area that’s perfect for
you. Needless to say, anything that you know will distract
you—a girlfriend’s picture, a radio or TV, whatever, should
disappear from your study area.
■
Turn up the lights. Experiment with the placement and
intensity of lighting in your study area until you find what
works for you, both in terms of comfort and as a means of
staying awake and focused.
■
Set some rules. Let family, relatives, and especially friends
know how important your studying is and that designated
study hours are inviolate.
■
Take the breaks you need. Don’t just follow well-intentioned
but bogus advice about how long you should study before
taking a break. Break when you need to.
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Select a study symbol. Choose something you can associate
with studying, such as a hat, a scarf, even one of those little
trolls people keep on their desks. Whenever it’s time to study,
just jam on the hat, wrap yourself in the scarf, or set the troll
prominently on your desk. It’s study time! Not only will this
“get you in the mood” to study, it will serve as a warning to
roommates, friends, or family members that you are working.
Don’t associate your new “study symbol” with anything
but studying. Don’t wear your study hat to baseball games
or leave your troll on the desk while you’re on the phone
with friends. The instant your study symbol is associated
with something other than studying, it begins to lose its
effectiveness as a study aid.
Chapter 2
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How to Organize Your Studying
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