Attention spans are getting shorter, and distractions are growing stronger. How to stay focused in college is a rampant student dilemma, but the good news is, the mind is a muscle you can train.
The key is to identify the causes of your distraction, follow the tips below to combat them and partner them with small, specific, yet consistent actions. 💪
- 1. Get Enough Sleep 🛌
- 2. Eat a Balanced Diet 🍎
- 3. Manage Stress Effectively 🌿
- 4. Optimize Study Sessions 👌
- 5. Limit Digital Distractions 📵
- 6. Practice Mindfulness 🧘
- 7. Exercise Regularly 🏃
- 8. Seek Professional Help 👩⚕️
- 9. Find What Works Best for You 😄
- 10. Be Proactive in Class ✍️
- How to Stay Focused in College: Frequently Asked Questions
1. Get Enough Sleep 🛌
Around 60 percent of college students walk around like zombies because of sleep deprivation, but that shouldn’t be the norm. To give 100 percent in classes, you need full cognitive function. Set your sleeping schedule for seven to nine hours, and stick to it for at least 30 days.
Let your brain know it’s time to unwind with a relaxing routine, like reading a physical book an hour before sleeping or making your room cold and comfy. 😴
READ MORE: 12 Best Books for College Students: 2024 Must-Reads
2. Eat a Balanced Diet 🍎
Ordering fast food is infinitely easier than preparing meals in a dorm. However, this quick fix can mess with your focus because junk food lacks nutrients to boost brain power.
Look for simple and healthy recipes that can be made in a snap. Add healthy brain foods like salmon, blueberries, and dark chocolate because their compounds help memory enhancement and combat cognitive decline (and they’re tasty too!). 🍫
READ MORE: 10 Budget Vegan Recipes Perfect for Busy College Students
3. Manage Stress Effectively 🌿
The stress of juggling exams, extracurriculars, part-time jobs, student budgeting, and thinking of career prospects to pay off student loans can make you feel like a headless chicken running around. Corny as it sounds, practice task prioritization and breathing exercises to get you one step ahead of college stress.
Tools like the Eisenhower Matrix can arrange your to-do list to prevent overwhelm, while the simple but impactful box breathing method helps clear your head. 🌬️
TIP: Rest is equally important as work. You risk burnout if you neglect to take a breather and do activities you enjoy.
READ MORE: 13 College Life Moves to Unlock Your Dream Career
4. Optimize Study Sessions 👌
How often have you laid your books and laptop on your study table, only to be distracted by clutter, noisy social media notifications, or suddenly remembering errands? Time can easily fly before you make real learning progress.
Staying focused requires some planning, so identify peak focus times and block them for study sessions. Make sure to tidy up your study space in a quiet room or wear noise-canceling headphones. Start with short sessions and a dedicated study playlist for a focused ambiance. 🎧
READ MORE: How to Study for Finals: 23 Top Tips to Ace Your Exams
5. Limit Digital Distractions 📵
Stop beating yourself up for your lack of control in using social media. Smartphones are designed to be addictive, but fighting their mind-numbing effects isn’t a losing battle.
Reject your phone’s temptations and install apps that block social media and other distracting websites. Better yet, place your phone safely locked in a separate room. Just inform your family and friends that you’ll be on “Do Not Disturb” mode beforehand, though. 📴
READ MORE: 9 A+ Tips to Stop Letting Your Phone Distract You at School
6. Practice Mindfulness 🧘
A busy and anxious mind makes it hard to concentrate on one thing at a time. Mindfulness is a practice that can help you to sit back, calmly observe instead of react to your thoughts, and learn how to focus.
“Be where your feet are” is a simple but effective reminder to guide your attention to where you are in the present moment. You can also take it to the next level: find a quiet place and sit comfortably as you listen to free guided meditations online. 😌
7. Exercise Regularly 🏃
You might think exercise will exhaust you, but it actually boosts blood flow to the brain, which helps you feel good and sharpens memory — the ideal thing to strengthen your attempts at learning how to stay focused.
If pumping iron in the gym or working out in your dorm isn’t possible, try outdoor activities like walking, jogging, or cycling for at least 30 minutes per day. Add something fun, like listening to music or devoting a quiet me-time to your routine to make you more likely to stick to it. 🏋️
READ MORE: 12 Top Tips for Busy College Students to Stay Fit
8. Seek Professional Help 👩⚕️
ADHD might be a reason why you’re finding it so hard to keep still and study, but a professional evaluation is the only way to diagnose an underlying condition. A series of assessments are used to determine mental health issues affecting your ability to stay focused.
Visit your college’s counseling and mental health services for free or low-cost support or referrals to healthcare providers off-campus. You can also approach them even if you aren’t experiencing a crisis and simply want advice on handling concerns like fears of failure.👍
9. Find What Works Best for You 😄
So you’ve tried every trick in the book to learn how to stay focused but still fail. What if your inability to concentrate is simply because your study material is boring and doesn’t resonate with you?
Find ways to connect the concepts to your own interests, or ask your professor for suggestions on how to approach it. For example, engineering majors struggling with literature classes can look for literary techniques that can improve their presentations. 👨🏫
READ MORE: 13 Ways to Stay Motivated While Studying in College
10. Be Proactive in Class ✍️
Professors can sometimes sound like background noise that makes you doze off, especially when you’re seated in the back of a cold and cozy classroom. Combat passive listening and learn how to stay focused in two ways: sit near the front whenever possible to hear better and feel more likely to participate (or be embarrassed to fall asleep) and take good study notes to get busy doing something productive in class.
Learning how to stay focused is tied to self-care. When you prioritize yourself, it’s easier to give your best work. While you’re at it, find an accountability partner or gamify your system to have fun while improving. 😄
How to Stay Focused in College: Frequently Asked Questions
What causes students to lose focus?
Lack of sleep, poor time management, social media distractions, noisy and cluttered environments, and medical conditions like ADHD are the most common factors causing students to lose focus. These can slow down your thinking process, making it hard to concentrate, understand complex concepts, and perform well in class.
What are common distractions for college students?
These are the common distractions for college students:
- Digital: social media, streaming services, and messaging apps
- In-person: noisy and messy dorms, parties
- Physical: fatigue, hunger, boredom
What are effective ways to improve my concentration?
Here are effective ways to improve your concentration:
- Figure out your distractions and their causes.
- Understand why you want to improve.
- Create a specific plan of action and timeframe. Make sure it’s simple enough to help you do it consistently.
- Be accountable. Find an accountability buddy or get a productivity tracker app to monitor your progress.
- Observe what’s working and what’s not to refine your systems and habits.