My tips for staying focused while working

There we are, ready to work for hours: we’ve opened our books, armed ourselves with our index cards and highlighters, and we’re ready to get to work. However, whether we’re working at home, in the library, in a café, alone or with friends, concentration is often the number one enemy of students’ good intentions. Indeed, there’s no shortage of distractions: phone, noise, a mid-morning hunger pang, a pen that runs out of ink.

Each of these small distractions interrupts our work and allows our brains to think about something else. Every moment of inattention subsequently prevents us from effectively returning to our work. Our memory and learning capacity are then negatively impacted. It is therefore important to limit these distractions and stay as focused as possible on our work. Here are some tips to implement:

1. Create a workspace conducive to work

If you’re part of the work-from-home team, it’s important to create your own little workspace. Choose a place where you feel comfortable, with everything you need within easy reach (book, paper, pen) so you don’t have to get up every five minutes and break your concentration. A bookcase or shelf next to your desk is ideal for storing everything you use daily and freeing up your workspace.

Before each work session, prepare yourself a drink and a small snack; this will prevent you from having to get up.

After each work session, tidy up your workspace and any documents you no longer need. This helps keep your space uncluttered and free from distractions. A minimalist workspace helps you focus your attention on the task at hand, without getting sidetracked.  

If you prefer to work at the library, then it’s essential to bring everything you need to ensure optimal working conditions and avoid frustration because you’ve forgotten something. Here’s a short list of my must-haves for a successful day of work at the library:

• – Course materials to review (in paper or computer format)
• – Pens, highlighters, scrap paper, index cards, sticky notes
• – A small snack for a break
• – A water bottle
• – A thermos of tea or coffee
• – Headphones or earplugs

2. Limit external distractions

The primary source of distraction when working is, of course, one’s phone. Even on silent, the appearance of a new notification will catch the eye, and we will instinctively look at what it is… To combat this near-extension of our hand, we can opt for the radical solution: turn off our phone and place it out of our field of vision (in a drawer or another room in the house).

Some apps also allow you to schedule focused time during which your phone is disabled. This is my favorite option because it’s fun and lets you appreciate your actual work time at the end of the day. Personally, I use the Forest app, which lets me set work goals without using my phone. If I reach a goal, virtual trees are created in the app, along with tokens that, after a certain amount of time, will lead to the planting of a real tree.

Sometimes we find ourselves in noisy environments where our attention is easily diverted. It’s possible to create your own bubble by isolating yourself from the noise, for example, with earplugs if you want complete silence. Music can also be an ally for concentration: instrumental music or white noise (waves, rain).

3. Vary the subjects and revision techniques

To keep your mind sharp while learning and avoid automatically reading a lesson, it’s beneficial to vary your learning techniques:

• Create mind maps on large sheets of paper or diagrams
• Create flashcards to test yourself on key concepts
• Explaining the lesson aloud
• To actively recall information in writing, to verify what one has actually retained from a lesson, a nd then to check for errors and omissions.

Once I’ve implemented these tips, how long can I stay focused?

Everyone has different abilities to concentrate. But, like many things, concentration can be practiced and improved. The best way to test it is to start with a relatively short, timed session, 25 minutes, for example, followed by a short break or another work session if you feel up to it. Gradually, the duration of your work sessions can be increased.

After a few weeks, it is possible to know your maximum concentration time depending on the time of day or the subject being worked on.

Knowing your concentration time and work capacity at different times of the day will be essential to establishing a revision schedule adapted to your own functioning and guaranteeing efficiency in your revisions.