how do you do to keep focused while studying?

Deathmage

I listen to music and drink tons of water with muscletech amino acids plus water-soluble based vitamin B's in excess. Plus I'm a gym nut so I'm always eating protein bars.What do you guys/gals do?

jvrlopez

Turn off all music, turn off the TV, and put the phone on silent and out of arms' reach.

If the construction work behind my apartment isn't going on or too loud, I'll open the sliding door to the balcony to get some nice radiant sounds going.

I also make sure to tell my wife to not disturb me unless it's important. I also drink a lot of water and take some B12 to get "in the zone"

Iristheangel

It's actually really hard for me to focus. I'm a bit on the ADHD side so when I put aside study time, I have to stop responding to IMs, turn off music, stop checking e-mails, put my phone on silent, etc. After enough time studying, I usually give into the urge to check e-mail, TE, Facebook, and other things which wastes about 10-20 minutes and then I have to get back into the zone.

The one thing that does help me stay on track is taking notes or labbing side-by-side while studying. It's a lot harder to break away from it that way because I feel like I'm interrupting something. I'm not one of those people who can just watch a video and take it in or else my mind starts to wander.

Deathmage

jvrlopez wrote: »

Turn off all music, turn off the TV, and put the phone on silent and out of arms' reach.

If the construction work behind my apartment isn't going on or too loud, I'll open the sliding door to the balcony to get some nice radiant sounds going.

I also make sure to tell my wife to not disturb me unless it's important. I also drink a lot of water and take some B12 to get "in the zone"

Vitamins and amino Acids are what help me... my brains always thinks in so many directions since I got part of my bedroom that is nothing but like 5 vendors of hardware I'm always tinkering.... *sigh*

Iristheangel wrote: »

It's actually really hard for me to focus. I'm a bit on the ADHD side so when I put aside study time, I have to stop responding to IMs, turn off music, stop checking e-mails, put my phone on silent, etc. After enough time studying, I usually give into the urge to check e-mail, TE, Facebook, and other things which wastes about 10-20 minutes and then I have to get back into the zone.

The one thing that does help me stay on track is taking notes or labbing side-by-side while studying. It's a lot harder to break away from it that way because I feel like I'm interrupting something. I'm not one of those people who can just watch a video and take it in or else my mind starts to wander.

Now I don't feel like the only person with ADHD :P ... I'm super hard to focus... I always get distracted by my Kindle or phone. I find once I'm in the zone it's so much better... just sticking in it is the doozey part!

kohr-ah

Turn off music and if I am on the train put my ear buds in but dont turn on the music. It makes everything quiet.
I take notes old school. Stenobook and a pen.
I also get bored easily so I take little breaks every so often and I have learned if I study after I exercise I remember things better.

Kai123

My focus comes from motivation, but really its hit and miss. I cant structure my studying well and lose focus easily.

Going to try some alpha wave white noise, talk about grasping at straws!

Vask3n

I'll second what everyone already mentioned regarding IMs, phones, and checking social media sites.

If I am watching a video, like INE or CBT Nuggets I like to go through sunflower seeds, the act of splitting them open and eating them over and over keeps me focused on the video. I'm sure that's not incredibly healthy but I can sit there and stay focused on the video while doing that habit simultaneously.

--chris--

I do several short bursts a day, like 30 minutes 3-4x a day. When its later and I have a hard time reading, I will watch 20-30 minutes of video on the subject and make notes on subjects that interest me/I need to focus on. Then the next day I work that into the bursts of studying. I spend 45 minutes almost every day during the week on my lunch either labbing or reading...thats an easy one because its a nice break from work.

As far as the bigger picture goes, I like IT in general because the more I learn the more valuable I become. I come from an industry where your value is almost always measured in years on the job. To be able to "take cuts" by studying/labbing/learning outside of work is very exciting to me

swellbow

Wi-Fi off, isolation headphones with no music, strong coffee, as early in the day as possible.

gadav478

I listen to rain...
rain.simplynoise.com
rainymood.com

It blocks out noise so I can read a chapter or two at work when we've got downtime.

J_86

gadav478 wrote: »

I listen to rain...
rain.simplynoise.com
rainymood.com

It blocks out noise so I can read a chapter or two at work when we've got downtime.

Nice! Glad I'm not the only one that likes the sound of rain when trying to work on something lol.

N2IT

Run hills until I am dead then relax take a shower and then boom. Works like a charm.

Dakinggamer87

Turn off my cell phone, TV, and all my gaming systems so I am not tempted and put in my headphones so I can focus and concentrate. I still will take an occasional break here and there so I can unwind for about 10-15 mins before jumping back into it.

bigdogz

It took me a while to read this thread because of my ADHD...

I just shut everything down and hide in a room if I am reading. Depending on the certification, I may have a lab or VMs up for the task.

snadam

Its funny a few have mentioned ADHD. I was diagnosed with ADHD as a kid (Ritalin kid, WOOT!!!), and I find that I NEED to be listening to something. If its too quiet, my mind drifts off. For me, I HAVE to have some noise in the background. I find classical music (or any instrumental music for that matter) on in the background helps drown out the cranky kid, and my loud neighbors.

I definitely have to shut off the phone/internet, and all other outside distractions. Never heard of the water thing before. Should try that out. Speaking of distractions...im going dark for a while.

7255carl

Hi guys

i agree with snadam, a little classical background music helps to stop the mind drifting, also i have a picture of my daughter nearby, that seems to put things into perspective for me and reminds me that some things are more important in life and that takes some of the pressure off

N2IT

@ snadam

I find highlighting with lots of colors and keeping my fine motor skills involved really helps.

Master Of Puppets

gadav478 wrote: »

I listen to rain...
rain.simplynoise.com
rainymood.com

It blocks out noise so I can read a chapter or two at work when we've got downtime.

Thanks for the great idea! This really calms me down and helps me focus + the blocking of other noise. I never would've thought of that

Shdwmage

I get all jittery and can only study for about 20 minutes at a time, unless I'm really in the zone. I wish I could figure out how to force myself into the zone. Then I would get amazing amounts of work done in short periods of time. I coded just over 1000 lines of code the other night while I was in the zone. I wish I could be like that more often.

sasnimrod

@gadav478

thanks for the great links! Much appreciated

Jon_Cisco

For reading I try to do it early in the day like 6-9am if possible. I usually read away from my computer and with no external noise. I can do classical if I need something.

Labbing I usually have music on. I prefer picking an artist and just letting it play. If I am getting distracted I'll switch to classical like instrumental piano.
I don't mind distractions as much when I am labbing because it is usually more engaging and I can keep at it even after getting side tracked.

I like the rain website I might try that.
Great post since we all need help with focus.

E Double U

I keep reading until someone calls/emails/IMs me about the firewall.

I don't get much done at home because my wife and kids require my attention

djentlemetal

I have to listen to drum and bass or jazz to be able to keep focus. Otherwise, like others have mentioned, my mind wanders and I'll go tootle around on Reddit, FB (if someone's messaging me), here, youtube, etc. Caffeine or B12 is great, but sometimes I get a little too wired and can't focus at all. Hard copies of study guides are easier for me to get into since a pdf, obviously, strains my eyes after a while and also provides a way to distract myself since it's on, well - a computer. Obviously, labbing can suck me in enough to not be distracted by anything else on my computer, too.

Edit: I'll throw one more 'obviously' in here for good measure

esr0159

I listen to music while I study. I try to place my phone away and close facebook twitter or any other social media site (distractions :P). But I tend to take a break for about 5-10 mins after 1-2 hrs of study.

Plus I need to have food beside me while I study (chips, chocolate, etc).

Deathmage

Wow such great feedback. Going to try a few of these out...

linuxlover

I don't need anything special but I'm a bit weird and I can only study during nighttime. I can't focus for 1min during daytime.

G.Hayduke

I use the pomodoro technique: 25 minutes study blocks, then a 5 minute break. You get a 15 minute break after 4 successfully completed blocks. Helps me keep focused and with time, it becomes a game. In good days I do 8 to 10 pomodoro blocks, which is roughly equivalen to 4 hours of FOCUSED study. You'd be surprised how much you get done if you just commit to 25 minutes of uninterrupted work.

There are plenty of apps and websites that implement these simple timers, give it a try!

kurosaki00

This works a lot. Do some pushups, run a bit and bam.. focused.
Is hard for beings to focus while charged on energy (same for kids, dogs, adults).

Params7

How to Beat Procrastination | Wait But Why

Take a read through this folks.

snadam

UPADATE - Tried the simplyrain.com suggestion, TOO relaxing; fell right asleep after an hour . To be honest, I'm sure it was mostly me be exhausted that day.

Dunkers404

Usually, I just have my earphones and listen to Spanish melodies, though this becomes an issue.. Sometimes I end up studying for extensive periods of time