Dhoni's century isn't something I like to miss and I like hitting one too. But do I have the time to watch an eight hour cricket match. NO!!
Let's get back to the point. How to concentrate?
There are three things you must look into
- Your Daily Routine
- Your Work Space
- Your Study Style
Daily Routine: Its all about Regularity and Rhythm
Your body needs coordination with your brain. Your brain is smart but your body is smarter. All you need to do is tune your body to a schedule and it will be ready to respond to your brain at the right time. Maintain a regular schedule for eating and sleeping. Meditate for 15 min everyday. It may sound funny and it may sound boring but it will help you relax and focus. Always have a Daily Plan.
Work Space
All of us do not have the luxury of a separate study room with an office like work space. But we all can define our work space ourselves. This is the most common issue that students have: Do not confuse your bed with your study space. Bed is only for sleeping and not for studying. Come on!! You are young and you can sit upright for studying. Be a soldier rather than being a lazy potato. As someone said, "competitions are like wars".
I don't want to write about lighting, ventilation, temperature….blah…blah…blah. You guys are reading enough Physics to figure out yourself whether you like bright light or a small study lamp etc etc. The message I want to convey is: Define Your Workspace. Make a place to study. Doesn't matter if it is small corner of a room on the floor with a 100 watt bulb hanging over you. What matters is that if you are in that corner: you study.
Study Style
Well, first of all wasting time does not belong to any study style. So when I talk about breaks, I mean short breaks and not a three hour movie break.
Everybody has a style of studying. I like to take a 5 min break after every 30 min of intense study. One of my friends prefers an hour long break after every 5 hours. No Style is Good or Bad. What is good or Bad is the output you generate out of your style. Make a daily plan and continuously evaluate yourself. You want to listen to music while studying. Do it for a day. Check your output on that day. Check your output on a day without listening to music. If your output without music is 20% more than with music. You better not listen to music while studying. The same is true for TV, friends, cricket, and all your hobbies. If you think you work better with music let the radioactivity dance to the tunes.
