| The issue of lack of concentration is not limited to | | | | This may include your study material, notes, pen, |
| young children only. Many adults complain about it and | | | | pencil, calculator, highlighter or whatever you might |
| look for advice on how to increase concentration. | | | | need during your study / task. |
| During coaching sessions, I have come across many | | | | 8. Join the younger ones - if you have young children, |
| such requests and here are some tips that I found to | | | | sit for your study along with them. It will motivate |
| be most effective. | | | | you to discipline yourself and concentrate. |
| 1. Make a time plan - set up a schedule for the jobs | | | | 9. Put your heart with mind - applying your mind to |
| to be done. The key is to balance, to allocate time | | | | the work is a prerequisite in any case; however |
| appropriately to serious, difficult tasks like study, as | | | | adding curiosity and positive attitude makes the real |
| well as to recreation... And stick to it. Avoid keeping | | | | difference. When you become inquisitive and start |
| very similar tasks together, so that your schedule | | | | enjoying the study, assimilation and understanding is |
| has in-built variety to avoid boredom. | | | | much faster, much better. |
| 2. Identify your peak times - we all have our times | | | | 10. Use pencil extensively - do underline frequently |
| of peak alertness in 24-hours cycle. However, it is | | | | and use white space in the margins to make your |
| not the same for all. Find out yours and use it for | | | | own short notes. While writing adds to your pick-up, |
| more difficult or less interesting tasks. | | | | it helps tremendously during future references. |
| 3. Go slow; build up over time - start with sticking to | | | | 11. Exercise your mental faculties - games such as |
| your study / project for 10 to 15 minutes to start | | | | crossword puzzles, sudoku and word jumbles are |
| with. Build up slowly. While it is important to discipline | | | | good relaxation tools as well as help you improve |
| yourself, more important is to put the time to | | | | memory and concentration. Keep some time for |
| effective use. So start small, but stick to it even if | | | | them. |
| you are not able to concentrate easily. | | | | 12. Meditate - meditation is a wonderful tool to keep |
| 4. Take breaks in between - on an average, the | | | | your mind calm and relaxed, thus improving your |
| attention span for a serious task is no more than 20 | | | | concentration and memory. There are hundreds of |
| minutes or so. Therefore, while studying for longer | | | | meditation techniques. It is advisable to learn and |
| stretches, it is advisable to take a break for may be | | | | practice one or two from an expert instead of |
| five minutes after 20-25 minutes and get back to the | | | | experimenting with many and get confused. |
| job. | | | | 13. Live a balanced life - nutritious eating habits and |
| 5. Mind the surroundings - the location, direction, | | | | regular sleeping hours help you to lead a healthy life |
| lighting - all make a difference to your attention span. | | | | with better memory and concentration. |
| You should be reasonably comfortable in a quiet place | | | | And, here is a destructive one! |
| with proper lighting etc. | | | | 14. Tear it apart - you have a nicely bound new |
| 6. Do away with distractions - while tv and radio are | | | | book; but the size is so dreadful that you hardly |
| more obvious distractions and can easily be avoided, | | | | touch it; so it remains new for years together. Total |
| there are others like telephone calls, or friends and | | | | wastage! Remove its binding, convert it into small |
| relatives dropping in to chat for a while. There are no | | | | manageable pieces, may be 5, 10 or 15 pages. Pick up |
| general rules for them and you will have to devise | | | | one at a time and handle it with a smile. At the end |
| your personal rules to take care of such issues. | | | | of it, even though short of a showpiece in your book |
| 7. Manage requirements - make sure that you have | | | | shelf; you will be happy about this loss, I am sure! |
| prearranged all your requirements before you get set. | | | | |