Get More from Your Study Time

You already know that it's a terrible idea to study or work on a project with our phones close to us. Why? That tendency to dive into your phone when bored or having a hard time understanding the lesson or doing the project. Also notifications - that temptation to check who texted or called you.

So I am not talking about that today.

So what then is the purpose of this article?

Have you ever found yourself getting so sidetracked by online content that you struggled to focus on your studies or project?

Even when we silence our phones and create a distraction-free environment, the temptation to explore the internet can be overwhelming. It's easy to get sidetracked by interesting topics or ideas that pop up while we're studying. This can lead to significant time wasted and a failure to achieve our learning goals.

I am a big culprit here. 🙌🏿

This often happens when I come across an interesting topic or idea as I go along with my study material. I will then want to check it out a bit before continuing with my study.

The thing there is that I will end up spending a great chunk of my study time not actually studying what I started out to learn and then at the end of the study session, I will end up not meeting my learning target.

In the world we live in, where information on interesting ideas is at your fingertips, it's so easy to get sidetracked.

Here are three tips that have significantly improved my focus and productivity. I hope they'll benefit you as well

1. Self Awareness: Now that I have identified this issue, one thing I have started doing is to catch myself when I start digressing and then return back to my studies.

2. Note taking for Later: This was a big game changer. Now I always have a notepad close to me that I jot down any interesting ideas I want to explore and then explore later. The surprising thing is that most time I wont go back to reading most of them. Which leads to the next piont.

3. Evaluate Relevance: I am learning to ask myself "is this article or video directly relevant to my current learning goal?" If yes, I dig deep, else I jot it down and return to my study material.

My point here is that we should all strive to make maximum use of our study time to focus on the task at hand and not getting distracted.

What are your favorite productivity hacks? Join the conversation in the comments! I will love to read them. Let's learn and grow together!

PhotoCredit:
Creator: fizkes | Credit: Getty Image