From your phone to noise to an unclean environment, there may be distractions all around you. But in order to have a productive study session or even while learning a new skill, it is vital for you to remove those distractions and ensure that you have high levels of concentration to get the work done. But the question is: What are distractions and how can you actually remove them?
In today’s article, I will be answering this question to ensure that you have a distraction-free zone to complete all your tasks.
What Is A Distraction?
A thing that prevents someone from concentrating on something else. – Google
For example, if you are trying to do your math homework while also trying to talk to your friends unnecessarily, it may decrease your productivity and efficiency of that task or it may just take longer to complete the math homework. Everyone gets distracted but it’s about how you deal with it.
Examples Of Distractions:
- Phone
- Social Media
- Unnecessary Noise
- People Talking To You
- An Untidy Area
- Negative Thoughts
- Being Hungry
- Being Tired
How To Remove These Distractions:
Phone
If you are not using your phone for your work and you don’t need it while working, put it away.
Try not to place the phone in your work area. Put it in another room, give it to someone else in your family, put it in aeroplane mode or even use an app such as Forest to grow trees while you are studying. These are all pretty good ways to ensure that you are not using your phone while studying.
Social Media
Well let’s say that you need to use your laptop for your homework but you still have access to all your social media in your laptop…what do you do then? In that case, I would say to place an extension on your laptop. Use these at your own risk. With these extensions, you can block certain websites that distract you for a set period of time while you are working so you can’t access them. Problem solved.
Unnecessary Noise
If you are studying in a library, for example, and there are people talking which is distracting you and making it difficult for you to focus, I would suggest trying to block out the unnecessary noise by either playing white noise, listening to non-lyrical music or even moving to another area. If it is someone who you know making the noise, you could simply tell them to quiet down respectfully.
People Talking To You
If you are trying to study and your brother comes into your room and starts distracting you, you could simply try telling them to come back when you are free. Try to maybe have a notice on your door to let your family know when you are studying if needed to prevent them breaking your bubble of concentration. If your friend tries talking to you face-to-face, explain nicely that you are studying and they can come back after a set amount of time.
An Untidy Area
Sometimes, the distraction may lie in where you are studying. If you look at your study space and realise it is untidy before even starting to study, chances are you may feel like procrastinating. Therefore, if needed, spend 5-10 minutes before starting to study to tidy up. Not only does it make you feel put-together, but it may also increase your productivity for your next study sessions.
Negative Thoughts
If you are trying to study while having worries, it may decrease your productivity as the worry may take control of your focus. Instead, try to write down these negative thoughts and write the solutions next to it. If you don’t have a solution, then assign yourself time for when you will deal with that problem, either by thinking about it or talking to someone. This will ensure that you can give your full focus to your work.
Being Hungry
Some people cannot concentrate if they have not had their food. Therefore, in order to solve that problem, you could simply make sure you have proper meals during the days and also make some quick study snacks to have while you are studying. Mind you, I said ‘quick’ which means you can make the study snacks in 5-10 minutes, it should not cut out your studying time to make these.
Being Tired
If you have not had enough sleep the night before, it is more likely you will feel tired and lose focus very easily. Try to get the work done quickly and then have an early night to get the optimum hours of sleep you need. If you are just tired because you have had a long day, take regular breaks in between your study sessions so you have time to rejuvenate yourself.
There were some of the distractions that I could think of. Remember, it is okay to get distracted or even have a low day because it’s part of human nature and you can learn how to deal with it. But just keep working hard and don’t stress.
Comment down below what common distraction do you face. Please check out my other articles relating to Islamic content, My Experiences, Teenage Advice, Book Reviews and Poetry.
Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!