How to avoid getting distracted

Anyone who knows me knows I’m really good at procrastinating and getting distracted (I really wish I was good at something else!). But in my time at uni, I’ve picked up some tips to not get distracted. It takes a bit of willpower and a good mindset, but once you manage that, you’ll be well on your way to avoiding procrastination.

Keep your phone on silent

My phone is always a serious distraction, whether I’m at work, in lectures, or in the library. It’s all too easy to start scrolling through social media or message people. Messaging people for me ultimately ends up with me meeting up with them for coffee. So a simple solution I found is keep my phone on silent and put it in my bag.

During lectures, this is especially important so that I don’t miss anything important. But when I study, I have to have some self-control, so regular breaks helps me to know that I won’t miss anything for too long.

Give yourself regular breaks

As I just said, regular breaks are key. Don’t say that you’ll study for two hours straight when you know you can’t. You’ll end up getting distracted and feeling like you’ve failed.

Give yourself a 10 minute break every half an hour to stretch your legs, make a cup of tea, or look at your phone. That way, you have a regular time to let your mind wander and do something to get yourself back on track.

Set yourself bitesize tasks

If you say that you’ll do all your pre-reading and you don’t, you’ll feel really set back. Set yourself smaller tasks and break down the big ones. Making an actual physical list really helps in this way. Being able to tick tasks off gives yourself a sense of accomplishment and you’ll feel much better about your work and less likely to give up.

Come back to things you don’t understand

When I don’t understand something, I’ll work on it and work on it and then give up on doing any work altogether. If you don’t understand something, that’s okay. Move onto the next task and come back to it. You can book in a tutorial with your lecturer to clear things up for you or tackle it later on in the day. Don’t let that one task put you down.

Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay