High school can be hectic no matter what grade you are in. Usually, on my agenda, I have at least one summative every week and surprise formatives in different classes and sometimes I don’t even know what we are learning in class! And for some of us, it might be a little bit difficult to pay attention or participate in class considering it may be a little boring or not as interesting based on our point of view. In order to fix all of those problems that involve procrastination or losing interest in a class, here are my seven best tips in order to stay focused when doing homework or studying while in school!
- Pay attention in class!
This might be quite obvious but paying close attention in class really helps build your understanding and knowledge about what your teacher is teaching. When you daze off or daydream during a lesson, you might lose sight of important information! Fixing this, you’ve gotta keep your head in the game. Stay on track and stay focused! It might be hard sometimes considering how hard you are working but try understanding and pretend to be interested in what you are learning about because, in the end, it’ll be worth it. You’ll understand what your teacher taught you and you will be more confident in what you have learned about!
- Rewrite notes!
This one is a little tricky because we all don’t have pretty or appealing penmanship. But if you do, rewrite your notes! It’s satisfying, effective, and fun to do. Not only that, but you will be able to reread them and fully understand what you have learned and applied it to the test. Rewriting your notes will not only help you based on studying but you can use them for exams so it is ready to go for you already and you will have less work to do.
- Review, Review, Review!
Reviewing is key to memory! The more you put the needed information in your brain, you will understand more of what you actually learned. So, highlighting notes and important key terms is major for studying because it repeats the information you need in order for your memory to be accurate in all cases. Reviewing is also effective because you are reteaching yourself the lessons or important terms to yourself in order to be even more precise with your studying.
- Make a steady work environment
In order for your studying habits to be set, you are going to need to have a working environment set first. Now, this may change, but if you know that where you stay is where you are going to be productive stay in that area! For instance, if you feel more productive at the library, go to the library and do your work! Or, if you feel more productive in the living room, stay in the living room! If you want to take it a step further, get your own desk, personalize what you need, and make a work area in your room or somewhere in your house in order to maintain a focused and productive mindset. This is helpful because once you’ve entered the trap of procrastination and comfortable position, you will feel way too comfortable and unmotivated to do your work.
- Ask questions and participate in the class!
Now this one relates to the very first tip but it is in terms actually involving yourself in class and engaging yourself with what is going on. You need to take some risks, and use your voice! Ask questions, be involved so that you know what you are doing and learning in class. But in all honesty, this one is a little bit hard for me too because I am very shy and I don’t really ask my teachers any questions when I am confused because I would feel a little bit embarrassed. But that’s okay! Cause the sooner we can get over that fear, the more successful we will become.
- Read!
Now, you’re probably thinking, “Come on KB, no one likes to read.” But you only have that mindset because you haven’t forced yourself to like books! It’s fun to dive deep into a book and exercise your brain because you are training your brain to be even more useful and studious so that you remember important concepts and details as well as to stay more focused. My best tip to enjoy reading is to read to your interests. Once that is covered, try reading a few minutes a day or every other day in order for your brain to get a little stretch. But in the end, you will be satisfied knowing how much you’ve read and how much faster the brain wants to work.
- Sacrifice some time to study and review
The harder you work, the better you will be. You want to be successful right? So, a big step in order to do is to make time for what you need to do! A lot of people fall short of being productive because they can’t find the right balance between work time and their own personal time for themselves. This is a problem because then they either lose themselves and become unmotivated to do anything or either find themselves having way more to do than normal. In order to fix this problem, you’ve gotta take some risks! Find time to do your work and on time too! Don’t slack and give your best effort! You got it.
There are many many more tips on how to be productive and stay focused in school but honestly speaking these are some of the best tips that have worked for me personally. All in all, school can be tough but you’ve gotta own up to it and work hard! When you do that, you will inspire people to work hard as well.