assignmentwriting.schoolHow to stay focused on homework
Being under pressure due to long hours of homework has become the order of the day for most students. Sadly, they have no other choice as the statoscope continues to remain. The only option now is to find better ways to do this without it having negative impacts on their lives.
Finding a better balance in doing your homework and other extra-curricular activities are challenging, but with a clear and well-organized plan, you are good to go. Let’s go through some of the best strategies to stay focused on homework.
Make a Plan
Planning your life and time is one of the best ways of meeting deadlines. No matter how many tasks you have doing in a day, you can have a balance with a clear plan. Have a to-do-list outlining your activities in the day. Make sure that the important ones are given priority. As homework is essential, you add it to the priority list and make sure you work as planned. Secondly, classify your homework in order of due dates and difficulty. If you have three assignments with the same due dates, attempt the difficult ones first before doing easier ones. If the assignment is large, break it down and do it in bits.
Avoid Distractions
The technological advancement of humans has brought about many distractions compared to a few decades ago. Currently, we have many electronic devices that though keep us entertained, also take a significant part of our time. To manage your time correctly to submit homework on time, avoid distractions like fidgeting with a phone, watching television for longs hours, playing games, and roaming on social media. Research by Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Lab shows that it takes about 25 minutes to regain focus after being distracted. Sometimes, you may feel like doing other things to take away the boredom of focusing on your assignment. Nonetheless, remember that those other things are time stealers and distractors.
Say no to Multitask
Multitasking has many benefits and is one of the essential life skills anyone must-have. However, it also has its side effects. Don’t you even think that focusing on one thing and getting it done before moving on to the other makes work faster and efficient than multitasking? If you have many tasks to do in a day, focus on doing them one after the other.
According to Earl Miller, a neuroscientist at MIT, when multitasking, the brain has to switch back and forth from task to task because a similar part of the brain is being used. This causes interference; hence, the best practice is to complete one before the other.
Have a Planned Break
The human brain becomes stressed when overstretched for an extended period. It is, therefore, imperative to have breaks within your tasks, which can improve cognition and productivity. When you are doing a large amount of homework, make time for about 10 to 15 minutes of break. There are times you even need to take a quick nap to relax the brain and regain focus.
A psychology professor at the University of Illinois, Alejandro Lleras, in his study found that when working too long on a task, including when doing homework, the brain loses focus leading to a drop in performance.