The Ultimate 5 Step Guide to Overcoming Laziness While Studying

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From time to time, we all struggle with focusing and paying attention while we’re studying. Recently, I have found myself struggling to stay on task. I’m constantly wanting to go watch YouTube or do literally anything but study.

I decided to spend some time thinking about how I could start to focus better during my study sessions, and this is what I found. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂

Plan Study Sessions

The first way to stop being so lazy and distracted during study sessions is to plan them out.

When I say plan them out, I mean a complete step-by-step guide on what you’re going to be studying. Not only do you want to write out what you’ll be doing, but also write what you need to accomplish before moving on.

For example:

Step One – Open book.

Step Two – Read the entire first chapter.

Step Three – Jot down anything mentioned twice.

Before moving on – Be able to recall the 3 main points in each section.

Step Four – Break

Step Five – Recall the first section & take notes.

Before moving on – Need to apply the information to store in my long-term memory

and etc.

Have Sticky Notes Handy

There is a multitude of reasons why using sticky notes can be so useful.

They’re great for writing down main points in text, drawing images, writing summaries, creating lists, and just a whole lot more.

Do you ever find that you get distracted during studying by things you forgot to do, or you have a random question you feel you need to answer right at that moment?

If I were you, I’d use sticky notes.

Surprisingly, sticky notes took my focus level from a 3 up to an 8. 

I found that when I thought of something I needed to do later, or I just needed to remember some piece of information, I’d write it down on a sticky note.

After my study session, I would spend some time consolidating my sticky notes and looking up the questions I had.

Using sticky notes in this way will help you to focus a lot during your study sessions, and it will also force you to stop using things you forgot to do as an excuse to stop studying.

Write Down any Distractions

In my blog post about the best ways to study long hours, I wrote about the main two mistakes that people make when it comes to their environment. 

One of them is ignoring distractions or believing that they’re able to overcome their distractions. I’m honestly not sure if this is an ego thing people have, or they believe that they can be stronger in some way, but you can’t.

When you’re studying, keep a sheet of paper (or a sticky note) on your desk and write down anything that ends up distracting you.

Even try and include the types of distracting thoughts you’re having while you’re studying.

Writing down this information will not only help you to identify what exactly is distracting you, but it will better help you to understand the negative thought patterns that are holding you back.

Personally, I always get a dreadful feeling when I’m studying because I worry I’m not actually learning anything. I didn’t notice this until I started writing down what I was feeling in the moment – and now I no longer have this problem.

Find Ways to Get Rid of Them

Not only should you identify the distractions you’re having, but you should also be able to find ways to get rid of them. 

If you can’t get rid of them, you should work towards solving them or coming up with ways you can avoid the distraction and what to do when you do get distracted from it.

If you’re someone who checks their phone every 20 minutes, I suggest you take your phone and place it in a different room, lock it, and hand over the key to someone else. 

Make it nearly impossible for you to be able to get distracted.

When you do get distracted and you’re unsure of how to get rid of it – use Google.

You may find that you have to give up something in your personal life to allow yourself to stay focused while studying.

For myself, I found that getting on social media before I studied (even hours before), would affect my focus during my study sessions.

It would make me wonder what people were up to, what I was missing on my YouTube feed, and it would result in hours of binging. I found that I could avoid all of this by only going on social media before I slept or after my study session. 

You may find that you need to completely cut out things from your life to focus. This is perfectly fine, just make sure that your priorities are well managed so you don’t cut out the wrong things.

Don’t Rely on Willpower Alone

Like I stated above, a lot of people try to stay focused by sheer force of will. This is the wrong way to look at it.

Don’t make things difficult because at the end of the day, the only person holding you accountable, is yourself.

Conclusion

I really hope this post will help you to stay focused during your study sessions!

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