With the weather warming up and summer in the not-so-distant future, forcing yourself to focus on school work is harder than ever!

As the school year draws to a close, it’s time to buckle down and make it through the final push.

This week, we’re going to share 7 useful tips to maintain focus and improve your concentration.

The first five are short-term methods, while the last two are long-term methods. Read on to learn more about each one:

Table of Contents

1. Quit trying to multitask

When you have a million things to do and a limited amount of time, it seems logical to try and accomplish multiple tasks at once.

However, most people are incapable of actually performing tasks simultaneously, and instead force the brain to switch gears back and forth from task to task, resulting in overall lower efficiency.

Our short-term memory can only hold 5 to 9 items at once, which, if encoded, become part of our long-term memory.

By bombarding yourself with information to process, you’re incapable of storing as much information than if you had simply focused on the one task at hand before moving on to another.

2. “Chunk” your work

Big projects can be so daunting that it’s tempting to procrastinate until the last minute before making any progress, which oftentimes results in work that is not reflective of your true capabilities.

Break up large tasks, such as writing an essay or completing a problem set, into smaller, more manageable pieces that don’t seem so intimidating.

When working, it’s also helpful to set a timer for a predesignated amount of time you will spend on that particular project. Knowing that the end is in sight pushes you to work harder and more efficiently than an ambiguous or uncertain deadline.