I want your tips!

[nyecamden]

Problem: I'm really struggling to concentrate on reading academic articles. What do you do when you want t concentrate and get on with some work? What helps you? I'm particularly interested to hear from people who have mental health issues that affect their concentration yet who still manage to study.

Comments

[leathersub]

I wouldn't say that I have mental health problems per se, but did start my law degree in my early 30's and so was seriously out of the habit of studying. I am really chronic at putting such things off, and I would come up with a myriad of excuses.

So things I used to do:

- set up my environment so I got all the little stuff out of the way (no excuses then for piddling around)
- set myself a specific time to do something i.e. half an hour is ideal
- take notes as I am going (either written or on the computer0
- treat myself with something when I've finished the half hour or so
- take regular breaks
- read section by section - and not large chunks
- have a quiet environment
- take your reading somewhere eg to a cafe and read while having coffee

Hope some of that gives you some ideas. :)

[becksydee]

Definitely second the advice to do stuff in small chunks & for limited time periods with lots of breaks. I also find putting on certain types of music (the more repetitive and the fewer words the better) helps me focus.

Ultimately though, I'm the world's biggest procrastinator and there's nothing like an impending deadline to get my arse into gear, but that's not really conducive to a minimal-stress study experience so, y'know, take my advice cos I'm not using it ;)

[phyphor]

Find motivation to get it done and allocate time.

When it comes to the time remove distractions (e.g. internet), maybe put on music that is not likely to distract me (I find something with either stupidly high or stupidly low bpm, and/or that is very repetitive and not something I'll find myself singing along to helps), and make notes as I go along.

Avoid excessive caffeine (it just makes me more active, not more focussed), and make sure I've had enough sleep. Don't worry about taking breaks, but do it where it's natural to do so, and try not to clock watch. If you go looking for the time to see if you've "earnt a break" then your concentration is probably gone already so go have a walk or a cup of tea.

[neurotic_orchid]

I'm struggling with this right now as well (big time) and am suffering from some mental health problems, too. My thesis supervisor--a registered psychologist--basically told me that he thinks I should talk to someone about depression, and I think I've got some chronic procrastination going on, too (heh, I'm supposed to be thesising right now!)

I'm very goal-oriented generally, so it helps when I break up the task into smaller mini-goals. Instead of picturing the whole task (i.e., reading this huge pile of articles), I try to focus on just a part of it (i.e., reading the abstract and introduction, OR the results, OR the discussion), and I reward myself with a break or something else I'd like after completing each mini-goal.

Caffeine helps me, too, but it's not something I'd recommend to other people. And turning off the Internet and eliminating distractions, as stated above, is great, but you have more willpower than I if you manage to do it!

[x_mass]

when i first started i could only cope with reading for a few sentences before my head hit the desk, but just like going to the gym - it gets easier in time