3 techniques to concentrate better in your studies before exam

In order to talk about techniques to concentrate on studies, first it is essential to categorise students into 2 broad groups. The first group consists of students who study throughout the year/semester and hence it is easier for them to maintain concentration on their studies as they have been in practice all the time. The second category consists of students who pass their time without studying the whole year and just 10-15 days before the exam, they realise that it is high-time for them to start studying. And this is when they buckle under pressure and fail to concentrate on their studies. So the techniques that I am going to share here will be especially for those who have not been in the practice or studying for some time and all of a sudden have to concentrate really hard for their upcoming examinations.

So here I have 3 techniques that will actually help both the categories. The first two are specially for the 2nd category students and the third one is for both. So let’s get to those.

The first technique is to start studying slowly. What I mean by this is that when you start studying after a long time, your brain finds it really difficult to focus on the topic. So if you try to hurry yourself into the subject, you will not be able to understand anything. It will be just a waste of time. So at the very beginning you need to tell yourself that you have a lot of time. It doesn’t matter if it’s just a week away from your exams. You need to feed your brain with the information that you have a lot of time. This helps to calm down your brain which will help it to focus better. Then start studying at a slow pace, word by word, trying to understand what the topic means. As you go slow, the brain starts to get acquainted with what you are trying to do and you will see that you are understanding the topic. After about an hour of this, you will automatically feel that you are reading faster but with equal amount of understanding. It is really important to start slow, to give your brain the chance to get a feel of what is going on, as you have started to do this after a bit of a gap. After about 2-3 hours, you will find your speed has increased to what is most compatible for you and you are back on track.

The second method is an alternative of the first. There are situations when even after trying to read slowly you find your brain is extremely cluttered due to any sort of distraction in your life. In that case, follow this. When you start reading, imagine that there are students sitting in front of you and you have to explain them that topic. So you play the role of a teacher. So read every para and explain it to your virtual students. What is does is, you are now forced to understand the concept with full authority in order to teach someone that. So you go on understanding and you keep on teaching. After a while you will realise that you don’t need to play the role anymore and you are automatically synced with the subject and it’s easier for your to understand what you are reading. Slowly your speed will increase, and again, you are back on track.

The third technique is the famous Pomodoro technique. I would suggest students of category 2 to first follow either of the two and once you have established your concentration and speed of reading, then follow this. For category 1 students, you can jump right into this. What you do here is take small breaks between your study. As for example, the most compatible one for me was to select a 1 hour session of study and in that, I would study 50 minutes and take 10 minutes of break. And make sure that you set yourself a target to complete in those 50 minutes. This will help you to focus better and also increase your speed. You can do one additional trick here. Set a reward for yourself that you will get only when you finish the target in the 50 minutes and enjoy the reward in the next 10 minutes. This will help to keep your brain enthusiastic and active. You find that you speed and quality of study has increased dramatically along with the quantity.
Try these out and I am sure if you follow these correctly, you will be benefited.

Cheers!!