材料来自Crash Course，由 Jeffery提供。致谢！
How to improve your concentration
In all seriousness though, I do want you to ask yourself: when's the last time you were able to sit down and intensely pay attention to one task for a long time? If you're anything like me, this has become harder and harder to do as we've added more distractions to our lives while your brain's ability to resist them is, sadly, not. So that's why today we're turning our attention to attention itself.
The first thing you need to do is stop multi-tasking. Many people try to deny it, but your brain can't actually do two things at once. Think of your brain like a single-core processor in a computer. These types of processors don't truly do multiple things at once–they just create the illusion of multi-tasking by rapidly switching from one task to another. (1) But your brain is not good at doing this, which is why when you switch your attention from one task to another, you incur a cognitive switching penalty. Not only do you lose the raw amount of time it takes to switch from one task to another, but you also lose the amount of time it takes for your brain to properly refocus its attention and get back into the flow of things. So, when you sit down and decide to work, choose one task and make it your only focus. You don't have to sit there and work on it until people mistake you for a hat rack, but do spend at least 20 or 30 minutes on it before switching to something else.
(2) Secondly, tailor your environment for better focus. Start by finding a spot, either in your room or somewhere else, that you use only for studying. By doing this, you're establishing a spot for yourself that has just one context, and context is powerful. When your location, the people you're around, and all the other pieces of your environment point to a single activity, you'll be much more likely to do it. (3) In general, though, the fewer things that are competing for your attention, the better. Once you've chosen your spot, prepare it for your current task by putting away anything non-essential. This includes removing books and supplies that are unrelated, closing any tabs or programs you don't need, and putting away your phone. During all the other ones, you can close it and cut its potential for being a distraction. (4) Also, anticipate potential distractions that might come up and try to get ahead of them. Maybe put your phone on do not disturb, so no one can text you, or tell your friends you're studying and ask them not to bother you for a while. Anything you can do to mitigate future distractions will help you to stay focused and finish your work faster. Once your study environment is established, the next area you should look to improve is your actual ability to focus.
As we talked about before, your attention is like a muscle, it's something you can train over time to get stronger. One of the best ways to do this is by learning to resist cravings for novelty. These are the sudden urges you get to check Snapchat or watch video of a corgi jumping into a lake while you're working on your English homework. (5) You get these cravings because, by default, your brain doesn't like boredom or hard work. But the strength of these cravings is set by how often you give into them. Our actions create habits and expectations in our brains, and these become hard-wired patterns of behavior. (6) And this means that every time you give into that craving for a distraction, you're ingraining that decision as a habit.（7）Luckily, you can also train the opposite behavior. By acknowledging a craving for novelty, and then deliberately ignoring it and getting back to work, you start to build a tolerance for boredom and wean yourself off of that need for constant stimulation. As you do this, your ability to focus on your work strengthens. You're building that attention muscle. Now, doing this is easier said than done–especially at first. (8) However, there are tools you can use to give your brain some extra firepower in the early stages. Apps like Cold Turkey and StayFocusd can block distracting websites entirely, while a tool like Forest encourages you to ignore your phone by letting you grow virtual trees. And when you don't need a tool like the internet for your work, disconnecting it entirely also eliminates its potential for distraction entirely. Of course, even with training, your brain's ability to focus still diminishes over time.
So if you're still struggling to focus, look at your health habits. (9) Unlike computers, which are built to run all the time as long as they've got a steady supply of resources, our brains operate on a cycle of work and rest. After a certain amount of work, you need to take a break. Now the amount of time is gonna vary from person to person, but a good guideline to use is 25-30 minutes. Stand up, stretch, walk around a bit–maybe get some water. But your brain is still part of your body, which means that it needs plenty of sleep, nutrients, and exercise to work at peak efficiency. (10) Make sure you're getting at least 7 hours of sleep per night, eat healthy, and try to exercise once a day, even if it's just a short walk. Taking care of your brain will allow you to focus more intensely when you do decide to work.
Of course, making that decision to start working isn't always easy, which is why next week we'll be tackling what is probably the biggest problem students struggle with, which is procrastination. I'll see you then.
用户评论