Monday, November 2, 2009

Down and Dirty Homework Hints for the Attention Span Impaired By John Parks

John Parks

The fact of the matter is that nobody likes to do homework. Even if you love the subject that you have homework in, the fact that you have to do the work automatically makes the project less desirable. Trust me, we've all been there. What makes it worse is if you don't like the subject. If you don't like the subject of your homework it will feel like everything is distracting. Suddenly you have the attention span of a gnat and watching grass grow feels more fun than the homework you have been assigned.


So how do you get the work done when your attention span has taken a vacation? Here are a few quick hints to help you out:


1. Contrary to popular belief, locking yourself to your chair and forcing yourself to focus on the work until it's done will only make the project take longer. Why? Because you will find every reason in the world to not sit down in that chair. Suddenly all of the things you normally avoid must be done immediately! Instead, allow yourself to take a few breaks. Get up every fifteen to twenty minutes to stretch your legs or get a drink of water.


2. If silence gets on your nerves, find a noise source that won't be intrusive. The radio is always a good idea—choose songs that don't have words so you won't be tempted to sing along. Hint: Classical music, especially Mozart, has proven to improve a person's brain function!


3. Get in the habit of doing homework at the same time. It's sort of like going to bed at the same time every night. Eventually your body will tell you that it wants to sit down and concentrate on something and you'll feel weird when you aren't doing your homework—no matter how little you want to concentrate on the project at hand.


4. If it will help you get the work done, have a study session with your friends at someone's house. Sometimes having someone else who is in the same boat as you will help both of you focus. You won't feel as isolated and you'll be able to talk about any problems you have with the material as they come up. Just make sure that you don't spend your homework time socializing.


5. When all else fails ask your parents to sit with you while you do the work to make sure it gets done. Yes, you want to be independent and prove that you can do your homework on your own. The truth is, however, that your parents will appreciate that you want to get the work done and are having trouble concentrating. They will be more than happy to sit with you to keep you on task.


These are just five simple hints to help you get your homework done when your attention span wants to focus anywhere else. Check around, you'll probably find lots of other suggestions you can incorporate into your study routine!


Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=332431&ca=Education

No comments:

Post a Comment