If you’ve ever found yourself struggling to steer clear of distractions when reading at home, I’m afraid you’re not alone in the battle. Countless numbers of students have complained in the past that procrastination and distractions are two of the biggest hindrances to their study efforts at home.
But that doesn’t surprise us.
Home is the home of distractions. And the last place a student should consider using for their study sessions. Unfortunately, it is also where we live, which means that we’re stuck with it as our primary study location.
Watching TV, playing video games, taking to the bed, and scrolling through social media are some of the biggest threats to a student’s study sessions at home.
So how can a student kick distractions out before they interfere with their study sessions?
Read on to find out!
Devise a study pattern
The best tactic any student can use to beat distraction when studying from home is to devise a study style. And the best study style we recommend is the “active reading” style.
This style, which involves asking questions before, during, and after study sessions, helps give your reading sessions direction, while also ensuring that your focus isn’t stolen by other activities. By setting up questions for yourself, you already give yourself a goal to reach. And if you’re serious-minded, there is no way you’d feel comfortable doing other things knowing that you haven’t reached your goal for the day.
Create and stick with a timetable
I know this might seem obvious enough, but you won’t believe that of all the students that create timetables, only a few end up using them.
Don’t be like them.
When you create your time table, ensure you stick with it, as it can help you reach your goals for the day and ward off distractions.
Sleep so that you won’t sleep
Sleep is one of the major elements of study distractions. But unlike other distractions, it is quite easy to combat. You just need to catch enough of it prior to your study session to prevent it from rearing its ugly head during the session.
By and large, every student should strive to get as much sleep as they can. If you intend to read at night, ensure you sleep well during the day and vice versa. The reason is that when you deprive yourself enough sleep at night, for example, it becomes more and more likely that you’ll fall asleep during the day.
Choose a study spot
One terrible mistake that most students make is that they try to read in their bed or on the couch in the sitting room. If you’ve been doing this before, please stop! There is a reason why schools put chairs and desks in classes but restrict the use of beds to school clinic areas only.
Sleep itself is a form of distraction, and its greatest weapon is none other than anything “foamy.” So, instead of lying in your bed or couch to read, designate a special area in your room or corridor to read. To make this area mimic a typical classroom setting, you can bring in a reading chair, a student desk, and a little shelf to keep your books.
But in case you don’t have any of these at home, you can look to buy your student desks and other home study furniture from a reliable retailer like TexasLibrary.
Complete your chores
See to it that you complete all the pending chores on your to-do list before you start reading so as to avoid any form of interruption during your reading hours. Besides, completing your chores first before studying makes it much easier to focus on your reading sessions.
Find the right time to study
Provided you aren’t yet living alone; not all hours can be right for studying.
Why? You may wonder! Well, with people around you, there is a high probability that you might get distracted by some of their actions like TV watching, sound system playing, gisting, pacing, etc. And even if you decide to lock yourself away, someone might still choose to come to knock on your door.
To prevent this from happening, find the perfect time to study. This could be when everyone is away, at night, or in the morning before everyone is awake.
Eat or make provisions for food
Depending on what works for you, you might choose to eat before or during your reading sessions. But one thing you should never do is postpone your food till after your session. Failure to eat or to prepare what to eat in advance before the commencement of the day’s session might warrant you to take a break you didn’t plan for, which could lead to further distractions.
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