"How to focus more in studies" by Rodrigo D.

Dear year 7,

I’m a grade 9 student who is going through some difficulties this semester. Before this year, I used to study hard and felt very willing and attentive in class but things changed. I am not feeling motivated to study anymore. 

My report card is still superb, sometimes even all A’s, however, I'm inattentive and always procrastinate doing my homework . This year my passion for sports increased. Alternatively, my parents keep saying that I’m always not good enough which bothers me. Next year I’m moving to a bigger school, as a consequence, it makes me nervous about the difficulties of the exams there, and if I will still have time to continue doing what I love.

These are problems that I really want to solve as quickly as possible, for this reason I am looking forward to your response.

Best wishes,

Anonymous

Dear Y9 student,

I can observe that the main problem that you are dealing with is your inattention in classes. I know this can be very harmful to your grades and progress in studying, very serious consequences for a student. You could work in ways to make it easier for you to focus in classes. I think you can try to find something in what you are studying that you like. 

I really think that the problem is being caused by your lack of interest in class. Your lack of interest is probably happening because you don’t like the subject that is being studied. The lack of interest and the difficulty for studying are the main reasons for why you are getting bad grades. If you try to look for something in what you are studying that calls your attention, it will be easier for you to focus on studying. In your case, suffering with inattention is being caused by your lack of interest in the topic, as well as your lack of motivation and joy in classes. Finding a subject that calls your attention will help you in keeping focus, studying would no longer look so tedious, and you probably would enjoy learning about that topic. According to Top Universities, studying something that you don’t enjoy or have passion for will turn your process more tedious and you will have no motivation to keep studying. If you follow my advice, you will study better, understand the topic faster and you would have no problems in keeping focused for long periods of time.

Your inattention may also be caused because of your passion for sports being constantly increasing. The passion for sports can be actually increasing because of two main causes: First, your interest in sports itself is increasing, as you probably started practicing something new, and second, with the lack of motivation to study, you are naturally migrating to another area, in which being smart or having good grades interferes. If you organize your routine in a way you divide your time for studying and practicing sports, you have more chances of keeping focus and receiving good grades. I advise you to make a scheme of your weekly schedule, so you can use it to organize your time better. Try to calculate how much time you need to study in the week, and how much of the time that remains you want to fill with sports and free time. As someone that uses this technique in my own routine, my suggestion is to start introducing sports in your schedule a bit by a bit, at the same time you introduce studying habits for your free time, by alternating study and sports, as if you insert too much sports in your routine, you will not have time to improve your studying habits and concentration, the original problem you are dealing with.

Don’t forget to keep trying to study, as you will only succeed if you try. My advice should work because they compensate your “work” time with some extra activities you enjoy, as well as keeping much more focus on a subject you have passion for, as I have already explained before. I would strongly recommend that if the advice I gave doesn't work, you can always ask for help from your friends, teachers and family. I hopefully expect all this works, and I wish you get results.