Concentration

Distractions are everywhere. Sometimes you really do have to stop what you're doing to go help your folks, or put out a small fire, or other such urgent matters. However, stopping mid-sentence of an important assignment to check your Instagram notifications may not be the best use of your time or brainpower. Everyone struggles with this on occasion. Practicing overcoming the urge to switch to more trivial tasks will serve you well now and going forward.

• Limit distractions in your work area - mute your cell phone and put it far away from easy reach, close all distracting tabs, politely relocate talkative workspace members--or move yourself

• Keep a bottle of water handy. Every time you want to take a break, just take a drink instead. Then reward yourself with a slightly longer break when nature inevitably calls.

• Break large tasks into smaller ones, and feel more satisfied and motivated to continue as you check each one off.

• Increase your accountability - tell a parent or a friend how long you want to sit and work for, and ask them to be judgmental if you get off task before you reach your target

• My go-to tool for staying focused is the Tomato Timer. You start the timer and work until it sounds (25 minutes.) Then you get a 5 minute break to check your phone, get a snack, stretch, etc. After those 5 minutes, restart the tomato and get back to it! If your concentration wanes and you get off task before the 25 minutes has ended, reset your tomato timer in shame. Continue until work is done!

• If you need a better reason to stay working, The Most Dangerous Writing App might be what you seek. I don't actually recommend it, but it's a clever notion. If you stop writing, all your work will be deleted! Seriously, not a great tool.