Focus Tips

There were a few mistakes I made that I want to share with you.

I sat in the back of the class. That was a huge mistake because it allowed my mind to easily drift off to the beach. Secondly, I didn't get help for the lessons I didn't understand. I let it all pile up so that I was so confused I didn't know what to ask. And then the last mistake I made was not trying to connect what I was learning to something I already knew. I should have been thinking about cooking or the ocean or the wax for my board or something. I mean, we live in a world of chemicals. Surely I could have found some connection that would have made the course more interesting for me.

Finally, I have another tip if daydreaming is what you do best. Track the number of mind trips you take in class with tally marks. Every time you come back from a trip, make another mark. At the end of class, total the number of mind trips and then try to beat your score the next day by having fewer marks. This may seem like another distraction but it actually turns the thing into a competition where you are actively trying not to daydream.

If you lose your focus when there is too much auditory stimulation going on - such as laughter in the hall or some people next to you talking, it could be a sign of a different type of attention problem. All of us lose our attention and focus from time to time. Some people have such severe problems with their attention that they take medication. But some people have trouble only with auditory stuff. They have trouble listening and understanding verbal directions and lectures. They also have trouble hearing with background noise. These can be symptoms of an auditory processing disorder. If you have this, it is important to sit up front, ask for repetition of information and write everything down or have someone else write it down for you.

Staying Focused and Interested