The moment that you have something to do, but no immediate deadline, is the moment when that task gets pushed aside and creates looming dread. Time management is an essential skill, but it can be difficult to figure out what focus and memory strategies work best for you. You can set yourself up in a clean study environment only to find that you haven’t made much progress even hours later. People all have different ways of staying focused, and there are many different strategies you can use. Having the right mindset is also just as impactful on productivity, so here is how to physically and mentally set yourself up to have a better memory and focus.
Organizing Your Environment
Having a clean learning environment makes it much easier to stay focused on one task. It can be distracting to have to move things on your desk to make room for notebooks when clutter piles up. Even though it may feel like you’re getting off task, setting a timer to clean your room or rearrange your space to be more comfortable can actually help you stay on track in the long run. Setting an alarm can also prevent you from spending hours on a task that was meant to take ten minutes. Standing up and walking around is also a great way to release some energy before sitting down for a period of time to work, so it can prevent you from getting up in the middle of an assignment because you have been sitting in the same spot for so long. Cleaning breaks can also be effective pauses when you need to stand up and stretch, giving you a specific timeframe and a productive way to spend that time.
Setting Timeframes
If you have a hard time remembering dates or assignments, you have probably been told to use a calendar. You may also have set up a calendar, organized it perfectly and then completely forgotten to look at this calendar. While using a planner can seem like a beneficial memory tool, they often get lost in the void of memory, making them just another item that never gets updated. If you like the idea of a calendar, using a digital calendar that you can pin to your phone or computer screen can make it more visible and improve your chances of looking at it. Setting weekly alarms in addition to this calendar can help ensure that you don’t forget anything. Try to write important information down the moment you are thinking about it, since it’s not worth taking the risk that you will remember to do it later.
Forgetting things is inevitable and it happens to everyone. The important thing is to try to minimize it, especially if you are prone to forgetting things. People are often very busy, so relying on memory for everything can be exhausting. Students have enough to memorize for coursework and within their personal lives, so it’s okay and even a good thing to use memory tools. You’re not procrastinating because you’re lazy and there’s nothing wrong with you if you struggle with focusing or memory. Just find what works for you to get unstuck- the fact that you keep going is what matters.