To stay focused while studying, decide on one specific goal before you start, put your phone in another room, work in short timed sessions with real breaks, and study actively, for example by answering practice questions instead of rereading. A consistent study place and enough sleep make all of this easier.
This guide explains how to put each of those into practice, what to do on days when you can’t focus at all, and what to adjust if you have ADHD.
Decide exactly what you’ll study
“Study biology” is too vague to hold your attention. Your mind has nothing specific to do, so it looks for something else.
Before each session, write down a goal you could finish in that session, such as:
- “Answer the 10 practice questions at the end of chapter 4.”
- “Make flashcards for the key terms in lecture 6.”
- “Write a one-page summary of the causes of the First World War from memory, then check it against my notes.”
A concrete goal also tells you when you’re done, which makes it much easier to start.
Put your phone in another room
Messages, notifications and the habit of checking are the most common reason study sessions fall apart. Research on multitasking consistently finds that switching between studying and messaging makes learning slower and less accurate, even when it feels like you’re coping.
Turning the phone face-down isn’t enough for most people. Put it in another room, or in a bag across the room, and turn on a focus mode so only urgent calls get through. If you need your phone for a study app, use a laptop or tablet for that instead, or remove the distracting apps from your home screen. Reset Your Phone’s Defaults in 30 Minutes has the settings.
Do the same on your computer: close social media, messaging and any tabs you don’t need for the task.
Study in short, timed sessions
Few people can concentrate on studying for hours without a break. Working in timed sessions gives your attention a finish line and makes breaks part of the plan rather than a distraction.
Two common patterns:
- 25 minutes of study, 5 minutes off (often called the Pomodoro technique). Good for getting started and for subjects you find hard to stay with.
- 50 minutes of study, 10 minutes off. Better once you’re warmed up, or for work that needs a longer run-up, like writing an essay or working through a problem set.
After three or four sessions, take a longer break of 20 to 30 minutes. During breaks, get up and move, and avoid starting anything you can’t easily stop, like a video series or a long conversation.
Use active study methods
Rereading notes and highlighting feel productive, but they let your mind drift: you can read a page and realise you remember none of it. Methods that make you produce answers hold your attention much better, and they also work better for learning. Reviews of the research on study techniques rate practice testing and spreading study over several days among the most effective methods, and rereading and highlighting among the least.
Try these:
- Practice questions. Past papers, end-of-chapter questions or questions you write yourself.
- Blank-page recall. Close your notes and write down everything you remember about a topic, then check what you missed.
- Explain it out loud. Teach the topic to a friend, a pet or an empty chair, as if they knew nothing about it.
- Flashcards, reviewed over several days. Short reviews spread across a week work much better than one long session the night before.
Keep one place for studying
Your brain links places with what you usually do there. If you study on the same sofa where you watch videos, it’s harder to switch into study mode.
Pick a place you use mainly for studying, such as a library, a particular desk or a corner of a room, and keep it as free of distractions as you can. If you only have one desk, clear it of everything except the work for that session. There’s more on this in Change Your Room Before You Change Your Habits.
Choose your background sound carefully
Some people study best in silence; others need some background sound. In general:
- Music with lyrics tends to interfere with reading and writing, because the words compete with the words you’re trying to process.
- Instrumental music, white noise or café sounds at a low volume are less distracting, and can help block out noise around you.
- Earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones help in noisy homes and shared spaces.
Experiment for a few sessions and keep whatever lets you get the most done, not what feels most pleasant.
Study with someone else
Studying alongside another person, even if you’re each working on something different, makes it easier for many people to start and keep going. This is called body doubling.
You can study with a friend in a library, join a group video call with cameras on and microphones off, or put on a “study with me” video: a recording of someone studying in real time, often with a timer and breaks built in. Agree on the rules beforehand: talk only during breaks.
Plan your week, not just your session
Many focus problems come from feeling behind. When you don’t know what to study, everything feels urgent and nothing gets your full attention.
Once a week, look at your deadlines and exams and decide which topics you’ll cover on which days. Spread revision for each exam over several days rather than cramming it into one. A short weekly review is a good moment to do this.
Look after the basics
Concentration depends heavily on sleep. Sleep also plays an important part in turning what you studied into lasting memory, so staying up late to study often costs more than it gains. Regular meals, water and some movement during the day help too. When you can’t focus no matter what you try, check these first.
If you have ADHD
Students with ADHD often find that standard study advice needs adjusting. A few things that many find helpful:
- Shorter sessions. Start with 10 or 15 minutes and build up.
- More structure from outside. Study groups, library sessions with a friend, or body doubling.
- Movement. Study standing up, walk while reviewing flashcards, or use a fidget object.
- Very small first steps. Commit to just opening the notes and reading the first question. See the two-minute start.
- Support from your school. Many schools and universities offer support for students with ADHD, such as extra time in exams or a quieter exam room. Ask your student support or disability services office what’s available.
This is practical advice, not medical advice. If you think you might have ADHD, or focus problems are affecting your studies, talk to a doctor or your school’s health service.
When you can’t focus at all today
Some days nothing works. Instead of fighting it for hours:
- Take a proper break: go outside, eat something, drink water.
- Pick the easiest useful task on your list, such as making flashcards or organising notes.
- Set a timer for 15 minutes and do just that.
- If you still can’t focus, stop, plan tomorrow’s first session in detail, and rest.
If this happens most days, look at sleep, stress and workload, and talk to someone you trust. Our guide to focus problems at work covers common causes that apply to studying too.
Common questions
How long can you focus while studying?
It varies from person to person and from topic to topic. Many students find 25 to 50 minutes a comfortable session length, followed by a short break. You can usually build up longer sessions with practice.
Is it better to study in the morning or at night?
Study when you feel most alert, as long as it doesn’t cut into your sleep. Use your most alert hours for the hardest material and leave easier tasks for when you’re tired.
Why do I lose focus when I read?
Reading passively makes it easy for your mind to wander. Read with a question in mind, stop after each section to summarise it in a sentence, or turn headings into questions and answer them.
Does listening to music help you study?
It depends on you and the task. Instrumental music or background noise helps some people, especially in noisy places. Music with lyrics tends to make reading and writing harder.
A one-week test
For the next week, start every study session by writing one specific goal, with your phone in another room and a timer running. Use practice questions or blank-page recall for at least half of your study time. At the end of the week, compare how much you got through with a normal week.