5.4 Studying and Attention¹

Where To Study

In order to study successfully, it is important to know where you study best. Some students study well at home. Other students study well at a library or coffee shop. There is no best for all. Your best environment is based on you and your preferences.

When To Study

Many students are most efficient studying in the morning when they are fresh, have had a good night’s sleep and a nutritious breakfast. When your brain is more alert it is easier to recall and retain information. Studying late in the day may be the only option for you but often students are tired at the end of the day, and this can have a major effect on study efficiency. However, some research has shown that studying late in the day can be effective because “sleeping after studying helps to improve recall and consolidating information.² Figuring out where and when you study best is personal and may take some trial and error.

Internal Distractions

An internal distraction includes thought processes, self-esteem, or confidence and it interrupts you from what you’re doing. Managing these thought patterns while you study can be important to limit distractions. You can try writing down distracting thoughts or outside tasks that you will need to accomplish so you don’t forget them later.³ Internal distractions also include a computer or cell phone – something that is controlled by you. Many students intend to study but easily get distracted with surfing the Internet, checking social media, watching YouTube videos, or receiving a text message. If you don’t absolutely need your computer or cell phone for studying, turn them off. If you do study with your phone or computer, it is best to have all potential alerts turned off. Notifications of text messages, emails, or social media updates all can serve as a major distraction to your studying.

External Distractions

External distractions originate outside of you. They might be your roommates, family or friends. Even if they are supportive of your studying, it may be challenging to concentrate when they are around. Pick a setting that limits distractions and assess the noise level and its impact on your productivity.  Saying “no” is an important skill that may need to be utilized in order for you to have your study time without interruption.

Keep in mind that it may take 20 minutes to reach a high level of concentration. When we are interrupted, it takes on average another 23 minutes to get back to the level of concentration that we were at prior to the disruption.⁴ If a student is studying for an hour and is interrupted twice, the consequence to study efficiency is devastating.

One way to try to monitor how many interruptions you incur and how well you maintain your level of concentration is to keep track of it. Take a blank piece of paper when you are studying and mark down each time you were interrupted. Over time, with practice, you should be able to decrease the number of interruptions you incur. This will allow you to be most efficient when studying.

Multitasking

Millennials are considered extraordinary multitaskers, though brain science tells us that multitasking is a myth⁵. More likely, they are apt to switch tasks quickly enough to appear to be doing them simultaneously. When it comes to heavy media multitasking, studies show greater vulnerability to interference, leading to decreased performance⁶.

Trying to do multiple things at the same time may seem like it may allow you to accomplish more but when studying it often leads to accomplishing less. A study from Carnegie Mellon University found that driving while listening to a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent⁷. Why would anyone choose to use less brain activity when they study?

Watch this selective attention test video and see if you come up with the correct answer.

Video: Selective Attention Test, Daniel Simmons

Citations

1. Dillon, Dave. Blueprint for Success in College and Career. OER Commons. https://press.rebus.community/blueprint2/. CC BY 4.0.
2. The Best Time Of The Day To Study: Day or Night? (2017, November 30). Retrieved from https://www.oxfordlearning.com/best-time-day-to-study/#:~:text=The Day Studier,after a good night’s sleep
3. Distractions. The Learning Center. University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. (2020, July 24). Retrieved from https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/take-charge-of-distractions/
4. Gloria Mark, Daniela Gudith, and Ulrich Kiocke, “The Cost of Interrupted Work: More Speed and Stress,” 2008, https://www.ics.uci.edu/~gmark/chi08-mark.pdf.
5. Jim Taylor, “Technology: Myth of Multitasking,” 2011, Psychology Today, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201103/technology-myth-multitasking.
6. Eyal Ophir, Clifford Nass, and Anthony D. Wagner, “Cognitive Control in Media Multitaskers,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009, http://www.pnas.org/content/106/37/15583.full.
7. Byron Spice, Timothy Keller, and Jacquelyn Cynkar, “Carnegie Mellon Study Shows Just Listening To Cell Phones Significantly Impairs Drivers,” (Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon, 2008).