The student in question, who I will call Sam, related that often they would sit down to study, and then only after 10-15 minutes lose focus and concentration. Sam would begin surfing the net, or listening to music or just generally procrastinating.

He wanted to know what he could do to avoid this problem.

I suggested a number of ways he could overcome his problem, and improve his focus and concentration.

The first method is to slowly build up your concentration levels. How?

If you notice you only can focus for 30 minutes, make a commitment to study for 35 minutes. Even if you feel like you are losing concentration at the 15 minute mark, push on. Study in 35 minute periods until you become comfortable studying for this long. Then increase your study to 40 minutes.

Follow this process until you slowly train your concentration and focus to last for longer. This of course applies even if you study for 10 minutes, or 1 hour. Many 98+ students related that this was a great way of slowly building concentration levels.

Secondly, remove all distractions. Get rid of your phone, MSN, music, Internet etc. This is a very basic way to improve your focus. By removing temptations which encourage you to stop studying, you will be able to push through the period of your study where you feel like you want to stop. While this is very basic step, the overwhelming majority of 98+ UAI students found this to be a very successful way of improving concentration.

98+ UAI students also found that some brief physical activity would help them regain focus and concentration. Many stated that they would drop and do some push-ups, or dance to a song (limited to one song) was a great way to briefly relax and then refocus.

Finally, 98+ students would make their enjoyment of leisure time contingent upon the completion of their study. As a result, they had a strong incentive to not procrastinate and to maintain focus, because if they did not, they would not be able to enjoy their leisure time.

So, in summary, slowly build habits of focus and concentration, remove all distractions, partake in brief physical activity, and make leisure time contingent upon the completion of study.