Does your teen have trouble focusing while studying? It’s not surprising when you consider the number of distractions they have to contend with these days. Social media, streaming video services, texts, emails, and the list goes on.
If your teen is having trouble focusing on what they need to do or finds themselves constantly distracted, here’s how you can help.
Show Them How to Get Started
After a hectic day at school and a long bus ride home, teens can get lazy about doing their homework. The trick is to keep up the pace. No amount of yelling at your teenager will get the job done.
Instead, sit down with your teenager and help them figure out a plan. After a long day, wondering where to start can be overwhelming.
Go through their work and help them figure out a study plan. Doing this should help all the pieces fall into place.
Help Them Find Their Reason
A yelling match between you and your teen telling them they need to study or else probably won’t work.
Get your teen to write down why they should want to study. Maybe they want to be the type of person who always does their best or have a favorite subject they would like to become more knowledgeable about.
Process-oriented goals are much more effective than outcome-oriented goals. Teens often feel outcomes, like getting straight As, are beyond their control, but they can achieve at least an hour or two of study every day.
Processes are immediate, while outcomes can be in the distant future, difficult to visualize, and may never eventuate.
Teach Them to Track Their Progress
Tracking progress can increase the motivation for study. When teens keep track of their progress, they have a visual record of how far they have come and can feel proud of their achievements.
Morale is important for maintaining momentum.
Plus, when they see what they have completed, it will help them to know what still needs to be done without feeling overwhelmed.
Create A Tidy Study Area
Focusing is hard enough without a messy and cluttered study area adding to the chaos. Teach your teen about the importance of a neat and tidy desk.
They will concentrate better and suffer fewer distractions when they only have what they need for the subject they are studying.
When they move on to the next subject, they should put what they don’t need away and out of sight.
Get your teen to make a list of what they need for each subject so they can get in the habit of creating a distraction-free zone whenever they sit down to work.
Advise Them Against Studying in Bed
Your teen will perform better when they study in a different place from where they sleep.
Our brains associate our beds with sleeping.
If your teen lays on their bed to study, the brain will take this as a signal that it’s time to take a nap.
Likewise, a designated study area will put the brain into study mode.
Plus, laying down or sitting cross-legged are not great positions for lengthy study sessions and may even bring on a headache and neck or back pain.