How to Stay F.O.C.U.S.E.D. While in College
The demands of college are vigorous and can be nearly impossible to deal with without continued focus. It is often a challenging task as there are plenty of distractions to stray you off course, but in any successful endeavor, staying focused is the key.
Fear of falling behind can serve as a motivating factor when trying to maintain focus. Procrastination only leads to more pressure and stress to get those assignments done. The further behind you fall, the more difficult it can be to catch up. Assignments will only compound atop one another, increasing your workload to undesirable levels. This will certainly be reflected in your quality of work. You will be spread too thin and the lack of time will prevent you from putting forth
one hundred percent effort, thus negatively affecting your grades and overall GPA.
Being organized is a great way for you to focus and maximize your productivity. A structured schedule per class, complete with a list of assignments and requirements along with due dates, provides you a blueprint for prioritizing your schoolwork. It will give you the chance to complete your assignments in a timely fashion as well as the added benefit of allowing you time to recharge. Since college can be challenging, it is healthy and necessary to set aside some time to unwind. The brain functions best when it is not overloaded with stress so being well rested lets you take on future tasks with a better focus.
Committing time each day to your studies is a surefire way to stay focused since it allows you to remain productive on a daily basis. Continuous work and concentration will prevent cram sessions from occurring around the time of a deadline or an exam date. In addition, it will give you the opportunity to present your best quality of work because you will be able to find ways to improve upon assignments and thoroughly study for exams. Your ultimate goal is to learn and retain information, not memorize it just to pass an exam and you must have sufficient study habits to do so.
Unwaveringly block out all time-wasting distractions. In college you gain instant independence. This can become a curse or a blessing. If in your independence you allow time-wasting distractions to seep in and drown out your priorities, you will lose focus in college. If you on the other hand, empower your independence to block out all time-wasting distractions, like partying too much, spending a lot of time on social media, and neglecting your studies for other hindering distractions—you will later find yourself enjoying all the rewards and benefits that college has to offer due to your unwavering and committed focus.
You cannot reach a goal if you do not even see yourself taking the necessary steps to get there. Visualizing yourself as a success makes the idea of it real and attainable. If you envision studying hard for a good grade on your midterm or researching and writing a great term paper, it will not seem so foreign when it comes time to actually do it. It is easy to make a pledge to your studies but seeing yourself focused enough to follow-through on that commitment helps to make those visions come to fruition.
Enroll and participate in study groups to help keep yourself committed and accountable to your studies. Positive and committed study groups are like finding gold while in college. One, you make positive friends who are equally committed to getting a good education, and two, you have more than one mind working in your best interest to help you understand and think through a particular class subject.
Dare to be driven to succeed beyond your own expectation due to the fact that you held yourself accountable to staying focused while in college. Focus, drive and accountability go hand-and-hand when it comes to continuous college student success, and graduating on time with the degree you truly want to hold in your hands come graduation day.
No matter how far you’ve come in college, there is always another class and goal to accomplish right on the horizon. There’s always a new and challenging way to call on your commitment to focus, learn, excel, and perform.
To succeed in college is to grow—in strength, in wisdom, in experience, and accomplishment. To grow is to live—in the most fulfilling and significant way.
You’ve come a long way, so by all means stay focused and committed to getting a good education and graduating from college on time. What’s so great about college and life is that you can always make your best better through focus, commitment, learning, peak performance, stretching, and continuous success.
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Ty Howard is an internationally recognized authority on college student and staff and faculty development for peak performance and optimal success. He is the creator and lead facilitator of the trademarked “Untie the Knots® Optimal Performance Process,” and the author of the best-selling book Untie the Knots® That Tie Up Your Life: A Practical Guide to Freeing Yourself from Toxic Habits, Choices, People, and Relationships, as well as dozens of published articles on college student development and employee and organizational development worldwide. For information on his programs and services, visit: http://www.dynamiccollegespeaker.com.
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