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How to Increase Concentration While Studying

Last Updated: December 2, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Ashley Pritchard, MA . Ashley Pritchard is an Academic and School Counselor at Delaware Valley Regional High School in Frenchtown, New Jersey. Ashley has over 3 years of high school, college, and career counseling experience. She has an MA in School Counseling with a specialization in Mental Health from Caldwell University and is certified as an Independent Education Consultant through the University of California, Irvine. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 2,548,515 times.

Concentrating is hard especially if it is a hard subject or a boring subject. While studying has never been the most exciting aspects of school, it doesn't have to be the drag that it is made out to be. With a sense of determination, and by implementing some effective study techniques, even the dullest subjects can be conquered with increased concentration during a study session.

Preparing to Concentrate While Studying

• Find a quiet area, such as a private room or a library. If you like fresh air, go outside to an area that is reasonably free of distractions, and somewhere you can still connect to Internet, if necessary.
• Keep in mind that everyone has their own studying environment preferences. While some prefer to study in quiet, others thrive in a bustling environment that mimics white noise.
• Always believe in yourself.
• If you don't know your studying preferences, experiment in different areas, studying in a group or studying solo, studying with or without music, etc. Your ability to concentrate and be productive in different environments will reveal itself rather quickly.

• All your materials should be within arm's reach so you don't disrupt yourself by going to retrieve your things when you're in the zone, studying.

• This includes throwing away food containers, paper garbage, and other miscellaneous items.

• Your laptop or computer could serve as a huge source of distraction when you're trying to concentrate.

• Once you know the time of day that you're more energetic, you can make sure you study during those times, increasing your ability to focus and concentrate on your work.

• Some people may find study partners distracting. When looking for a study partner, try to find someone who is sensible and focused, maybe even more of an active student in class than you are. That way, you are always pushing yourself to stay matched with them.

• For bigger projects, develop a bigger incentive to reward yourself for your extra hard work.

Maintaining Concentration While Studying

• Making notecards . For vocabulary or academic terms, making notecards and flashcards and repeatedly reviewing them can help with memorizing words, terms, and concepts.
• Drawing . Some studying requires reviewing structures and diagrams. Copying those diagrams and structures, and drawing them yourself allows you to create and visualize what it is you're trying to study, therefore making it more memorable.
• Creating an outline . Creating an outline may help with mapping out bigger concepts including the smaller details. It can also help create visual sections and groupings of information that may help recalling details when exam time approaches.
• Using elaborative interrogation . Elaborative interrogation is basically producing an explanation for why something you're learning is true. It's like you coming up with a defensive reason for why a fact or statement is important. You could also use this method to talk about concepts out loud and make yourself more familiar with the material by justifying and explaining it's significance.

• Actively participating with your studies makes the material more meaningful and able to hold your interest, which, in turn, makes concentrating on it easier.

• Be here now . This simple and effective strategy helps bring back your wandering mind to the task at hand: When you become aware of the fact that your thoughts are no longer on your studies, say to yourself, “Be here now,” and try to reign in your wandering thoughts, and focus back on your study material.
• For example, you're in class and your attention strays from the lecture to the fact that you're craving coffee and the last bagel at the café is probably gone by now. As you say to yourself, “Be here now,” you fix your attention back to the lecture, and keep it there for as long as you can.
• Keep track of your mental wanderings . Mark down every time you catch your mind drifting away from what you should be concentrating on. As you get better and better with bringing yourself back to the present task, the number of times you break concentration should be less and less.

• If you ever find yourself worrying about something while you're trying to focus and concentrate, remember that you have a special time to worry about things. You can even try the “be here now” method to bring yourself back to concentrating.
• For example, give yourself a half hour before you start studying to worry about upcoming exams, your family, or whatever else is on your mind. Worry during this elected time so when you have to study, you can put all your attention and focus on doing that.

• For example, instead of having the mentality of, “I have to study all of chapter 6 tonight,” set a goal for yourself with something like, “I will study sections 1-3 by 4:30, and then take a walking break.” That way, conquering a study session transforms from a large, daunting task, to a smaller, more achievable portions. This sectional break up of study time increasing your willingness to concentrate and reach your studying goal.

• Move around. Get up and stretch after sitting for about an hour. You could do some yoga, push ups, or any other kind of physical activity to get your blood pumping. These short breaks in studying will make the time you spend studying more productive and attentive.

Supercharge Your Studying with this Expert Series

Expert Q&A

• Imagine whatever you are learning, so that the picture in your mind reminds you of the topic. Thanks Helpful 9 Not Helpful 1
• Visualize what you're studying, or try connecting it to real aspects of your own life. It can help you remember details later on. Thanks Helpful 8 Not Helpful 1
• Try to avoid talking to others as much as possible to help you concentrate. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 4

• Don't cram for an exam the night before. Cramming is a less effective way of retaining information, and it can create stress, making it more difficult to study. Thanks Helpful 59 Not Helpful 4

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/teens/focused.html
• ↑ https://www.educationcorner.com/study-motivation-tips.html
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/what-mentally-strong-people-dont-do/201811/simple-effective-trick-stop-worrying-so-much
• ↑ https://positivepsychology.com/goal-setting-psychology/

About This Article

To increase your concentration while you’re studying, find a quiet area where you won’t be distracted, such as a private room or a library. Organize all of the materials you’ll need while you’re studying so you don’t spend a lot of time sifting through papers. If you notice your mind wandering, help yourself stay present by reminding yourself to “be here now.” If you still need help, set goals that can help keep you on track during your study session. To learn more about how to reward yourself and develop a routine, keep reading the article! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Focus When Studying: 20 Uncommonly Effective Tips

I'm going to cover 20 evidence-based tips which you might not have heard of to help you concentrate while studying.

Alexander Young

Do you find it hard to focus and stay productive when you’re studying?

One of the best ways to improve your grades is to learn how to focus effectively as even if you're using the best evidence-based learning techniques like active recall if you're not focused when studying you won't score top grades.

1. Tidy Your Desk

I'm slightly obsessed with having a tidy, minimalist workspace because it helps me to get more done.

Researchers at the Princeton University Neuroscience Institute found that our brains are able to process information more effectively in an uncluttered environment.

If your study area is messy, try to take a leaf out of Marie Kondo’s excellent book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and tidy things up so you just have the essentials laid out on your desk.

Having things neat and tidy has a calming effect on your mind and will help you to concentrate.

2. The Real Reason You Procrastinate

Ever get stuck procrastinating and then feeling guilty that you're not studying?

A lot of people think procrastination is a time management issue, reflecting laziness, or a lack of motivation, but it's actually none of these things.

Research tells us that the cause of procrastination isn't issues of self-regulation instead, it's actually linked to emotional regulation.

You'll make excuses and procrastinate when there's a risk that you might fail at something where you are scared of the difficulty, or you are uncertain about how things will turn out. You might even be expending all of your energy doing other things. So when it comes to actually doing the things you need to do, you have no willpower left. This is called decision fatigue.

So before you assume you need better time management skills, see if you can solve the emotional foundation of your procrastination first by asking yourself why am I actually avoiding this? What am I afraid of?

If you lose focus or procrastinate set a minute on a timer and tell yourself you'll start working when the minute is up.

This is called an “ implementation intention ” and it makes it easier to get started at something as you're signalling the intention to start to yourself.

This will eliminate the resistance you were experiencing and reduces the time your brain has to think about reasons you should avoid starting.

3. Take Some Deep Breaths

Deep breathing exercises increase the ability of our brains to focus.

Researchers at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience have studied the effect of breathing exercises on the body’s production of noradrenaline. Noradrenaline functions as a neurotransmitter, which affects your concentration.

By regulating your breathing, you can optimise your levels of noradrenaline.

The researchers concluded that “there is a strong connection between breath-centred practices and a steadiness of mind”.

So take a breath in for 4 seconds, hold for 2 and breathe out for 6 before studying to increase your focus.

Apps like Shiken actually integrate breathing and mindfulness exercises into how they work with breathing exercises popping up after you've worked through some active recall questions to help you learn more effectively and stay calm.

4. Study With Mindful Meditation

There is strong evidence that mindfulness can help reduce stress, improve attention, reduce distractions and improve memory and academic performance.

A randomised controlled trial in 2013 by the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital found that mindfulness can help to reduce stress and anxiety and a 2018 study by the same researchers found that mindfulness practise can actually reduce stress hormones released by the body.

Mindfulness has been shown to have positive benefits on attention in a number of studies. A leading study from the University of California in 2010  examined those who practised mindfulness over a 3-month retreat. The study showed that while normally people’s attention declines over the course of a task, this effect had virtually gone away after 1.5 months of intense mindfulness practice.

Another effect that has been studied is the tendency to get distracted. A study by Mrazek et al in 2012 observed that 8 minutes of mindful breathing reduced behavioral indicators of mind-wandering when participants were given a very boring task. The authors hypothesised that mindfulness practice helps to reduce outside thoughts creeping in and helps you to become more aware of distractions when they occur so you can quickly identify them and get back to the task at hand.

5. Hop Onto A Study-With-Me

Recording yourself study or watching other study may sound strange, but it works.

Whether you're watching a study with me stream on YouTube or you're streaming your own study session the idea is to create accountability.

There are lots of great Discord servers, Reddit communities and websites like Studyverse which offer virtual study rooms where knowing that you are being watched will hopefully keep you focused on your work.

If you're a bit more private and don't want to stream yourself, just watching study with mes can help you to focus and help bring some structure to your study time. The timers on screen improve time tracking and time management, and the personal, quiet atmosphere gives you the impression of studying with a friend for social accountability. If someone else is studying so can you.

You can also check out websites like Focusmate where you get paired with an accountability buddy and you then both hop on a live study session.

6. Set Study Goals Like Harvard

A Harvard Business study found that the 3% of graduates from their MBA who had their goals written down, ended up earning 10x as much as the other 97% put together.

Rather than setting time-based goals and assigning time to simply reading chapters of books set mastery-based goals that are based on the number of active recall questions you will complete.

I would usually work out how long it took me to do practice questions and then map time in my study timetable to complete a certain amount each day at a similar time to build habits and make learning into a game . I would then allocate time to read around topics to ensure I understood facts and could apply concepts.

Apps like Duolingo and Shiken allow you to set mastery-based goals and a regular time to study complete with reminders to keep you on track and help you stay focused when studying.

7. Set A Consistent Study Time

Studying at the same time each day helps you to build habits and to stay consistent.

Your brain will get used to studying at a certain time of day and focusing will become easier. I'm a huge fan of time-blocking work and study sessions and putting these into my calendar and diary. I'll also add in time for breaks.

This forms part of how you should plan out study sessions. While it's great creating a study plan in excel the process of actually adding in study times into your calendar makes planning a much more practical process.

If you're not a fan of calendars I used to just set myself a regular study time where I committed to get down to work each day. For me this tends to be in the morning when I have most energy and I'm free from distractions. As the day progresses I find that I gradually tire so I try and get my main work done in the morning starting at 7am at my desk.

8. Write Down Your Purpose

Having a clear idea of why you want to study in the first place is a great way to stay focused when studying.

You can do this the night before a study session or you can write out your purpose when you start revising for a specific exam or a new school term.

You might want to write out something like:

"I'm sitting medical finals as I want to become a doctor." or "I'm going to master Spanish so I can speak fluently when I visit Spain."

Try and be as specific and personal as possible.

Why is this?

By setting an overall objective or purpose you are making the process of studying much more personal and relevant to you. This then makes it more likely you'll focus as you know it's important rather than just studying for the sake of studying. When you're deep into a revision period around exam times it can be easy to lose motivation and focus as we're so heads down working we actually forget why we're working in the first place. So coming back to that written purpose statement reminds helps us to focus on the importance of studying.

9. Celebrate Showing Up

You can't always control the result, but you can always control the process.

While getting a specific grade or test score can never be 100% guaranteed, showing up and doing a set number of practise questions is completely within your control and achievable.

By rewarding yourself for just showing up and committing to the process of studying you are training your brain to actually enjoy studying and helping it to build a habit through positive reinforcement.

If you focus on a specific outcome this is likely way off in the future and this can lead to lack of focus. If you celebrate the process you commit to everyday on the other hand you're staying more in the present moment and building daily momentum which then adds up over time.

So focus on the process of studying rather than any outcomes and celebrate just showing up.

10. Study at Optimal Temperature

Researchers at Cornell University found some interesting results when office temperatures were raised from 20°C to 25°C (68°F to 77°F).

Typing errors fell by 44% and output increased by about 150%.

Most research shows that the temperature most conducive for working and studying is in the range of 22°C to 25°C (72°F to 77°F). You're not distracted by the cold and you're not too warm either.

So, if you can change the temperature where you study, make sure it stays within this range.

11. Put Your Phone In Another Room

Did you know that a 2017 study found that the mere presence of your phone near where you're studying reduces available cognitive capacity?

If you are trying to focus on studying or work and you leave your phone on your desk, or even if it's in your pocket and on silent, it will reduce your working memory and negatively affect your performance.

To really remove any distraction or even thinking about your phone researchers suggest leaving it in another room altogether as the effort of having to get up and get it is far harder than just reaching into your pocket. Like James Clear says in Atomic Habits we want to make good habits easy and bad habits difficult.

12. Don’t study in bed

Do you study sat up in bed?

Studying in bed is bad for two reasons.

Firstly as we associate our beds with sleep and relaxation it can be easy to become distracted or feel sleepy.

Secondly if we study on our laptops and phones in bed it can mean we disrupt our sleep cycle. Exposure to light suppresses the secretion of melatonin, a hormone that influences circadian rhythms. Even dim light can interfere with a person's circadian rhythm and melatonin secretion. While light of any kind can suppress the secretion of melatonin, blue light at night does so more powerfully. Harvard researchers and their colleagues conducted an experiment comparing the effects of 6.5 hours of exposure to blue light to exposure to green light of comparable brightness. The blue light suppressed melatonin for about twice as long as the green light and shifted circadian rhythms by twice as much (3 hours vs. 1.5 hours).

13. Listen to Beethoven’s Für Elise

Listening to classical music has been shown to help you focus when studying.

According to a 2007 study from Stanford, classical music can help your brain absorb and interpret new information more easily.

Your brain processes the information it receives from the world around you by separating it into smaller segments.

The researchers found evidence to suggest that music can engage your brain in such a way that it trains it to pay better attention to events and make predictions about what might happen.

How does this help you study? Well, if you struggle to make sense of new material, listening to music could make this process easier.

14. Build A Study System

Staying productive isn't all about hustle culture.

As James Clear outlines in Atomic Habits; systems and processes help you to build effective habits.

Good systems make it easy to complete a task as they organize the required information and make it easy to then edit and do something with that information with as little effort as possible.

For studying, systems like having a study routine, planning out your timetable in Notion or in your calendar and spending time planning what and how you are going to study us a really important use of your time that isn't talked about enough.

I'd also add in spending time learning how to learn by reading books like Make It Stick as part of your system.

These investments before you begin studying will help you stay focused and keep you productive.

Hopefully this video and channel are helping you build up your own study system and I've linked my spacing schedule and a free Notion template in the comments below too.

15. Don't Check Your Phone

If the first thing you do when you wake up to check your phone you might be ruining your day.

When you first wake up your brain switches from Delta waves, which is what happens during deep sleep to theta waves which is a more focused and active state but which is also more malleable.

When you check your phone, first thing, whether looking at Instagram, checking emails or reading the news, you're actually skipping this theta state altogether and going straight into alert mode.

If you read the news first thing and come across something negative, you could actually trigger your body's stress mode, which puts you on edge for the whole day and causes you to lose focus.

Instead of checking your phone go straight to your desk and start studying.

16. Listen To Nature Sounds and LoFi

Research in 2015 from the The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America found that using natural sounds like a flowing stream was an effective way to improve employees’ productivity and moods in the workplace. One small experiment (n=40) found lower stress levels among those who listened to nature sounds compared to silence or classical music. If reducing stress improves productivity, then listening to nature sounds could help boost your workrate.

LoFi music helps you to focus too. A research paper in the Journal of The International Association for the Study of Popular Music concludes that the emotional connection listeners make with LoFi music evokes a nostalgia combined with the repetitive, soft, anime visuals that feature on YouTube channels likely factor into its calming effect.

17. Use The Zeigarnik Effect

Want to learn a brain hack to help you study?

Our brains are actually hardwired not to leave things unfinished. It's called the Zeigarnik Effect effect.

It’s the tendency for incomplete tasks to be better remembered than tasks which have been completed.

Once you invest time and energy into something, you'll feel compelled to actually finish it.

So how can you use this to focus when studying?

Well when planning out your study session the night before try actually starting to study and then stop. By doing just a few study questions or reading a few paragraphs of text and then leaving it unfinished you'll wake up focused on picking up where you left off. And as an added bonus your books will be open at your desk.

18. Stop Multi-Tasking

Multi-tasking is one of those myths where the research shows that juggling too many tasks at the same time actually makes you less productive and effective not more efficient as many people are led to believe.

And this makes sense right? If we're not focused on studying our brains won't filter the information and we're increasing the extraneous cognitive load by filling our brains with unnecessary information and tasks.

If you're studying you can't be doing anything else. So block out dedicated study sessions

19. Get Into A Flow State

Ever felt like you're just in the zone when you're working on something? This is know as a flow state where the task you're working on is enjoyable and you are lazer focused on it. But how can you get into a flow state when studying?

Well you can make studying easy to get you into a flow state by removing any barriers and ensuring that you:

• Know what to do next
• Know how to do it
• Are free from distractions
• You must get clear and immediate feedback
• And you must feel a balance between challenge and skill

A great way to do this is to set reminders (external triggers initially) to study for a set period of time at the same time each day. Having your study area prepared and laid out and the topics you will be studying and the method for studying prepared the night before means that you can immediately dive into studying with minimal resistance. You should plan to use active recall and testing to receive immediate feedback and plan topics that you have not yet mastered or set realistic goals that challenge you for the study session such as applying knowledge.

20. Make Studying Fun

Here is one focus and productivity tip I don't really see talked about enough.

And that is to make what you are working on fun. Because if you're not enjoying the process or what you're learning what's the point?

If you're studying for an exam this might not sound like the most fun thing you could be doing with your time but there are a few tricks to switch up how you see study sessions.

Firstly switch up your mindset so that you treat learning like a fun quiz or a game. There are lots of apps out there like Duolingo or Kahoot or Shiken that gamify learning and whether you get a question correct or incorrect it should be a fun process where you are seeing improvement rather than studying being a chore.

Secondly you need to make sure you're enjoying the content you're studying and find an emotional connection to make it relevant and interesting to you so you want to learn more. A great hack here is to google the topic and look through images and news articles for things that might interest you and which you can then get excited by. For example if you're learning about Lupus did you know that Selena Gomez was diagnosed with it? A quick google search lends a more personal story to the disease you're learning and makes the whole topic more interesting and relatable. You can use this method to make any hard topic easy to learn and interesting to keep you focused.

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How do I stop my mind from wandering while studying?

Your exam is coming up in a couple of days. However, for some reason you cannot concentrate.  Your mind keeps wandering off and you find yourself thinking about the most random things. As a student, I have also been struggling with this issue for quite some time. However, after more than 3 years of experimentation and research, I have developed a list of suggestions that might help you out. So how can you stop your mind from wandering while studying?

There are 8 actionable steps that you can take right now:

• Reduce unnecessary distractions
• Test yourself every 10 minutes
• Motivate yourself and set clear incentives 
• Study in chunks and take breaks
• Use the distraction sheet technique
• Label your thoughts
• Give your mind a bit more to do
• Take notes, make a mind map or doodle

Let’s review each of these steps more in-depth and see how they might help you reduce the clutter in your head.

1. Reduce unnecessary distractions

How can you be focused if you are constantly being interrupted by various distractions? One of the easiest ways of improving your concentration is to reduce the distractions around you. This involves several steps:

• Firstly , a good study environment should be quiet – a library, a private room, a calm coffee shop, etc.
• Secondly , if you can, make sure that the chair and the desk are comfortable, there is adequate lighting and the place is properly ventilated.
• Thirdly , make sure that the study place is clean and organized.
• Either turn off your smartphone, switch it to airplane mode or leave the smartphone in your backpack (or some other place where it would be difficult to reach it). If you are constantly receiving notifications, it will be very difficult to concentrate. Putting your smartphone away could help you reduce the temptation to check on these notifications. 
• If you are using your laptop for studying, make it a rule not to use any social media, websites, and apps that are not directly related to your studies. If you commit to following this rule while studying, it will be easier to fight off the urge to check notifications. If the urge is still there, I found that one way to keep yourself from breaking the rule is to make a bet with a friend. In my case, I usually make a “no social media usage” bet during exam time with my best friend. Every time I break it, I had to pay 50 USD. Your ability to stay honest will of course be put to the test. However, I have found that putting yourself in a “lose-lose” scenario is a very good way to make sure I maintain disciplined.
• If the area is noisy (or you prefer to study with music) you can listen to calm music and sounds (for that check out our study music playlist) or use noise-canceling headphones. However, listening to loud music or music with lyrics is highly discouraged since this could make it even harder to concentrate.  

By taking these steps, you will limit yourself to outside distractions and decrease the likelihood that your mind might wander off.

2. Test yourself every 10 minutes

A study has shown that students were able to remember more and concentrate better if they tested themselves on what they are studying every 10 minutes.

Furthermore, periodically quizzing yourself has been shown to be an effective technique for increasing retention (see the video below). So test yourself and watch the immediate results! (e.g. ever 10 minutes write down the 5 key things you have learned during those minutes of studying).

3. Motivate yourself and set clear incentives 

If you think that what you are studying is useless or unimportant, you will obviously find it more difficult to concentrate. So before studying ask yourself: why I am doing this? Is it to learn valuable skills? Is it to help someone or make the world a better place? Is it to make your parents proud?

If you dig deep enough you can definitely find a good reason. And if your why is strong enough you can concentrate better and achieve almost anything you put your mind to ( there is a good TED talk on the power of WHY by Simon Sinek).

But if you still find it difficult to come up with a good reason for concentrating on your studies, then I would propose to conduct a brutal thought experiment. Imagine that there is a psychopath holding a gun to your head (a guy like Tyler Durden from Fight Club) and if you do not sit down, concentrate and do a good job studying that psychopath is going to pull the trigger. I know that that sounds rather crazy, but I have to admit this has helped me several times to concentrate and reduce the clutter in my head when nothing else worked.

Additionally, you can watch some motivational speeches or read some inspiring quotes if you need to pump yourself up. I personally really love to watch good commencement speeches (e.g. the one by Steve Jobs or J.K. Rowling ). Of course, while these speeches inspire me, they may not necessarily inspire you – you need to find something that will work for you. 

Furthermore, motivation does not have to be intangible. A study has shown that if people were promised a large reward after a successful well-timed study session they were more alert and focused on the task. Thus, promise yourself a small reward such as eating a tasty cake or going to the cinema at the end of your study session. You deserve it!

4. Study in chunks and take breaks

Oftentimes, people find it difficult to concentrate because they do not have a clear study plan with specific goals and break periods. As such, you should have a clear study plan with study and break periods. Famous efficient learning experts such as Barbara Oakley have recommended using the Pomodoro technique – studying in 25 minute periods, with 5-minute breaks in between and one larger break of 15 minutes after three 25 minute periods.

Furthermore, for each of the study sessions set a goal and write it down (e.g. to read 5 pages and to summarize key takeaways in 5 bullet points). At first, doing this might be a bit difficult, but from my own experience, I know that it really works and can help. In fact, I love studying in this way so much that I even built a custom timer exactly for this purpose (see www.kaizentimer.com ). Of course, there are other good apps out there such as www.tomatotimer.com .

Lastly, do not forget to take breaks . Breaks are important since they allow your mind to rest and, as a consequence, make you more productive and concentrated. Also, you should allow your mind to wander during the breaks since according to psychologist Paul Seli of Harvard University it will be easier to focus during your study sessions.

“If you say to yourself, now I’m going to think about something unrelated, maybe problem-solve something else that is on your mind, and then come back to your task. That can definitely be beneficial” – Paul Seli.

5. Use the distraction sheet technique 

Some thoughts just seem to be stuck in your head or maybe you are afraid of forgetting something and you just keep thinking about it over and over. For instance, sometimes I keep reminding myself that I need to do a certain chore like doing the laundry or writing some sort of email. A good method for getting rid of these thoughts is writing them down a sheet of paper . This is called the distraction sheet technique. It essentially allows you to offload all of the thoughts from your head onto a piece of paper and, as a consequence, to reduce the clutter in your mind.  

6. Label your thoughts

Labeling is a similar method to the distraction sheet technique, but rather than writing down your thoughts it involves labeling them. Every time you notice that your mind has wandered off, you label your emotion (e.g. you can say this is “planning” or this is “anxiety”) and once you label it you just go back to your studies.

Such a technique has been shown by studies to calm you down and make your thoughts more bearable. To better understand how labeling works you can read more about it here . From my own experience, this technique works better than the distraction sheet, but it takes a longer time to master it.

Also, you can combine labeling with the distraction sheet. Use a distraction sheet for thoughts that you do not want to forget and labeling for thoughts or feelings that are just interfering with your studies and can be forgotten.

7. Give a your mind a bit more to do

Research by Nilli Lavie and Sophie Foster has shown that creating deliberate distractions such as playing jazz music in the background can make you less distracted. According to Nilli, attention is a finite resource, so if you use up all of the attention slots in your mind, it is less likely that you will wander off. This is so because if your mind is fully occupied, you will be just physically incapable to pay attention to one more thing.

Thus, adding additional distractions such as listening to calm music without words could help you to concentrate. With that being said, it might take some time for you to find a balance between having too many and too little distractions.

8. Take notes, mindmap or doodle

Another good method for stopping your mind from wandering off is taking notes. Taking notes, which summarize what you study, will force you to pay more attention to what you are studying (since you cannot take proper notes if you do not pay attention).

Furthermore, make sure that you are not just blindly writing down what’s written in the study material. You can do that without thinking that much and as a result, your mind will have more opportunities to wander off. Instead, make sure to summarize the material in your own words . Doing that will force you to think more and, as a result, you will learn more actively and concentrate on the material more.

Moreover, doodling and mind mapping are other good ways that enable you to concentrate more. One study has shown that doodling about something that is related to what you are studying will allow you to concentrate better . Of course, if you concentrate on doodling too much this might not work and could even make you even more distracted – so be careful and see whether it works for you.

I personally recommend to mind map instead of doodling. Mind mapping could be described as a hybrid of taking notes and doodling. It involves mapping out your ideas in branch-like structures and then adding colors and drawings next to those branches. To gain a better understanding of this technique sees the video below. This technique h as done wonders for many people and I use it all the time. So I recommend you try it out!

Final thoughts

Our mind and ability to concentrate are impacted by numerous things that we cannot control. With that being said, there are things that we can control, such as where and how we study.

While I have provided numerous actionable ideas on how to increase your ability to concentrate, you do not have to do them all at the same time. Start small – implement one suggestion at a time. Experiment – see what works and what does not – find what works the best for you!

Danielius Korsakas

Has a BSc in Economics and currently is pursuing a double master's degree in very fluffy but interesting subjects. Loves learning and building stuff.

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7 ways to tame your wandering mind and achieve better focus

By Caroline Williams

17 May 2017

“I never knew that helped concentration!”

Laura Kate Bradley/Getty

Mind wandering has long been thought of as the enemy of concentration, but that’s not always true – the right kind of daydreaming can actually help you focus (see “How to daydream your way to better learning and concentration”) . Read on to discover how to take control of your wandering mind, and other simple ways to stay sharp when deadlines are looming.

How to win at work

Make your work work better for you – from dealing with pesky colleagues to taking the perfect break and doing less for more money, 1. give your mind more to do.

Give your mind more to do: Research by Nilli Lavie at University College London has found that adding deliberate distractions – a jazzy border on a page or a bit of background noise – actually reduces distractibility . Her “load theory” proposes this works because attention is a limited resource, so if you fill all the attentional “slots” in your mind, it leaves no room for other distractions.

2. Bribe yourself

The prospect of a treat can keep people focused , but only when it is well-timed, studies show. Offering people small rewards throughout a boring task didn’t stop them from losing focus, but the promise of a larger reward that they would receive at the end of the task kept them alert. This approach probably works best with an accomplice to keep you from caving early, says Michael Esterman , at the Boston Attention and Learning Laboratory, who did the research. “It’s hard to fool yourself.”

Read more: State of unrest – Can fidgeting really help you concentrate?

3. test yourself.

We’re currently finding that there’s more than one way your mind can wander, and that knowing how to navigate your daydreams could save you come exam time. One trick is to make sure your mind is wandering about the stuff you need to learn . To do that, test yourself often. People retained more of a boring lecture if they paused to test what they remembered every 5 minutes. Their minds still wandered, but wandered on topic, rather than anything but .

4. Daydream during breaks

Stopping every now and again to give your mind a chance to wander can invigorate focus, says psychologist Paul Seli of Harvard University. “If you say to yourself, now I’m going to think about something unrelated, maybe problem-solve something else that is on your mind, and then come back to your task. That can definitely be beneficial,” he says.

5. De-stress

You might think that an adrenaline boost would focus the mind, but stress actually stimulates the release of hormones, including noradrenaline, which bind to receptors in the cognitive control circuits. This in turn makes it harder for them to keep tabs on mind wandering.

6. Get some zeds

A lack of sleep hammers mental performance in general, and reduces our ability to resist both internal and external distractions. And there’s an added bonus – sleep is also important for memory consolidation. In fact, recent research suggests that if you have an hour spare before an exam, a nap could be a more effective use of your time than spending it revising.

In one study, people forced to listen to a boring voice recording were able to remember more afterwards if they were allowed to doodle. But content is important. Doodling about something related to what you are trying to remember is more likely to qualify as intentional mind wandering, which can help you focus on the task at hand. Don’t be too elaborate, however – if your doodles become too engaging, the whole thing might backfire.

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Dynamic brain activity associated with mind wandering, revealing possible new targets for brain disorders.

Image: Hannah Moore

What’s happening in your brain when you’re spacing out?

by Eva Botkin-Kowacki | March 25, 2021 May 24, 2023

Categories: Brain Imaging , ADHD , Anxiety , Depression , John Gabrieli , Martinos Imaging Center , Poitras Center for Psychiatric Disorders Research

This story is adapted from a News@Northeastern post .

We all do it. One second you’re fully focused on the task in front of you, a conversation with a friend, or a professor’s lecture, and the next second your mind is wandering to your dinner plans.

But how does that happen?

“We spend so much of our daily lives engaged in things that are completely unrelated to what’s in front of us,” says Aaron Kucyi, neuroscientist and principal research scientist in the department of psychology at Northeastern. “And we know very little about how it works in the brain.”

So Kucyi and colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston University, and the McGovern Institute at MIT started scanning people’s brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to get an inside look. Their results, published Friday in the journal Nature Communications , add complexity to our understanding of the wandering mind.

It turns out that spacing out might not deserve the bad reputation that it receives. Many more parts of the brain seem to be engaged in mind-wandering than previously thought, supporting the idea that it’s actually a quite dynamic and fundamental function of our psychology.

“Many of those things that we do when we’re spacing out are very adaptive and important to our lives,” says Kucyi, the paper’s first author. We might be drafting an email in our heads while in the shower, or trying to remember the host’s spouse’s name while getting dressed for a party. Moments when our minds wander can allow space for creativity and planning for the future, he says, so it makes sense that many parts of the brain would be engaged in that kind of thinking.

But mind wandering may also be detrimental, especially for those suffering from mental illness, explains the study’s senior author, Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli. “For many of us, mind wandering may be a healthy, positive and constructive experience, like reminiscing about the past, planning for the future, or engaging in creative thinking,” says Whitfield-Gabrieli, a professor of psychology at Northeastern University and a McGovern Institute research affiliate. “But for those suffering from mental illness such as depression , anxiety or psychosis, reminiscing about the past may transform into ruminating about the past, planning for the future may become obsessively worrying about the future and creative thinking may evolve into delusional thinking.”

Identifying the brain circuits associated with mind wandering, she says, may reveal new targets and better treatment options for people suffering from these disorders.

Inside the wandering mind

To study wandering minds, the researchers first had to set up a situation in which people were likely to lose focus. They recruited test subjects at the McGovern Institute’s Martinos Imaging Center to complete a simple, repetitive, and rather boring task. With an fMRI scanner mapping their brain activity, participants were instructed to press a button whenever an image of a city scene appeared on a screen in front of them and withhold a response when a mountain image appeared.

Throughout the experiment, the subjects were asked whether they were focused on the task at hand. If a subject said their mind was wandering, the researchers took a close look at their brain scans from right before they reported loss of focus. The data was then fed into a machine-learning algorithm to identify patterns in the neurological connections involved in mind-wandering (called “stimulus-independent, task-unrelated thought” by the scientists).

Scientists previously identified a specialized system in the brain considered to be responsible for mind-wandering. Called the “default mode network,” these parts of the brain activated when someone’s thoughts were drifting away from their immediate surroundings and deactivated when they were focused. The other parts of the brain, that theory went, were quiet when the mind was wandering, says Kucyi.

The “default mode network” did light up in Kucyi’s data. But parts of the brain associated with other functions also appeared to activate when his subjects reported that their minds had wandered.

For example, the “default mode network” and networks in the brain related to controlling or maintaining a train of thought also seemed to be communicating with one another, perhaps helping explain the ability to go down a rabbit hole in your mind when you’re distracted from a task. There was also a noticeable lack of communication between the “default mode network” and the systems associated with sensory input, which makes sense, as the mind is wandering away from the person’s immediate environment.

“It makes sense that virtually the whole brain is involved,” Kucyi says. “Mind-wandering is a very complex operation in the brain and involves drawing from our memory, making predictions about the future, dynamically switching between topics that we’re thinking about, fluctuations in our mood, and engaging in vivid visual imagery while ignoring immediate visual input,” just to name a few functions.

The “default mode network” still seems to be key, Kucyi says. Virtual computer analysis suggests that if you took the regions of the brain in that network out of the equation, the other brain regions would not be able to pick up the slack in mind-wandering.

Kucyi, however, didn’t just want to identify regions of the brain that lit up when someone said their mind was wandering. He also wanted to be able to use that generalized pattern of brain activity to be able to predict whether or not a subject would say that their focus had drifted away from the task in front of them.

That’s where the machine-learning analysis of the data came in. The idea, Kucyi says, is that “you could bring a new person into the scanner and not even ask them whether they were mind-wandering or not, and have a good estimate from their brain data whether they were.”

The ADHD brain

To test the patterns identified through machine learning, the researchers brought in a new set of test subjects – people diagnosed with ADHD . When the fMRI scans lit up the parts of the brain Kucyi and his colleagues had identified as engaged in mind-wandering in the first part of the study, the new test subjects reported that their thoughts had drifted from the images of cities and mountains in front of them. It worked.

Kucyi doesn’t expect fMRI scans to become a new way to diagnose ADHD, however. That wasn’t the goal. Perhaps down the road it could be used to help develop treatments, he suggests. But this study was focused on “informing the biological mechanisms behind it.”

John Gabrieli , a co-author on the study and director of the imaging center at MIT’s McGovern Institute, adds that “there is recent evidence that ADHD patients with more mind-wandering have many more everyday practical and clinical difficulties than ADHD patients with less mind-wandering. This is the first evidence about the brain basis for that important difference, and points to what neural systems ought to be the targets of intervention to help ADHD patients who struggle the most.”

For Kucyi, the study of “mind-wandering” goes beyond ADHD. And the contents of those straying thoughts may be telling, he says.

“We just asked people whether they were focused on the task or away from the task, but we have no idea what they were thinking about,” he says. “What are people thinking about? For example, are those more positive thoughts or negative thoughts?” Such answers, which he hopes to explore in future research, could help scientists better understand other pathologies such as depression and anxiety, which often involve rumination on upsetting or worrisome thoughts.

Whitfield-Gabrieli and her team are already exploring whether behavioral interventions, such as mindfulness based real-time fMRI neurofeedback, can be used to help train people suffering from mental illness to modulate their own brain networks and reduce hallucinations, ruminations, and other troubling symptoms.

“We hope that our research will have clinical implications that extend far beyond the potential for identifying treatment targets for ADHD,” she says.

Paper: "Prediction of stimulus-independent and task-unrelated thought from functional brain networks"

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Question 🤔🤔 How do you stop your mind from wandering during MCAT study? ( self.Mcat )

submitted 1 month ago by Typical-Shirt9199

This has long been a problem of my mine - I will begin studying, and then my mind will wonder to every facet of earth except for what I am studying.

Any tips to stop this?

I’ve read other posts and they all say the pomodoro technique, but I don’t even make it 45 minutes before my mind wanders to thinking about how the Egyptians built the pyramids, or why everyone pretends to like Apples when they taste awful.

• 38 comments

Want to add to the discussion?

Post a comment!

[–] elaerna 22 points 23 points 24 points 1 month ago   (4 children)

bro has beef w apples

[–] prizzle92 ๕๒๑ 521 2 points 3 points 4 points 1 month ago   (3 children)

honeycrisp apps are one of my favorite fruits. nothing compares with mangoes ofc but they're a bit more prep

[–] GloomyInside6382 1 point 2 points 3 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

no fr, honeycrisp apps or envy apps 🙏

[–] laurielemon 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (1 child)

Me too, but other apples fall FAR below the superiority of the honey crisp apple that I get why OP has beef with apples.

[–] prizzle92 ๕๒๑ 521 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Those generic red ones really do suck

[–] PennStateFan221 5/18/23 520(131/130/130/129) 51 points 52 points 53 points 1 month ago   (1 child)

I was going to say tested for AD(H)D but you said apples taste awful and I no longer want to give you my advice

[–] obviouslypretty 10 points 11 points 12 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

This is the most adhd thing you could have said 😭

[–] Joiarib 511 (129/122/132/128) 13 points 14 points 15 points 1 month ago   (1 child)

I stop it by eating apples

[–] LankanSlamcam 12 points 13 points 14 points 1 month ago   (1 child)

Couple of things you can do that helped me. For one, recognize that the this myth of “self control” will not work on its own, you need to get as much motivation from your environment. For me, this meant going to the library or some other place to just study, and going home when I’m done. That can also mean pomadoro timers that are ticking on your screen to make sure you’re reminded to study, or take intentional breaks. This can be 45 study 5 min break, 30 study 5 min break etc. I use an app called flow but there’s many out there, forest is another great one!

Second, might sound a little kooky but meditation has really helped me improve my attention, or even refocusing my attention after I drift.

The basis for (one type) of meditation is to basically focus on your closing your eyes and focus on your external senses while breathing. As is normal, your mind will drift and think about some random shit. When it does, don’t add any judgement to yourself and think of it as a “bad” thing, but be curious about where it drifts, and refocus your attention on your external senses.

This helps both readjust your internal voice to stop shitting on yourself when you do drift, but also strengthen your ability to refocus. If you’re interested, DM me and I can send you some more resources

[–] Careless-Waltz-8645 ur mom 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

ye last ten days i switched to library and it helps fr

[–] DoctorForPhilosophy MCATer 6 points 7 points 8 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Practice meditation

[–] CelluloidtheDroid 7 points 8 points 9 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Though I’ve never really had my mind wander during study sessions, I can offer a personal thing I like to do to ensure I get my work done on time.

I personally like keeping a spreadsheet full of checkboxes/ a tangible way of measuring my progress during the day. I keep a spreadsheet with cells for each day and a checkbox for my daily Anki, daily CARS passage (upping it to 3 per day now), daily UWorld, and for content review. I also like to log on how many hours I spent so I’m able to feel proud of a big number lmao.

It’s weird, but I think having a tangible ‘progress bar’ like keeping a spreadsheet can motivate you to get your stuff done on time without procrastinating. It looks really bad if I skip Anki or daily passage when I have something visually reminding me of it.

[–] Celelelelel 12 points 13 points 14 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

i like apples

[–] alqueenM 3 points 4 points 5 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Make studying fun,create a story, move around while u study,color and highlight what’s important studying out loud make it short 25 min then a break good luck

[–] Rooftrellin 5 points 6 points 7 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

I usually look at the apple sitting next to me on my desk as I study and that usually does the trick

[–] AlwaysEntropic 2 points 3 points 4 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Caffeine helps me

[–] Ughgrr 2 points 3 points 4 points 1 month ago   (5 children)

Have you been tested for ADHD? Studying for the exam is what made me get tested and I have it

[–] Typical-Shirt9199 [ S ] 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (3 children)

What did they do for you to help you?

[–] Ughgrr 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (2 children)

I had to take about 3 tests. First was a space bar test every time an X appeared, the next test was a sound test, and the last was a personality test. All 3 determined I have inattentive ADHD. I was prescribed a few medications before we got to adderall. I take it as needed or when I really need to focus.

I should mention that before this I tried, flash cards, pomodoro technique, active and interactive videos and nothing worked. I'm most engaged when things are like a puzzle to keep my mind going but I haven't found any prep books or resources like that.

[–] Typical-Shirt9199 [ S ] 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (1 child)

Do you feel a difference when you’re on the meds?

[–] Ughgrr 1 point 2 points 3 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Yes. To best describe it, my mind immediately went silent when the medication kicked in. All the thoughts, voices, conversations in my head ceased and I could only think about what I was looking at

[–] notacovid 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

I have adhd too, and I take meds. But omfg I still loose focus after a couple passages (sometimes after the first), and my mind just spaces out while reading the subsequent ones. I know it happens to everyone, but I can’t figure out how to not. I’ve been studying for months, how did you fix that?

Like strategy wise, I don’t really want to ask my doctor for a change in meds or dosage so close to the test.

[–] One_Investigator1056 2 points 3 points 4 points 1 month ago   (1 child)

i also think that whenever you have those moments where your mind wanders it can be helpful to just write it down and save it for later to think about during a break? like i have a brain dump page for when things like that happen and it can be helpful to put it on paper so it’s “no longer in my head” if that makes sense?

[–] agreenreligion 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

oo yes, i always remember "oh shit i need to book a flight" but rather than break my studying time i dump it in my to do list to do later

[–] Bagel-Milk i am blank 1 point 2 points 3 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Ginkgo Biloba, Bacopa, lions mane 🫡

[–] depressed_user_bean 1 point 2 points 3 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Excuse me?? Apples are top tier, something wrong with YOU. Go get your mouth checked 😭

[–] Logical-Sherbet-8211 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Me rn as well as

[–] obviouslypretty 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

I’m actually allergic to the tree red apples grow on so I also don’t like apples…. As they make my stomach hurt so bad and my younger and those have a tingle and buzz to it when I do eat them

[–] Open_Promotion_5291 FLs: 509, 514, 515, 518, 519, 523; 1/18: 524 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Try getting rid of your smartphone for a bit. Worked for me

[–] LetThereBeLight3 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

I hate apples too don’t lie to me , hmmm where do insects go when it’s raining ?

[–] Feisty-Citron1092 Craving the 520ussy 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

Real apple eaters know the answer

[–] Currency_Dangerous 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

I'm out here trying to take a practice test and my mind is telling me to hurry up and submit that McDonald's application

[–] NewPoetry2792 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

I have to read on a treadmill, gives the clown car in my head something different to focus on. It helps a lot! And I've been going through anki much faster

[–] animalculey 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

have a blank piece of paper next to you that you can brain dump distractions onto, helps get them out of your head. If you really can’t lock back in take a 5 minute break and then try again. No use forcing yourself once you get to that point.

[–] TeachingEmergency389 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

I find that studying with others, whether other pre-meds or just family/friends that are quizzing me or w/e, helps a TON. (also you're lowkey right about apples and I commend you for saying it)

[–] kenandrum 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

They say an apple a day keeps the doctor away…

[–] Plane-Technician-207 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

green apples >

[–] Miserable_Inside_842 0 points 1 point 2 points 1 month ago   (0 children)

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Maladaptive daydreaming and studying: a common combination.

One of the interesting aspects of when you first begin maladaptive daydreaming is that you can go weeks, months, or even years without realizing that you're doing it. Somehow you engage in something for hours a day, but think nothing of it. Then a lightbulb goes off and you realize that what you're doing isn't quite normal.

Through creating the maladaptive daydreaming test , I've received many interesting comments from people about how they've tried to piece together when they first left the realm of adaptive daydreams and began to engage in maladaptive daydreaming.

What many have reported is that they began in high school or college as a way to procrastinate from studying. Then their daydreams metastasized from there. In this post I'm going to try to lay out what that connection between studying and maladaptive daydreaming is, and how try try to nip these daydreams in the bud.

Why Maladaptive Daydreaming Happens While Studying

The reality is that when we're engaged in hard intellectual tasks - especially those we aren't overly interested in - our minds are constantly spinning up an internal dialogue trying to persuade ourselves to stop and pursue something less cognitively draining.

If you've watched nearly any movie that involves people in college, there's almost invariably a scene where a character is trying to study but then finds themselves staring out a window wistfully trying to avoid getting back to studying. 

It's perfectly natural to want to leave the hard realm of studying for a physics exam into the much easier and perfectly controlled realm of daydreaming. But while daydreaming instead of studying may not be good for your grades, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it at a deeper level.

The issue becomes when those daydreams that you're spinning up in your mind suddenly become more present outside of when you're just trying to avoid studying and instead become an essential coping mechanism.

How to Know if Your Daydreams While Studying are Maladaptive

One of the primary ways in which we discriminate between normal daydreams and those that are maladaptive is if your daydreams are fundamentally disruptive to your life.

However, while that definition works for most scenarios, when thinking about daydreams in the context of studying this definition likely isn't sufficient. This is because it's perfectly normal to want to distract yourself while doing something that is intellectually difficult. While procrastination is a problem that can be "disruptive" to your life, we need to separate it from a discussion around maladaptive daydreaming.

So in order to figure out whether or not the daydreams you're having while studying could be maladaptive, you should think about when else you have these daydreams. If you don't have them at all, outside the context of studying, then it is unlikely that they are maladaptive. Instead, they are just a form of procrastination that's no different than compulsively opening up your phone while studying.

However, if you find that the daydreams that first popped into your mind while studying are now a large part of your day, and arise throughout the day, then they may be maladaptive. In particular, if you find yourself running over the same type of dream - perhaps even using the exact same script or setting - whenever you have some free time or feel stressed. 

How to Stop Daydreaming While Studying

Fortunately, whether you're only daydreaming while studying (which is not ideal, but not maladaptive) or whether you think you're having true maladaptive daydreams, the same methods can be utilized to stop them.

While I discuss all the methods I've come up with in my book , there's one great method that you can utilized specifically when you're studying that we'll cover here.

Whenever you're studying and recognize that you've slipped into some daydream, immediately take out a pen and begin writing down your daydream (alternatively, you can open up a blank document on your computer and begin typing it out instead). 

One of the curious things about daydreaming in general is that they have an incredible amount of allure when we're imagining them in our mind, but when we actually write them out all the allure vanishes. For some reason daydreams just become less appealing when verbalized or written down.

A working theory among some academics as to why this is the case is that by physically writing or typing out your daydreams you're translating something that is purely a function of your mind - so is, in some way, separate from yourself - into the real world. 

Whatever the actual rationale is for why this method works so well, for the vast majority of people it does. However, it often takes a bit of repetition for it to fully work. 

So what you need to do is begin writing out exactly what your daydream is - just like it's a movie script - whenever you find yourself engaging in it while studying. What you'll quickly find is that your temptation to enter into these daydreams is lessened and, most importantly, as soon as you begin typing it out you'll no longer want to enter back into the same daydream.

Because, as you likely know if you're reading this, the worst part about daydreams (in particular if they're maladaptive) if that they take up so much of your waking life. Therefore, by recognizing when you're in a state of daydreaming and then immediately writing down what's going through your mind you ensure that you don't get stuck in a state of spending hours daydreaming to yourself without fully realizing it. 

An important thing to note here is that you have absolutely no obligation to show what you've written down to anyone else. You don't need to write in full sentences or make everything grammatically correct. Most people find that after a few minutes of writing about their daydreams they desperately want to stop, and they don't want to enter back into the daydream they've just written down.

After you're done writing, throw away the piece of paper or delete the document you were typing. Then get back to the studying you were doing beforehand. If you feel yourself entering back into a daydream, start the process over again. Write it down, throw it out, and get back to studying. 

What most people report is that if they really attempt to use this method for a few days they lose almost all desire to daydream while studying. In fact, they report that the actual content of those daydreams no longer hold much appeal to them.

When many maladaptive daydreamers think back to when it all began, they realize that it was when they were studying (or, perhaps more aptly put, when they were trying to avoid studying).

While it's perfectly normal to try to distract yourself while studying, one does need to be cognizant of the fact that maladaptive daydreams can begin creeping outside the bounds of when you're trying to study and into your broader life -- taking up an increasing number of your waking hours until it becomes a non-trivial and disruptive issue in your life. 

Fortunately, there's one method to stop these daydreams that's effective for most people, and that's just writing down whatever your daydreams happen to be as they're happening. For many people this just zaps the daydreams of the allure that they have.

Hopefully this helps and, as always, I wish you the very best in your journey.

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When Your Mind Wanders

A new review article discusses the mysteries of mind-wandering.

Posted June 8, 2015

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How often does your mind wander in an average day? Be honest.

It's certainly something that we all do, especially when we're bored or tired. Also known as "task-unrelated thought," mind wandering involves the decoupling of our thoughts from whatever we happen to be doing at the time. Though usually harmless, mind wandering can become potentially lethal if it causes us to stop paying attention at a critical moment, such as when we are driving or operating heavy machinery. Pierre Curie, husband of Marie, was killed in a street accident when he was struck by a horse-drawn cart. Family members later speculated that he hadn't been watching for traffic because of his mind wandering, a frequent problem for the brilliant scientist. Not surprisingly, mind wandering has been shown by researchers to be linked to automobile accidents and general road safety .

But why do our minds wander? And what do we think about when we are unable to concentrate on what we are doing? Research into mind wandering suggests that it isn't quite the time waster that people often believe it to be. In fact, some researchers suggest that mind wandering may have evolved as a way of helping us handle monotonous tasks more effectively.

Even what we think about while our minds are wandering may be important. For example, studies of mind wandering show that people are more likely to think about the future than the past or present. We are also more likely to dwell on personal issues, including trying to solve difficult problems we have. Perhaps more importantly, mind wandering is a way of shutting out the world. Despite being potentially dangerous when done at the wrong time, mind wandering likely allows us to use our higher cognitive abilities for more productive things. This means that it may be essential to our ability to solve problems and stay creative.

A new review article published in the Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology explores the cognitive neuroscience behind mind wandering. Written by Todd Handy and Julia Kam from the University of British Columbia, the article reviews a series of recent studies and shows some of the implications of mind wandering and what it means to be human.

While it is often difficult to measure mind wandering in research studies, one method that seems extremely effective is known as experience sampling . Basically, this involves interrupting research subjects at random intervals whenever they are working on a given task and asking them to report on their mental experiences at that specific moment. With experience sampling, researchers can then determine how often mind wandering occurs and under what circumstances. By using experience sampling in conjunction with EEG and event related potential research, mind wandering has also been linked with specific brain states.

For example, one research study found that the P300 wave linked to decision making can be used to predict selective attention and mind wandering during monotonous tasks. Specific brain regions such as the extrastriate visual cortex and the primary auditory cortex show reduced activity during mind wandering states reflecting the reduced attention of external sights and sounds. In other words, people who are mind wandering literally become less aware of the world around them.

Still, while this attention to outside stimuli is reduced, it never completely goes away. Abrupt changes, such as someone honking at you while you are stopped at a light which has changed from red to green, will cause you to snap back to reality and become aware of what you are doing. Research studies looking at tracking errors during tasks such as following a moving dot on a computer screen showed that errors were especially high whenever people were mind wandering. Also, mind wandering affects our very ability to monitor how well we are doing in different tasks, and it doesn't seem to matter whether the task is monotonous or not. Even when we are doing something potentially dangerous (such as driving) in which the consequences of not paying proper attention could be life-threatening, mind wandering can still occur.

So why aren't the consequences of mind wandering more serious? Even when we are driving or walking and our minds begin to wander, our ability to function "on automatic" can often prevent any mishaps despite the fact that we aren't really paying attention to what we are doing. Research looking at how mind wandering affects different executive functions , including response inhibition and working memory , suggests that they are often absent when our mind wanders and we begin thinking of other things beside the task at hand. What saves us though is our capacity for mental set-shifting or cognitive flexibility . This is the ability to switch between thinking about different concepts at the same time (i.e., our ability to "multi-task"). Being able to snap back to attention instantly to whatever we are presently doing is a critical part of dealing with mind-wandering, not to mention avoiding the mishaps that can occur when we are not paying attention to something important.

Cognitive flexibility seems especially important in detecting deviant events despite our mind-wandering. If we glance back and see that everything is normal, we likely don't give it a second thought and continue with our mind wandering. If we detect that something is wrong however (such as a car suddenly cutting in front of ours), then our attention snaps back and we are able to devote our full attention to what we are doing (along with a lot of honking and swearing).

Based on these different research findings, Todd Handy and Julia Kam suggest that selective attention plays a key role in mind wandering. It is already well-established that selective attention acts as a "gatekeeper" to help us control the different sensory impressions we receive all the time (thus our ability to shut out unwanted noise or other things that might distract us). How often are you aware of the sensation of sitting in that chair or the clothes that you are wearing? Since we don't need to be aware of everything at once, selective attention allows us to establish priorities so we can stay aware of the world around us even when we are mind-wandering.

Learning more about the role that selective attention plays in mind-wandering can also be important in understanding conditions such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and major depression in which people find themselves unable to concentrate for long on what they are doing. For that matter, our minds tend to wander less as we grow older, possibly because of changes in executive functioning as we age.

As we discover more about the inner workings of the human brain, mysteries such as mind-wandering may become easier to explain. So next time you find yourself drifting off when you really should be doing something else, try to appreciate the complex brain mechanisms that make it so easy for you to shift back and forth. A wandering mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Romeo Vitelli, Ph.D. is a psychologist in private practice in Toronto, Canada.

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The longer a task takes, the more your mind wanders

"You might expect that it's harder for people to pay attention during more difficult tasks or that maybe during easy tasks, people feel bored, and their mind wanders more," says Anthony Zanesco. "But we didn't find any systematic differences between those types of tasks. Our minds wander more and more regardless of what we are doing." (Credit: Getty Images )

You are free to share this article under the Attribution 4.0 International license.

New research shows that a person’s ability to sustain their attention while performing a task decreases over time.

The longer a person spends on a task, the more their mind starts to wander—regardless of whether the activity is difficult or easy.

In fact, toward the end of the task, individuals are typically thinking about something else at least 50% of the time, according to the new study.

The findings, published in the journal Psychological Bulletin , represent the most comprehensive research to date on typical rates of mind-wandering while completing tasks. While some people are better at staying focused than others, everyone’s mind tends to wander more frequently over time, the researchers found.

“It was somewhat surprising to us that we didn’t see differences in different types of tasks and activities participants engaged in,” says lead researcher Anthony Zanesco, a cognitive neuroscientist and postdoctoral associate in the psychology department at University of Miami.

“You might expect that it’s harder for people to pay attention during more difficult tasks or that maybe during easy tasks, people feel bored, and their mind wanders more. But we didn’t find any systematic differences between those types of tasks. Our minds wander more and more regardless of what we are doing.”

For the study, Zanesco and University of Miami researchers Amishi Jha and Ekaterina Denkova, analyzed and combined data from more than 10,000 people who had participated in 68 different mind-wandering studies. Participants in these studies completed tasks of varying types and difficulty while researchers periodically interrupted them to check on their level of focus . These tasks mostly took place in quiet environments with no outside distractions.

“We often blame our phones or social media for why we are distracted. But our minds will drag us off-task even without these external distractions,” Zanesco says.

The findings have wide-ranging implications outside the lab. Previous research has indicated that performance tends to worsen over time in tasks that require us to stay focused. But the reasons for this decline are still unknown. Researchers have proposed several possibilities for our short attention spans, including that our minds tend to wander to our thoughts more frequently over time.

Zanesco and his colleagues investigated this question directly. Their research suggests that our tendency to get stuck thinking about something other than what we are currently doing may be one reason why we struggle to pay attention. Finding effective strategies for curtailing mind-wandering is an important next step.

“This kind of research can make us aware that our attention is vulnerable,” Zanesco says. “It’s important that we recognize that our attention can be vulnerable and that we have a strong tendency toward mind-wandering so we can work to guard against it.”

The findings suggest that it might be beneficial to tackle the most important material early on in an academic lecture or meeting, Zanesco says, when participants’ minds are not wandering as frequently. The lecturer or meeting facilitator may also want to pause periodically to remind participants to refocus if their minds have drifted into unrelated thoughts.

Mindfulness exercises can also help individuals to better notice when their minds have started to wander and to refocus on the task at hand more easily, Zanesco adds, citing previous research he and Jha have conducted.

“Our mindfulness research has found that people report mind-wandering less and are better able to focus after mindfulness training,” says Jha, a psychology professor and the director of contemplative neuroscience for the UMindfulness Initiative at the University of Miami.

“This includes protecting against attentional lapses and mind-wandering in high-stress and time-pressured settings, such as performing surgery, battling a fire, or controlling air traffic, where drifting off-task can have life or death ramifications.”

Source: Kyra Gurney for University of Miami

Brain discovery upends ideas about attention

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Brief report: the role of mind-wandering (spontaneous vs. deliberate) in directing job boredom towards job satisfaction and counterproductive work behavior

• Published: 02 September 2024

Cite this article

• Garam Kim   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4237-1929 1 ,
• Jeanette Min 1 &
• Eunsoo Choi   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1502-4788 1  

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This study aimed to investigate the impact of job boredom on job outcomes, namely, job satisfaction and counterproductive work behavior, focusing on the role of different types of mind-wandering – spontaneous and deliberate mind-wandering. The results showed that deliberate mind-wandering mediates the link between job boredom and job satisfaction, while spontaneous mind-wandering mediates the connection between job boredom and counterproductive work behavior. In essence, when employees experience boredom at work, their spontaneous mind-wandering can lead to harmful behaviors, affecting their colleagues and organizations. On the other hand, deliberate mind-wandering can improve job satisfaction. This study provides valuable insights for managing job boredom and suggests future research directions.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/EK7XD .

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Kim, G., Min, J. & Choi, E. Brief report: the role of mind-wandering (spontaneous vs. deliberate) in directing job boredom towards job satisfaction and counterproductive work behavior. Curr Psychol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06629-7

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