How to focus while studying

"Study biology" gives your attention nowhere to go. "Answer the twenty cards on respiration, then write the summary from memory" does. Ending a session with a one-line note of what comes next removes the decision from tomorrow, which is when it is most expensive.

Reading is easy to drift through; answering is not. When focus is poor, switch to the format that demands a response: quiz cards, past questions, explaining a topic out loud. You will notice you have stopped concentrating within seconds instead of three pages later.

See active recall.

Distance beats willpower. In another room is better than in a drawer, and a drawer is better than on the desk. The same goes for browser tabs: close them rather than minimising them, because a visible tab is a decision you have to keep making.

Twenty-five to fifty minutes of work, then five to ten minutes away from the screen. The break has to be an actual break; scrolling is not a rest, and it makes the restart harder.

More on this: the pomodoro technique.

Starting is the hard part, so start with something you cannot fail: five cards you already know, or copying yesterday's summary. Momentum arrives after you begin, not before.

Keep a scrap of paper beside you and write down anything unrelated that surfaces: an errand, a message to send, a worry. Writing it down closes the loop cheaply, and the list takes two minutes to deal with afterwards.

You will lose focus. The only thing that matters is how long the lapse lasts. Noticing, taking a breath, and answering the next card costs a minute; deciding the session is ruined costs the afternoon.

If focus is bad every day at the same time, that is information about sleep, food, or the time of day you have chosen, not about your discipline.