How to Concentrate When Studying: What Actually Helps, and What Only Feels Like Studying
Concentration is less about willpower and more about your setup and your plan. What helps most: get your phone out of the room, work on one defined task at a time, study in short rounds with breaks, and put the hard material in the hours you are most alert. Many focus problems start before you open the book.
Why it is so hard to concentrate
The brain is not built to switch quickly between tasks. Every switch, to a message, another tab, a thought that popped up, costs time and focus before you are back where you were. A study of students in a simulated classroom found that those who multitasked on a laptop during a lecture understood less, and so did the students sitting near them who could see the screen. Sana et al., 2013. Distraction doesn't only hurt the person distracted.
Eight steps that work
1. Phone in another room
Not face down on the desk and not on silent, but in another room. A well-known 2017 study found that the mere presence of a phone on the desk hurt performance on thinking tasks. Ward et al., 2017. Worth knowing: a careful replication in 2022 did not find the same effect, Ruiz Pardo and Minda, 2022, so the research here is mixed. But the logic is simple: a phone you can't see or hear doesn't send you to check it, and trying costs nothing.
2. One defined task
"Study statistics" is not a task, it is a subject. "Solve problems 1 to 5 in chapter 3" is a task. When the task is clear, you don't have to decide every fifteen minutes what to do next, and every such decision is a chance to escape.
3. Short rounds and fixed breaks
It is easier to focus for 25 or 50 minutes when you know a break is coming. That is exactly what the Pomodoro technique is built on, including how long to go for each kind of work.
4. A "deal with it later" sheet
A thought that pops up ("pay that bill", "text my mom") goes on a sheet beside you, and you go back to work. It doesn't get lost, and it doesn't take you with it.
5. Hard material in your good hours
Everyone has hours in the day when they are sharper. Save them for material that needs thinking, and do the easy tasks in the weak hours. How to find those hours is in our guide to the best time to study.
6. A fixed place to study
A place where you study and do nothing else helps you get into study mode faster. If home is hard, the library is not only quiet, it is a place where everyone came to study.
7. Noise: earplugs or steady sound
Background conversation pulls your attention more than steady noise. Earplugs, noise-cancelling headphones or a constant background sound help many students. We covered the gear itself in our study gear guide.
8. Sleep, food and movement
It is hard to focus after a five-hour night, and that is not a character flaw. Enough sleep, a meal before long study hours and a short walk on a break do more than another coffee.
What feels like studying but isn't
- Rereading your notes. It feels familiar and so looks like knowing. Testing yourself works far better; see our study techniques guide.
- Color-coding your notes. Pleasant, but it is design, not studying.
- "Studying" with a lecture playing and another window open. That is exactly the multitasking that hurts understanding.
When it is more than distraction. If trouble concentrating lasts a long time, in every setting, and affects your studies despite all these steps, talk to a professional. An assessment can check, for example, for ADHD. Your university's student support or disability services office can refer you for an assessment and, in many cases, arrange study and exam accommodations.
Focusity handles the two hardest steps, a defined task and rounds with breaks: the study plan says what to study and when, and the built-in focus timer counts the rounds and the breaks. Free.
Build my plan — freeFrequently asked questions
How do I concentrate when studying?
Start with your setup: phone in another room, one defined task instead of a general subject, and rounds of 25 to 50 minutes with fixed breaks. Put hard material in the hours you are most alert, and write down thoughts that pop up on a sheet beside you. Enough sleep helps focus more than any trick.
How do I focus when studying for an exam?
Break the material into small, clear tasks, learn through questions and past exams rather than rereading, and work in rounds with breaks. Questions keep your mind busier than reading, so they are harder to drift away from.
Why can't I concentrate on studying?
Usually because of distractions (phone, noise, open tabs), an undefined task, tiredness or studying in the hours you are least alert. If the difficulty lasts a long time in every setting and despite changes to your environment, talk to a professional; your university's student support office can help with a referral.
How do I concentrate during the exam itself?
Focus on exam day starts the night before: sleep, eat something in the morning and leave with time to spare. In the exam, read through the whole paper first and begin with a question you are sure of, to get into a rhythm. Mark a question you get stuck on and come back to it at the end, instead of spending the other questions' time on it.
I have ADHD. Do these tips still apply?
They can help anyone: the phone in another room, short and defined tasks, and fixed breaks. But they don't replace an assessment and treatment. Talk to your doctor or the professional who supports you, and check with student support or disability services which study and exam accommodations you are entitled to.
Does my phone really hurt my concentration?
A phone that rings or shows messages pulls your attention, and every switch to it costs time before you are back at work. On whether a silent phone on the desk hurts by its mere presence, the research is mixed: one study found an effect and a replication did not. Either way, moving it out of the room costs nothing.
Does music help you concentrate?
It varies by person and task. Many students prefer silence, earplugs or steady background noise for hard material, because conversation and lyrics pull attention more than uniform sound. Try a few options and notice when you get more done.
Know what to study, and start
Focusity builds a weekly study plan inside your free time and gives you a focus timer for every session. Free on iPhone, Android and the web.
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