Social media and studying battle for your brain
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,
Pinterest, Vine, YouTube ...
Chances are, you're currently
using at least one of these popular
social media websites. These sites
probably seem to be a whole lot
more interesting to you when you
have a ton of schoolwork to do. As
your phone sits beside you and you
try to study, the constant buzz of
notifications means that you are
likely doomed to log in to one of
these sites and stray from what you
should actually be doing.
With sidebar displaying things that may interest you, the amount of things that you can see on these websites is endless. Have you ever started watching a video on YouTube about something remotely related to your studies, and then before you knew it, you were watching a cute cat rolling around? This has happened to even the most studious of us. I know it's tempting, but to keep those grades up, we need to be able to buckle down and focus on our work. Here are a few tips to avoid getting distracted.
1. Take multiple breaks: To prevent yourself from getting distracted all the time, allow yourself to have a social media breaks. If you need to, set a timer so that every hour you can have a break. Give yourself 15 minutes to surf around the social media network of your choice and then get back to the books.
2. Turn off notifications: If you get notifications to your email or your phone, turn them off temporarily. You'll be a lot less likely to venture on to one of these websites if you are not getting a constant stream of messages telling you all of the new things that people are posting.
3. Motivational sticky-notes: Put up a few reminder notes with messages like, “Stay off Facebook!” or “The answers to your exam aren't on Pinterest!” to help you remember what you need to be focused on. These motivational messages will help you redirect your attention back to your studies.
4. Hide your cellphone: Just like social media websites, your phone can be a major distraction. Hiding your phone serves two purposes. First off, you won't hear any of those nasty notifications coming from social media websites. Second, you won't get distracted by texts from friends. Keeping your phone out of reach makes it just a little bit more difficult for you to peek at it while studying.
5. Deactivate your account: Lastly, if you find that you just can't keep your eyes off social media websites, deactivate your accounts. This way, you won't get any notifications and any time you want to check your networks, you have to deliberately sign back on.
Do your best to stay away from those social media websites and stay focused on your studies. Save the social media for times when you don't have work to get done.
With sidebar displaying things that may interest you, the amount of things that you can see on these websites is endless. Have you ever started watching a video on YouTube about something remotely related to your studies, and then before you knew it, you were watching a cute cat rolling around? This has happened to even the most studious of us. I know it's tempting, but to keep those grades up, we need to be able to buckle down and focus on our work. Here are a few tips to avoid getting distracted.
1. Take multiple breaks: To prevent yourself from getting distracted all the time, allow yourself to have a social media breaks. If you need to, set a timer so that every hour you can have a break. Give yourself 15 minutes to surf around the social media network of your choice and then get back to the books.
2. Turn off notifications: If you get notifications to your email or your phone, turn them off temporarily. You'll be a lot less likely to venture on to one of these websites if you are not getting a constant stream of messages telling you all of the new things that people are posting.
3. Motivational sticky-notes: Put up a few reminder notes with messages like, “Stay off Facebook!” or “The answers to your exam aren't on Pinterest!” to help you remember what you need to be focused on. These motivational messages will help you redirect your attention back to your studies.
4. Hide your cellphone: Just like social media websites, your phone can be a major distraction. Hiding your phone serves two purposes. First off, you won't hear any of those nasty notifications coming from social media websites. Second, you won't get distracted by texts from friends. Keeping your phone out of reach makes it just a little bit more difficult for you to peek at it while studying.
5. Deactivate your account: Lastly, if you find that you just can't keep your eyes off social media websites, deactivate your accounts. This way, you won't get any notifications and any time you want to check your networks, you have to deliberately sign back on.
Do your best to stay away from those social media websites and stay focused on your studies. Save the social media for times when you don't have work to get done.
