Any Tips on How to Concentrate?

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I have to write two college essays by friday (i've given myself this deadline), but every time I sit down to write them, my brain just wants to explode. My mind is just so cluttered with other things I can't concentrate. Stupid obsessions...

Do you guys have any tips? I could use ANY. Getting into this one college is more important to me than anything else right now.

Please help ;___;

THANKYOUSOMUCH.

I know exactly what you mean! This happens to me too. When all else fails, what I do is put on some headphones or the radio and turn the music down-low, but loud enough so I can hear it. That way, my brain is getting some extra stimulation and it keeps me from thinking to much and helps me focus on what I'm doing. I'm afraid that's all I can think of right now, because that's what helps me the most, but I'll post again if I think of some more

One of my problems is cramped space. I feel I need more space or room to be organized and therefore to concetrate better, but that is not the only help. (I will not be able to solve this problem anytime soon). Unhook the internet, turn off the TV, and play music but not too loudly can also help. Music helps keep the mind active but not overwhelmed and sometimes having no music helps better. I suppose that depends, in part, on your mood. If have the ability or a little leeway room, organizing things at least on your workspace might help a little. It is sort of a feeling of room or space, but on a smaller scale, (again no time soon for me, but I remember I had better luck when I did have things that way, once upon a time).

I wonder if anyone else feels that way about "room to work" on anything or improved concentration. I could be wrong, but it is something I feel and remember having better ability under said circumstances...

This doesn't work for some people, but I turn on some music I like. Make sure the music doesn't have lyrics, because those can be distracting. Right now, I'm playing the Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Soundtrack on my Macintosh. I downloaded into iTunes. I play the song "Drive Away (End Theme)" over and over. It helps me concentrate. It has a tune that is repetitive but it will never get old. But for some people it doesn't work.

Good luck with your essays!

Music helps me focus too. It helps stop my brain forming too many other thoughts, and personally I find it difficult to do anything without some form of background noise - total silence can be worse than the sound generated by other people for me so I create my own. As for the essays - I usually sketch a bullet point list/ spider diagram of what I want to put in it first. that way when I get distracted (and I do, a lot) I have a plan I can continue with - cross stuff off as you mention them, that works for me anyway in conjunction with music.

hope this helps a bit...

Dunc

That works great for me too - I used to have horrendous fights with my parents because they could not understand why I needed to listen to music or the TV while revising!

I take an herbal, liquid supplement, called Melissa Officianalis, a.k.a. Melissa.

I took this during law school finals and it worked wonders. It makes you calm and focused, but without feeling drugged.

Tallgirl.

Is that the same as lemon balm? In German it is called Zitronenmelisse (lemon melisse) and it can be found in some herbal remedies that help stress etc. I love lemon balm tea so if that is the same I will have to try this - I can't take most herbal stress relief remedies as valerian gives me a racing pulse but lemon balm works well.

I do the same thing too, keeps my mind in a somewhat settled state so I can concentrate.

I like to use Mannheim Steam Roller. For finals last semester I choose something different and used Isao Tomita's version of "Arabesque #1", which is more popularly known as the theme song to "Stargazer" on PBS.

Yes, I meant, a.k.a. lemon balm.

I used it when I was a teller at a bank. The days I didn't use it, my money was always off at the end of the day.

I also take Kava to keep my anxiety levels down....be careful....sometimes you can get strung out on this stuff.

And for me, sometimes I need music, other times, earplugs.

I miss school.

Tallgirl.

Yep, me too.

I will definitely have to look for lemon balm on its own then as it sounds good

Yes, I feel the same way. I always have said that my room reflects my current state of mind, and I think it really works both ways. If there is too much clutter or junk I feel very cramped and distracted by all the things I have going on around me.

As for the music thing, I find music can calm me down, but if I am trying to write an essay, any type of sound is extremely distracting. My mind gets caught up in whatever noise is going on and I forget what I'm supposed to be doing. If anyone else has this problem, I recommend getting some earplugs, they work wonders for me.

I write essays rather disorganized, I copy down a lot of quotes, and scribble down my thoughts as they come (and they come fast, which is why they are all over the place). I end up reorganizing the paragraphs several times and fixing them so that they flow better once I have all of my ideas down.

One thing that I find helps is having a schedule or due time for myself. If I commit to trying to finish the essay by 7:00pm, it keeps me on track, because I'll look at the clock and say "Oh no, it's 6:30pm already, I need to get to work!" Just remember to set realistic goals, and give yourself some buffer time, otherwise you might get discouraged. I also take frequent brakes. Sometimes, if you can't concentrate, you can't concentrate, and you just have to accept that, and get away from your work for a little while. Just try to keep the breaks short, and it should be ok.

This may be too late to work in this case (it depends on whether you have it, or are able to get it quickly), but even if it is it might be of some use later: if music distracts you because of its structuredness, a CD with nature ("environmental") sounds may be helpful; especially water sounds, like the sound of the sea, or rain, or a waterfall. Of course, if you're tired this is just going to make you fall asleep, but if you're not too tired it can help you relax and focus. It also masks the sounds around you a bit.

(a great fan of nature CDs)

For assignments/study and things which I have to do and have a due date, I say to myself "If I'm not gonna do it now, I'll have to do it later. So I may as well do it now and get it over and done with."