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HOW TO STAY FOCUSED
I had struggled with staying focused even when I tried to read for so long. I needed to help myself if I had to make any breakthrough with studying but it was difficult trying. Each time I tried to break the one hour barrier while reading a particular course, I couldn’t but I needed to cover the textbooks or materials that was expected of me. I struggled with this till I discover what just suit me.
My classmates were doing better in this respect. They could spend the whole day on one course and even finish large sections of a textbook. That wasn’t the case however for me. I did not even understand most times what I was reading. I had a personal weakness. I discovered that if I had to understand a thing, I would have to read it over and over again. I wasn’t gifted like a close pal James who had the fast magnetic brain. Yet, I could not stay focused to finish even a page.
I decided that since my brain easily flies, that it was beneficial that my focus also flies, meaning I’d be setting multiple goals every day for my wandering mind. I arranged myself around lots of books, reading each one and everyone as the muse arrived for them. I understood that my brain did not allow for gulp reading but it did for little, little over a period of time that amounted to much. If I could read little of this subject, that subject and this subject within the period of three hours I would have done as much as covering a section of a book that would have still being done within the hour.
I knew my predicament was delicate. I needed to be a high flier and I was creating the impression that I was but I was having difficulty understanding the sums. No one would believe me if I said I did not understand. I just needed to make a way around it. I needed to read as many times as I could but as slowly too if I was to compete with my very knowledgeable friends who had magnetic brains.
I always had many books around me so that I could pick them at ease. When I initially started out trying this strategy, just like doing anything new for the first time, it was difficult. However continuous persistence saw me develop a much stronger focus. I knew where my drive was and I knew what portion of the class was where I wanted to be. I knew if I had to get there, I had to work so hard.
The system actually worked for me. Little by little, with each passing day, the materials that looked gigantic became mincemeat. Yes I did not understand fast but because I focused on getting the task done, I kept at it returning every time to where I had begun. I still have to read over and over and over again to understand when I have to read but I am not deterred because I can take it easy one step after another till the result is achieved.
The truth remains that there has to be a high degree of focus, if you will make any headway studying especially for examinations. After my first year and I observed my gross product was below the target I had set for myself, I rushed to the notice board to check if there was any hope I could still make a second class upper. My CGPA was far below average and it would have taken a miracle to raise it to the point where I wanted it to be. I however knew what I wanted and that was a CGPA of 3.5 and above. I just had to focus.
Every person who wants to pass examinations with ease must learn to draw inspiration and study tenaciously even if it takes being slow. Most students have learning difficulty not because they are incapable of actual learning but because they think they should know all immediately and roll on to something else. They lose patience and soon give up when all they expect to know do not get straight into their heads.
Focus allows space for slow and steady but sure upward movements. Only a few persons are so gifted with the magnetic kind of brain. Most persons though have to develop their own capacity slowly and painstakingly. They need the focus attribute to keep them going through the rigorous nature of the learning process.
Spending long hours at our books is very difficult especially for those who have not developed the virtue when they were younger. It doesn’t seem easy a task even sitting with a book for an hour. I always suggest that one begins with just holding a book for as long a time as possible. Keep a book around you always even if you don’t read. It’s easier that way because it helps you increase consciousness that there is a book that you have to read even if you don’t know how to read it.
The farther away from a book, the farther the book moves away from you, the nearer you are to a book, the nearer the book comes to you. It’s a principle that actually works. I’ve had a couple of friends who buy textbooks but who don’t understand the workings in them however they just keep staring at it. Somehow by continuous staring, something could just pop into their brain. If our books are not open, they cannot be read.
The first act is having a book open, the next is staring at least for as long as you can and then follows reading. When I was little, my dad would always require that we read through till late in the night. I didn’t like it because I always had to read after strenuous home chores. What we did then was just to place the books on the table and look into it hoping and praying that my father goes to sleep. Somehow though, something interesting always popped up that kept my interest on the book for longer.
The need for focus especially when we read for examinations cannot be overemphasized. When preparing for examinations isn’t time to begin to read every jack and Jill book. It’s a time when we gather all we have being taught through the term or semester into our brains. You strictly focus on what you have being taught and the region of the course or subject content for the term or semester.
Some persons read out of the scheme because either they were not in class to make notes or they got carried away with studying that they over read. Either way doesn’t pass examinations. Because examination arrives from what has being taught, reading beyond the scope stretches your brain beyond what you should know for the examinations. I am not saying it isn’t good to read as wide as possible. Its best of students but this should not be during preparations to pass examination or when reading for the purpose of examinations.