It’s amazing!!!!

Take notes in class or while reading to force yourself to concentrate.

When reading text, stop at the end of each paragraph or two to see if you are aware of what you read.

If you find yourself unable to concentrate, do something else and come back later to what you were doing at a later time.

Find a quiet and regular place to study

Use index cards – put a question you might be asked on one side and the answer on the other. Go through the cards again and again until you can readily answer all the questions.

Use Mnemonic devices For example, a word, each of whose letters help the user to remember the first letters of items in a list. There are also other types of mnemonics, such as visual mnemonics. Mnemonics rely on associations between something that is easy to remember, and something that is harder to remember.

Eat a good, balanced diet – not many sweets

Get plenty of rest

Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day

This is a site that will give you much more information:

http://www.stedwards.edu/apss/docs/Concentration_2.pdf

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You can also decrease or cease intake of caffeine, which may feel okay at first, but will wear off and give you headaches, fatigue and mood swings.

Balanced diet. Keep fit. Physical activity keeps your adrenal glands in good form. The activity also creates endorphines (or the bodies natural feel good chemical). A good diet is good for all your system. Junk food will make you feel drained and sluggish (no surprise there I imagine 😉 To feel relaxed and release stress (which can drain you) do pilates or yoga.

To increase memory you can play memory games. But most games whether they be crosswords, or video games tend to exercise the brain. Reading more complex and stimulating subject matter is a great brain work-out. Debate is excellent as well.

Sleep is vital. People vary on this, but you should know how much you need to feel rested.

Listening to music is said to be very mentally stimulating, and again it releases endorphines.

Socializing with friends is a great stress reliever as well. With less stress you are less likely to have less mental “lock-ups”. Don’t over due the social aspect though, partying too much can steal time from proper sleep and steal motivation to do other things.

Time management is also really important. A plan always helps one to successfully complete tasks within a reasonable time frame. Most successful people are very regimented. They allow times during the week to do “whatever” but they usually plot out important times, events, and tasks, and stick to it. Organizational skills are extremely important in remaining focused. Create an organized space around you that is efficient and will not clutter your mind.

Good luck!

Research indicates that people meditating using the word ONE did as well or better than others given a secret mantra from a ‘guru’. Research indicates that if you can count slowly to three, and I do mean slowly, as in one each breath, without any thought intruding you are doing well.

2)Lay off the sugar and caffeine

3)Reduce distractions-TV, iPod, talkative friends

4)Write stuff down and refer to it later

5)Try to make connections in your mind to what is being said instead of drifting off into “LaLa Land”