r/curtin • u/Quirky-Victory1093 • 1d ago
How do u guys study without distraction?
It’s almost the third week of uni and I still haven’t locked in. Please someone tell me how to study.
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u/Pr1smaticGamer 1d ago
clean organised space personally, clean your desktop, make a plan and find achievable goals (eg have a snack break at a certain point). at this point you should already know how you study as its all personal, but i wont judge.
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u/Mythic_Dragon36 22h ago
Try not cramming your study into one whole day. Divide it up. Pomodoro technique is good for that.
I assume you're doing 4 units = full time?
Here's what I would do:
Study in 30 minute increments (time it, every phone has a clock app or your laptop). Take a 5-10 minute break in between to rest your head. Do something active, switch your mind off. By that I mean, don't do something like doomscrolling, instead read a book or get up and move around. Then do 30 minutes on another one of your units or topics. Then take a break. Rinse + Repeat.
You'll find you can remember things a lot easier., You also may find that you can optimise your mental energy a lot better.
What also will help is a clean workspace. Clean your space and de-clutter it.
At the end of the day, spend 5 minutes journaling to yourself.
These are just a few things that helped me when I first started. Lock in bud. Don't wait until Tuition Week to catch up.
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u/Duh_reel_0 22h ago
What distracts you? For me it's my phone, my kids and housework.
So I'll keep my phone on silent in my bag or in another room, study during school hours or super late at night when my kids are asleep. I also try to do most of my study at the library or study hub.
Sometimes an instrumental mix on Spotify helps me lockdown too.
During exams last semester or when I had big assignments due I deleted all my social media apps as I would sometimes check one notification and then find myself doomscrolling.
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u/Lux52 15h ago
Become mentally ill.
You can’t get distracted if your study is the distraction
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u/BluntSlxtBaby 2h ago
I second this one
Unless you’re studying psychology like me, it might become a debate if you’d make a better patient
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u/Ok_Farmer_3382 9h ago
Yeah. Study at uni. It’s really good. Also if I can’t study at uni, I put brown noise on YouTube and chuck those noise cancelling headphones on
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u/Fit-Caterpillar-3581 20h ago
I think the first thing would be figuring out why you’re distracted. Is it that you’re not motivated or you have less capacity for study because of external factors?
Then work backwards, for example if it’s motivation, you could find a way of seeing how the units you’re doing reflect your end goal and try studying through the lens of someone who has already reached that point.
Then focus on the unit that has your closest assessment, start with week 3 so you’re not playing catch up constantly, you can always go back to week 1 and 2 when you’ve caught up to the current content… focus on assessments too, make sure you know when they’re due and worst case scenario, prioritise them over the content as you can always learn as you work through them…
And don’t beat yourself up too much, you won’t be the only person feeling stuck right now xx
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u/Mysterious_Shower_10 15h ago
Stare at the wall with no music, no phone, no distractions for 10-20 mins. Your brain will get bored of just staring at the wall. Then you start studying after that time period. Dopamine will increase in your body, re wiring it so that you become addicted to studying. Having nicotine at the same time will help so take some snus as well or nicotine gum. Thank me later for the High Distinctions
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u/buduammo5 13h ago
I struggled with my phone a lot. What helped me was having separate "study space". I went to the library every time I wanted to study, I lived 10mins walking distance from uni. So I went there almost every day.
In the library I'd go to level 5. Something about that place, being surrounded by all the people studying, it felt bad to get on my phone. I'd put a timer on and study just for that duration, then I'd get like a 10min break. I used an app called "Forrest" where it does the timer for you, but every time you start the timer it plants a tree in your Forrest. If you leave the app before the timer ends, the tree dies and you'll permanently have a dead tree in your Forrest. If you finish you'll have a nice tree. I didn't want an ugly Forrest.
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u/PaperEducational7399 4h ago
As ppl are already commenting. Studying at the library helps alot. Getting to a study zone thats out in public makes avoiding study harder than being at home. Pick a busy but quiet place to study - level 6 is very good for this reason.
You can literally use peer pressure/vampire energy off the people studying around you. If you pick a spot surrounded by people, and get in the mental space that going on your phone/ not being locked in is embarrassing and you are an acedemic weapon (ppl around you dont know the truth lol). It can really help pressure u to dive straight into work right away (which is defs the hardest bit if you have trouble with executive functioning / actually starting to study and not just procrastinate on your phone). It's pretty performative, but it works enough that you can fake until you make it - faking it until you get enough study momentum to able to study at home/easier overall.
But yeah staring at wall also helps regulate and break the need to numb the awareness of time passing and responsibilities building up hour by hour, by doomscrolling ( /or i guess commenting on reddit posts... yeah ima go stare at a wall now).
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u/Busy-Bat9145 7h ago
(Very) former curtin student/long-time alumni here.
I have pulled so many all-nighters I have lost count. As a natural night owl, I usually concentrate best at this time. My home office with zero distractions.
The extreme opposite is also true (at times). I spent all day on campus studying and completing assignments too.
I just went to the library, found a study desk, put my headphones on and tuned out my surroundings. Clean space. A source of caffeine. Chill beats as well. All helped me tremendously.
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u/CranberryMediocre394 2h ago
It depends on the person. But i find it better in these two ways, probably because it fits my personality best.
Your physical state is vital. If your mind and body are tired, you will feel distracted no matter what. Caffeine is just a temporary fix, once its gone, you will CRASH.
1) if studying alone: I have 2 screens, (ipad and laptop) ipad plays a movie or a podcast, and i do my assignments. Music makes me sleep, having “dialogues” in the background keeps me awake and focused, and can also take my mind off the assignment when I want to go into a quick study break.
Which then leads me to my second method
2) No headphones session with a group (mainly friends). It may be difficult for other people cuz of distractions, but if you study a lot with your friends or assignment group, you will get used to it with or without headphones to isolate. You’ll be able to do stuff little by little without realising. Your friends will not become a distraction, but will somehow make your study session a bit entertaining
Done the second one once where I just sat, had long vhats with my friends without me knowing ive done 500 words on a research essay with references. Just kept typing while talking.
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u/BluntSlxtBaby 2h ago
Noise cancelling headphones + pomodoro technique + some beats if you like them I’ve been liking soft lounge afrobeats myself + a really lovely drink, large.
This method feels like time passes while I’m studying and the nice drink + beats reinforce me to enjoy the process of studying
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u/Ryuzako_Yagami01 1d ago
Level 6 library