Why can't I focus on homework?

[deathninja]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique

Worked for me as a kid. Though now I've got a full-blown GTD system (doing a degree and a half at once means I need stupid levels of time management).

 

[Ham_authority95]

Does anyone else have this problem? Say you have a ton of homework due the next day. You get on your computer, open Microsoft Word/whatever, pull up the necessary research online...and then spend the next three hours here on the Escapist/Cracked/TV Tropes/Wikipedia/A random blog you would normally never read/Youtube/so on, so on. I could move myself away from the computer, but I literally need it. I can't unplug the internet, because I need that, too. I just can't focus.

Tips?

Does your school have computers to use? If that's the case, try staying after to do your work there. Because they probably restrict the hell out of it, you run less risk of fucking around.

Since I've been back in school, I haven't done any of my homework at home since the school environment helps me focus so much more.

Also, set a timer for 15-20 mins, and get as much work done as you can before it goes off. After time is up, take a break for 5 mins. Repeat as needed until you get your work done.

 

[JasonKaotic]

Because procrastination is fun. That's it, really.

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique

Worked for me as a kid. Though now I've got a full-blown GTD system (doing a degree and a half at once means I need stupid levels of time management).

I can't believe I'm the one saying this for a change, but your avatar is hypnotic.

[small]And Rainbow Dash is the best pony[/small]

The Pomodoro Technique seems to be a common suggestion. Given that I just worked for ten minutes straight and am now back here, I think this is worth a shot. Starting...now.

No, now.

Now?

DO IT NOW PHUNKY,

...I just set the timer for ten hours instead of ten minutes. <_<

 

[crystalsnow]

Sounds similar to what I do, but it's not so much that I need my computer, I just have zero motivation to do my homework, mostly because it has no relevance to what I plan to do and there really isn't much point in doing it.

 

[Mafoobula]

PhunkyPhazon, I would like to start by saying that your avatar gif is one of the brick-shatting creepiest things I've ever seen. Kirby popping out of Sonic's head is tap-dancing RIGHT on the line of "wrong."

OT: I had the exact same problem. I like to think of it as a real learning disability: Chronic Procrastination Syndrome, or CPS. Oh, you laugh, but in this world of EVERY problem being solved with pills, CPS is every bit as believable as any other disability.
Granted, usually it was because it involved projects for classes I couldn't give a flying crapcake about - I was a terrible, terrible student back then, only a couple years ago. Although, in a couple of those classes, my teams outright admitted that the class was a great steaming load, largely because the professor was terribad at her job.

Maybe that's the (at least A) root cause of the problem: A little apathy that the subconscious blows all out of proportion. I know it's a pretty flimsy theory, and I really, REALLY would like to hear a better one from someone who knows psychology better than I.

 

[Tiger Sora]

Music helps me focus. In school, I'd always have my iPod on as I worked to blur out the distractions of other people. Teachers were cool with it cause I didn't play it so loud others could hear, and I got my work done.

 

[genericusername64]

Because your posting on an internet forum instead of doing it?

 

[Vykrel]

its pretty simple: homework is not fun or interesting.

 

[Ryan Terrel]

...reading this from a biology lab

 

[Randomperson9999999]

i take breaks it motivates me to work until the break

 

[Jodah]

Human nature. Nobody wants to work you would rather do something fun or enjoyable. You just have to force yourself to focus.

And anyone saying take drugs you are exactly why ADD and ADHD are over diagnosed and drugged. People have no attention span anymore and refuse to accept that maybe they just need to force themselves to focus. They want a quick fix instead of actually improving themselves.

(Note this does not apply to anyone who actually does have ADD or ADHD. I know there are some out there who do, it is just entirely over diagnosed.)

 

[PhunkyPhazon]

Because your posting on an internet forum instead of doing it?

Or am I!!??


(Taking a 15 minute break after 15 minutes of work, btw)

 

[Beryl77]

Oh I know that all too well, in fact I should be learning right now for a test that I have tomorrow but here I am, listening to the hl2 soundtrack on youtube and answering your thread. I always tell myself that I'll learn now and then I can have some fun later but I still end up having to pull an all-nighter. I still make mostly decent marks but I could be much better.
One thing that works really well for me, is to learn/do homework in groups. If I learn together with others, then I have to do it, I can't just say I'll do something else first. I have to focus on learning/doing homework because the others are with me and they do it as well.

 

[Double A]

I'm gonna go ahead and strongly suggest looking into getting some ADD medication, I know a lot of people with that problem and it seemed to help them A LOT with their problems. Try talking with your physician and see what he or she says.

NO.

Want to know why? Because you have so many other, far more enjoyable things that you could be doing instead. It is not a sign of ADD. It is a sign of "oh look, enjoyable things."

Do. Not. Get. ADD. Meds.

What you need to do is just force yourself to sit and focus. In fact, give yourself goals and prizes. "If I focus on homework for an hour, I'll take a 10/20 minute break to do other things", etc.

Meds should be a last resort, and should obviously only be used if you've been diagnosed with ADD. And, fair warning, they don't help everyone. They made me worse.

Which is why I said to speak with your doctor before any medication is being received. However if someone honestly can't control what they're doing that's a serious problem. Yeah sometimes I get distracted but after a half hour or so at most I can break free and do what needs to be done. If someone is spending countless hours unable to get done what NEEDS to be done that's bad.

Sounds like I have ADD.

Wheeeee.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

@ OP: I know exactly how you feel. I happen to have ADD, so it doesn't exactly help my situation.

Plus, I've been off the meds for so long (I didn't need it for a few years), that if I take them now, I get insomnia. (I know this because I took some during the tail end of my summer Calculus 2 class...and every time I took some, I would be unable to sleep >_<).

 

[willsham45]

if the internet is your problem try and use something elce...the libery maybe. or try doing your homework with someone elce keep each other on topic share ideas. yes this might not work for everything but some it will.