You got into graduate school – congratulations! You worked hard to get here. Now be prepared to work harder. Even with the most laid-back professors, the course work will feel overwhelming. You may be taking multiple courses at once, working one or five jobs, or have family that needs you. Every assignment will feel like a battle – a fight to stay focused on what you are learning and why you are learning it when it seems like you have a thousand other priorities that need your attention at any given moment. People will tell you to block out your time and find a quiet space to get your assignments completed – if that works for you, great! Stick with it. If you, my friend, are like me and have the attention span of a goldfish, here’s some tips that may work for you.

1. If silence is just too much for you sometimes because your brain starts thinking about what you need to get done at work or what you are having for dinner, make the silence go away. It seems so simple, but we have been taught to believe that you can only be productive in silence. While that may be true for some, it is not true for everyone. Try having on a TV show in the background. Go to a busy coffee shop where you can fade into the background. For me, I can only focus when I have headphones on and music blaring.
2. If you have a random idea for another assignment or a chore you keep forgetting to do pops into your head, write it down. If you just let it rattle around in your brain, you are going to drive yourself crazy or worse – you’ll forget it completely. Carry post it notes around with you everywhere, use the notes app on your phone, whatever works best for you, but write it down and get it out of your brain for the moment. I promise – your brain and the stack of dishes in your sink will thank you later.
3. Go ahead – make a schedule for your day. I know you want to. Just make sure to include some time to do something fun. If it is just fifteen minutes to go for a walk outside or dance around your kitchen, pencil it in. Staring at eight articles for hours will not do you any good. Give yourself permission to take breaks. It’s okay. That article isn’t going anywhere in the next fifteen minutes.

These are just a few things you can try, but maybe none of these will work to help you stay focused. The reality is you are only going to figure out what works best for you by testing out different methods. Some days, you may have one that works, but the next day you have to try something different. Someone may recommend an option to you, and you try it only to find that you hate it. That’s okay. Keep trying but, more importantly, be patient with yourself. You worked hard to get into this program, and you can do this.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, my fifteen minutes are up and I have an article to read.