I can't concentrate for studies in University | Hacker News Reader

I can't concentrate for studies in University

3 pointsiwtdwiwtd7 comments

Hello, So, my problem is that I absolutely can't concentrate on my lectures. I used to be like that in high school too, I skipped many lessons, because they were useless for me, I couldn't concentrate on them, but I would go home and studied hard on my own and I was getting very good marks and no one could believe it.

However, in University, I must to take information from my lecturers, because it's much harder than in high school.

So, any tips for concentrating on lectures? I really need help, thank you very much.

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I read from the comments below that you are studying computer science.

My advice is bias.

You probably aren't in the last 2 and a half years of the program yet where you do coding projects. I find that I don't have to be at every class ( although I go anyway ) to do well in those because a lot of it is coding and completing projects. (Binary Tree, Hash Tables, Disjoint Sets, Linux File Systems, Building an Operating System).

Whats my advice?

Suck it up. You will convince yourself you love to learn from people you have paid to listen to that you don't fully respect (you didn't fully respect your teachers in high school from the sound of it), you love to learn computer science because you love how close it is to pure creation (in my opinion). You love the fact that with the foundation that you pick up you will be able to build wonderful applications for millions of people to use.

There is no secret, listen to what your lecturers have to say, take notes, and just do it.

High school is easy, college is easy, computer science is not. You can't allow yourself to get use to that 'selective' hearing bullshit. But I have faith in you, life is all about effort and if you actually put the effort in you won't struggle in the long run.

Or maybe the major isn't for you. My 2 cents.

1) Consider getting an assessment for ADD / ADHD / etc.

2) Stop drinking caffeine for at least a week, see if that makes any difference.

3) Sort out sleep - do a web search for "Sleep Hygiene" and see if that helps. (Do you snore? Do you have sleep apnea? Get that checked, it can be dangerous. But if you don't, well, lack of sleep affects concentration.)

4) Learn a good note taking system. People seem to like the "Cornell notes" method. There are many templates around. This means you'll be concentrating on what's being spoken, and writing stuff down in a useful way, and not distracting yourself with other stuff.

4a) Take notes on paper, not on computer, unless you really need computer. Avoiding computers means you avoid solitaire / facebook status checking / HN / etc.

5) BrainGym is some bullshit nonsense but it's used quite a lot in UK schools. Even though it is nonsense you could try a few of the exercises, because i) short breaks do help and ii) placebo effect.

If I know it's placebo effect, it won't help me, will it? Lol, ok, thanks I'll try it.

Some research suggests that even knowing that something is a placebo doesn't stop it from "working".

With BrainGym you need to realise (it's pretty obvious) that it's nonsense, but maybe just taking a short break every now and again and doing some "exercises" will be useful, for some reason not connected to all the nonsense that braingym comes out with.

What do you study?

Maths and Computer Science

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