If you’re trying to cram for an exam or otherwise trying to get a lot of studying done or reviewing a lot of notes in a short period of time and losing focus, you might want to stare out the window – or even better, take a walk outside.
Seriously, if there are trees out there, it might just help.
According to Attention Restoration Theory (ART) people can concentrate better after spending time in nature, or even looking at scenes of nature. Natural environments abound with “soft fascinations” which a person can reflect upon in “effortless attention”, such as clouds moving across the sky, leaves rustling in a breeze or water bubbling over rocks in a stream. The theory was developed by Rachel and Stephen Kaplan in the 1980s in their book The experience of nature: A psychological perspective and has since been found by others to hold true in medical outcomes as well as intellectual task attention.
If you don’t have direct access to nature, researchers seem to agree that WATCHING VIDEOS might be the next best thing.
I did a quick YouTube search and found this video – I am sure some of you can find a better one that we can share… Please post the YouTube URL as a comment and I’ll publish the best ones!
The key is to envelop your visual sense in the experience…
You only need a few minutes of involuntary ‘effortless’ attention to then return to your task and have full concentration and focus.
Thank you for this excellent study tip. Perhaps it is something I have not tried but I can see how it will work. Studying, like climbing a hill requires effort/power. When one gets saturated or encounters difficulty and cannot continue, it is best to occupy ones mind with an activity that is less mentally involving such as watching the wonderful nature. I will sure try this one out in anticipation for renewed energy as I do when I walk down the Mount Bulla.
Being a martial art movie lover, I often relax with these movies as they unlock those happy “drugs” within my body. Some people love comedy genre, anything that will leave you flat-out laughing is good if you can not go outside due to darkness or weather.
M.
Thanks for sharing!
Taking a break is always good, but this blog post is about taking a break in NATURE which has additional beneficial properties – try both and test to see the difference.
Let us know how it all works out!