Procastination and concentration problems are big deals from a lot of people, specially for students. There are too many distractions that are more fun than our homework.

I read an interesting article about concentration that I'd like to share a summary with my own notes:

There is no substitute for paying attention... here are Five tips to improve your attention/concentration/focus/productivity:

F = Five More Rule

There are two kinds of people -- those who have learned how to work through frustration, and those who wish they had. From now on, if you're in the middle of a task and tempted to give up -- just do 5 MORE. Read 5 MORE pages. Finish 5 MORE math problems. Work 5 MORE minutes.
 
O = One Think At a Time
 
Quite self-explantory, isn't it? We know the theory, now let's put in practice.
 
C = Conquer Procrastination
 
Don't feel like concentrating? Are you putting off a task or project you're supposed to be working on? That's a form of procrastination. R. D. Clyde said, "It's amazing how long it takes to complete something we're not working on." ~ Every time you catch yourself doing something that you are not suppose to be doing (facebook, twitter, 9gag) quite it right away, and get back to your homework/work.
 
U = Use Your Hands as Blinkers
 
Give multi-tasking a rest. Focus in one task at time!
 
S = See As If For the First or Last Time
 
uhm... maybe not very useful but it says: Want to know how to be "here and now" and fully present instead of mindlessly rushing here, there, and everywhere? Frederick Franck said, "When the eye wakes up to see again, it suddenly stops taking anything for granted." Evelyn Underhill said, "For lack of attention, a thousand forms of loveliness elude us every day."
 
What people have said about concentration
  • "I used to think the human brain was the most fascinating part of the body, and then I realized, 'What is telling me that?'" - Emo Phillips
  • "I'm getting so absent-minded and forgetful. Sometimes in the middle of a sentence, I . . . " - Milton Berle 
  • "Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen, even so does inaction sap the vigors of the mind." Leonardo da Vinci 
  • "Tell me to what you pay attention, and I will tell you who you are." - Jose Ortega y Gasset
  • I would go without shirt or shoe sooner than lose for a minute the two separate sides of my head." - Rudyard Kipling
  • "It's not that I don't want to listen to people. I very much want to listen to people. I jut can't hear them over my talking." - Paula Poundstone