Tips to improve focus?

I'm in my second year of uni and due to issues with depression and anxiety, I've been having a lot of trouble concentrating. I've gotten better at willing myself to start working (granted with a lot of effort), but my focus just never stays for longer than about 5 minutes. I zone out for about 10 minutes then suddenly realize I have work to do. Repeat cycle. Any tips?

so can you just plan on working for short periods of time and making the most of those short periods?

If you feel that you ready to zone out if it's,nice outside take a,brisk walk around the campus to.clear your mind

Thank you for your replies! I suppose the problem is that the time that I'm actually focused is much too short. There is little that I can accomplish in this time, especially since I'm already a slow worker. I was wondering if there was a way to perhaps increase the amount of time that I'm actually focused? I suppose my fear about taking walks would be getting even further distracted and never going back to the work at hand...

Have you tried a Pomodoro? Basically work for 15-20 minutes, then take a five minute break, then repeat. Even if you find yourself being distracted, don't judge; just focus on your work again. Also, try setting times during the day when you'll study. Your brain loves routines.

A walk is great after you've tried studying for a period of time. It actually helps build connections in your brain and make studying easier.

I'll admit I struggle with the same thing even when I'm stable, but I tend to always feel tired, which doesn't help.

Hi Shriveled Muse.

What exactly is taking away your attention and focus? Dig deep inside and find what is taking your focus away. Is it the Internet? Video Games? Friends? etc. w/e it is, find a way to study where that distraction isn't so prevalent, like a library or a quiet room somewhere.

If it's just your thoughts, then try meditating for a few minutes everyday to train your mind to focus. Meditating IS SO VALUABLE. Seriously. It's like a workout for your mind. Any sort of workout takes consistency and time for your muscles to grow bigger and stronger, so meditate and eventually your focus muscle and self-control muscle will grow and you'll get better at focusing. Meditating is easy and simply involves taking deep breaths, IN AND OUT. Focus on deep breathing only, and once your mind gets distracted (which will happen) and you notice, simply bring your thoughts back to deep breathing. Do this for a few minutes everyday and you'll become gradually better at focusing.

Another tip that helps with focusing is to SET TIMERS. Go on websites like e.ggtimer.com and set a timer for 5, 10, 20, 30, 1000 minutes or however long or short you want. Studies show that setting deadlines help to bring urgency and focus into our minds because the stakes are higher. Have you noticed how when the deadline for your assignments or exams approach, you become a lot better at focusing and studying than at the beginning of the semester? That's because of the deadline.
So utilise the power of deadlines everyday to help with focus.

Good luck mate.

I have some thoughts and one has already been hit upon.

A professor of mine strongly suggest treating school like a 40 hour a week job like you'll experience when you graduate anyway. He says start studying at 8:00 in the morning, take a lunch break, and conclude at 4:30 or 5:00 everyday. Whether you are in class or studying that time should be dedicated for that.

Obviously there are some problems in that not all of our classes are neatly scheduled in those hours, plus people work and go to school. But I think the point was routine as Bark mentioned. If you could find some dedicated times for studying where you study at those times on those days of the week.

My second thought is to ask where are you studying? I know I have a lot of distractions at home. Not just tv and stuff, buy my mind wanders a lot more when I'm here. But if I go to the library and set up in front of a computer or take my lap top and set up at a desk/table, I usually sit there and actually get work done. I don't know if you could try something like that.

One more just popped into my head. Can you find study partners for each of your classes to meet with twice a week. I've done that. It's helps tremendously. It means that I have someone who holds me accountable. So I get with him and do homework for the two classes we share. Then, I have group projects in two more classes, so they help me there. That only leaves me two classes that I have to make myself study for.

Best of luck to you.

Experiment with different music until you find the style that makes you more focused.

Burn an aromatic candle with a calming scent (IKEA has them for cheap).

Most importantly - keep yourself very well hydrated. A tiny amount of dehydration reduces focus and mental acuity.

Thank you all for the suggestions and support! I'll be sure to try them this week.

I tend to just zone out, thinking about nothing in particular, like a pre-sleeping stage so I don't even notice myself unfocusing until my pen drops or I start thinking about random things. I tend to work in areas with very little distractions. The only thing that could possibly distract me would be my phone which is out of my reach. Due to this, I really am unsure as to what is the cause of my lack of concentration since there isn't a recurrent pattern in terms of what I'm thinking about. In high school when my depression& anxiety weren't as severe, I never had issues such as these.

depression often leads to temporary cognitive decline and anxiety, obviously, makes focusing that much harder