Distractions of university students in Nigeria can be a result of several factors. Each semester, you promise yourself that this semester will be better than the last one. You promise to study better, focus on your academics and be better prepared to excel in your examinations.
However, as the semester concludes, you find yourself struggling to catch up with your course work. You have an array of unfinished projects and assignments which you strive to complete one minute to the deadline. You cram and take crash courses just to try to catch up. The same cycle continues.
Distraught and frustrated, you ponder over all your activities and think to yourself “how did I get so distracted?” “where did all my time go?” ” why did I procrastinate so much?” And you feel like starting all over. You wish you can get some extra time to make up for what was wasted.
Truth is, even if you get extra time, the results might not change. This is because you have identified and eliminated your distractions.
If you are looking for information like: distractions in the classroom for students, list of distractions while studying, technology being a distraction to students, distractions for students essay, things that distract you from studying, phones are distracting students from learning, effects of classroom distractions, types of distractions, then you are in the right place.
Distractions of university students are everywhere. They can come from your family, your phone, competing obligations, even constructive activities can distract you from your academics.
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List of distractions of university students
Distractions of university students can lead to failur if not handled efficiently. How then can you manage these distractions and remain focused. This article considers 7 of those distractions. Let’s look at them one after the other.
- Friends/Peers
Course mates, roommates, boyfriends, girlfriends, even study partners can distract you in the university.
As a student it is important to socialize and network since your social skills will take you a long way in life. But these necessary people in your life can become a source of distraction if not checked.
You could spend large amounts of time talking with a roommate, partying or chatting with a course mate even in class, investing emotionally in a significant other, even chatting with your study partners during your study time.
Friends are important, but time spent with them should not be left unchecked. Make a schedule and kindly explain to your friend when it is time for study or school work. Turn down a visit or end a friendly chat when it is time for school work and explain your reasons for doing so. Friends that care about you will support your decision. This action might even motivate them to take their studies seriously as well.
- Hobbies
In the university, one can get involved with a lot of extra curricular activities. There are clubs, associations, teams and so on. Some of these activities may interest you and it is highly recommended that you participate in these constructive activities.
You may enjoy sports, public speaking, volunteering, reading, writing, games like chess, scrabble, exercise etc. You may also be in teams that perform these activities.
Since these hobbies are productive, you may feel it’s okay to postpone school work and spend time on these hobbies, after all you are achieving something and developing yourself as a person.
Nevertheless, when you let these activities encroach into time for you school work, your score sheet will suffer the consequences.
Yes, participate actively in these hobbies, but set time aside for that. Make your academics the center of your focus and arrange other activities around that. You’ll see that everything will naturally fall in place.
- Parties/social gatherings:
Universities and parties are like a mobile phone and the internet. There are always parties and events to attend, sometimes on a weekly basis.
This can be very distracting, especially if you are a social butterfly, or you give into peer pressure.
You can spend so much time partying, that you do not have any energy or time left for your school work, so you end up procrastinating.
Set limits, if you party weekly, can you reduce it to once a month and channel the time to your school work? You do not have to go for every social event you get invited too. Its okay to turn down an invitation if it will interfere with a deadline you need to meet or a course work you need to finish.
Parties can never finish, you’ll have many opportunities to have fun. If you have a social event coming up, why not use that as a reward for finishing a particular academic goal. If you do not meet your goal, discipline yourself by not going to the party, instead stay back and complete your work. This can serve as an incentive to meeting your educational goals.
- Social Media
Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, Instagram, YouTube and other social media sites can be an excellent way to connect to family and friends, to network, and to get valuable information that may even be helpful to your schooling.
Nevertheless this is a major source of distraction.You may be tempted to scroll through your phone in class. From checking one message you can end up spending hours chatting, scrolling through feeds, and watching hundreds of videos online.
So when it is time to study, turn off your internet notification and disable your social media apps if possible. That way you wouldn’t be tempted to get distracted.
- Entertainment:
We all need to unwind and relax from time to time and entertainment is a good way to do so. But it is easy to study for one hour and say “let me listen to music for 10 minutes”, before you know it, you’ve spent an hour or more.
You might want to stream one episode of your favourite show, but you might end up watching up to 5 or 6. One movie takes at least 1hr 30mins to finish, and that is the shortest time. It is easy to postpone boring school work for lively entertainment.
Make it an aim to focus on your school work and complete it before playing games or watching shows.
Use entertainment as a reward after completing your study. You’ll enjoy it even better because you know there’s nothing hanging over your head.
- Your Environment
Your school environment can be a source of distraction. If it’s noisy, clustered and disorganized, it can increase your stress levels and cause you to focus.
If your environment is uncomfortable, it can also distract you. Using your bed or the floor makes you sit with a bad posture which can be uncomfortable for reading.
For study purposes, find a place that is quiet,clean, spacious, uncluttered and has enough lighting. This environment boosts your mood and motivates you to study better.
- Yourself.
Yes! You can be a source of distraction to yourself. If you do not listen attentively in class by letting your mind wander, checking your phone or day dreaming when you should be concentrated on studying, this can distract you.
Also when you do not get enough rest at night, this can also affect your focus and productivity in school.
Strive to sleep sufficiently at night and tell yourself to concentrate in class or during study. Bring your mind to the present. This can prevent you from getting distracted.
Distraction is like a vacuum cleaner that sucks you in and prevents you from achieving your purpose for being in school. Don’t let it! Keep your focus and eliminate distractions if you want to be successful in the university. It takes intentional effort, but it is definitely worth it.
I am Promise Ekpo Osaine, a First Class Computer Engineering graduate, SEO Expert, Web designer and Digital Marketer. As a way of giving back, I am passionate about sharing news on Education, Scholarships, Internships, Business, Jobs and Gadgets. Stick with me to get real value, also visit https://promiseve.github.io/promiseekpo.github.io/
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