Concentration
 

On a serious note, S-Y comrades, I'd like your helpful hands here if you care let me cry a li'l river...

A long, long-term problem for me has been my severe lack of concentration. I'm sitting there in class with my focus right on the first third of a teacher's sentence, and overflowing it will come my imagination, philosophical ponderings, music, a girl et al. I'll be back into discerning what everyone else is taking in usually once a good word suddenly crops up, or a name familiar does to make me turn around. I've always needed help on this to be honest but teachers suddenly asking me a question and me going blank as a result happens far too much, and exams are looming. On most exams I'll either miss out questions or completely misread them because I lose concentration half way through. What really frustrates me is that I can't remember anything nearly on what I've done to-day.

My dyspraxic mind is getting such a weight as time's getting along that I'm even moved to asking for help. Does anyone have any advice? Just as long as it's free 'cause I jam econo, like.

sounds like something from the autism spectrum or adhd, see a doctor or stop smoking weed........

also known as The Youth Killer

I'm the same way, as soon as the treacher speaks, my mind goes into its own imagination. Seeing a psychiatrist to get tested.

i sometimes think the only things i can concentrate on is Playstation or Nintendo.

They didn't prescribe this in my day (*ooops, my mistake, but I surely never heard of it then, http://www.vernoncoleman.com/ritalin.htm)

...and it's a good thing. I'd have been a prime candidate for this and I'd rather be suffering the consequences of my ADHD as it is now, than to have been ravaged by this chemical.

I ended up being the class clown, the dunce in the corner and the drooling St. Bernard.

I wouldn't know what to suggest. I don't know how young people can focus, I NEVER had that ablility during High School, except on the tubular waves outside my classroom window !!

This is exactly what i have difficulty with too!
I dread one of my classes as the teacher circulates the room, going from person to person, asking the worst question's, and due to my lack of concentration i always end up looking like an idiot.
And like you mentioned, its mainly the fact that my head's crammed with thoughts of music, girls, art etc
It's defiently something thats been getting worse as ive got older, and i dont smoke or do drugs so i dont what it is.

I know this sounds crazy but...
When I was at school I had exactly the same problem, and it really pissed me off because I knew I was clever, but would always fuck everything up. A lot of people say that it's due to boredom, and I think that's probably partially true, but I don't think it's the whole story. Anyhoo, my granny said to me that when she was younger people used to tie a piece of string really tight around their finger, to remind them of stuff, so I used to do this to remind myself to concentrate. Sounds really lame, I know, but it really worked for me...

Good idea, i might just write 'concentrate' on my hand in block capitals or something. Hopefully i wont find it too difficult to concentrate and read it.

I know what you mean I've got serious concentration problems in class and never ever feel like learning (much) because as soon as I try to study I get distracted. My grades aren't that awful though. I know I can do better I just don't feel like trying especially in this point of my life.

yes boredom can make it hard to concentrate, and ritolin should be illegal, i have adhd but i am way onto it, and i was at school and uni too but not as much

My lack of concentration seems to get worse the older I get, and its not good as I'm currently trying to start revising for my uni exams....
I think the fact that all us intelligent people suffer shows how much school sucks.

i don't think school sucks i just think that alot of teaching methods are antiquated and boring.

I always get distracted. There wasn't one lesson where I sat in and listened through the whole thing.

Y'all should try eating more oily fish, or failing that, just take some cod liver oil capsules (SOUNDS YUM!). There's some evidence whut suggests that a lack of omega-3s and (i think) omega-6s in a diet costs the child in mental terms.

I've also heard that learning to meditate properly (not during lessons though) helps you focus more on tasks, but I'm not sure how effective that'd be.

Also the healthier you are, the more you do regular excercise, the easier it should be to pay attention to stuff, maybe something to do with increased/improved blood flow to the brain (yr brain needs oxygen and nutrients to function well!)

Well, I've been off the internet for over three weeks and it's finally back on my laptop which is dying anyway (hope to get an apple after this one), so I've only just been able to reply to all this.

The string idea sounds good. Sometimes I pinch myself right now (I'll be reading/watching something and the parents suddenly go on about something and my sister bursts into the room and stomps around, prompting me to pinch myself a lot). I guess I'll have to eat walnuts and what have you for those omegas to come in.

Cardinal Rob, my advice is...

Sorry, what was the question?

ever considered seeking a school that suits your needs, rather than the other way around? what for some are "learning disabilities" for others are strokes of genius. in washington d.c. there is the famous lab school-- guess who was a student there? robert rauschenberg

My Problem is I understand everything, hand the best work in, in class, always win class debates and get predicted an A. The problem comes with exams, I never feel like im given enough time, whenever I write anything because a thousand ideas come to me at once when I start. I like to put all these ideas down in rough and then think careful about how im going to create a cohesive piece of work thats interesting and well written. This works well in coursework but means when I get into exams I run out of time before ive written half what I wanted to. It then pisses me off when I see the people who didnt understand any of the work and were asking me all year what this and that meant, do better than me. I think it really annoys my teachers too.

read up

http://www.drc.org.uk/library/public...s_england.aspx