There are MANY reasons you might have a difficult time focusing while studying or when you are taking an exam. Perhaps you have been diagnosed with a condition such as ADD or ADHD, or maybe you study for LONG periods without breaks.

No matter why you have difficulty focusing, one thing that can help everyone is being more mindful. What does it mean to be mindful? It means to be fully present, noticing what is going on in our space and our bodies, and to be content, not overwhelmed, with our observations. The more you are in the present moment, the easier it is to be focused on what is in front of you.

So what does focus look like PREPARING for the SAT?

Brain Breaks!

When you focus for too long, what you are studying is not going to "stick." It might sound counterintuitive, but to help with focus, you need to give your brain a “break” about every 30 minutes. I personally recommend working for 25 minutes and then taking a 5 minute break. The hard part is making sure the break is ONLY 5 minutes before you get back to studying!!

Below are some ideas for brain breaks. Try some out, write them down, and use them!

The best way to study for the SAT is to start with a practice test. Upon completing the practice test, you need to look at which questions you are getting wrong so that you can learn what to do the next time you see similiar questions.

Click this link to get access to the FREE SAT practice test: https://bit.ly/DigitalSATPracticeTest After you finish, you can set up a 15-minute Zoom call with an expert tutor from My2tor to discuss the results and recommendations for preparing for the actual SAT.

So what does focus look like DURING the SAT?

During the exam, there are a lot of things that are out of your control - the temperature of the room, the person sitting next to you sniffiling, and on and on. There are two things that you can ALWAYS control:

Thinking positively actually increases your brain's capacity to process information! And when you are stressed, your body's natural reaction is to start to breathe shallow, causing your cognitive abilities to go slack and making it difficult to stay alert.

Taking a deep breath is the fastest way to get your focus back!

Now that said, when you are taking a test that lasts a couple of hours, there are things that you can do every couple of problems to give you some mini-breaks and help with your focus.

Minibreaks can help get that focus back!

• Take 3 deep breaths - Inhale slowly through your nose for a count of 3, and then exhale slowly through your mouth (like you are blowing through a straw) for a count of 5

• Wiggle your toes - helps to reconnect to your senses and gets you out of your head

• Squeeze your fists - Make a tight fist and hold it for 3 seconds. Release and take a deep breath.

• Shrug your shoulders - Try to though your ears to your shoulders and hold it for 3 seconds. Release and take a deep breath.

• What are other ideas you can come up with for minibreaks where you get to take a few seconds to yourself and not bother anyone around you who continues testing.

Sit up straight and put your feet flat on the floor.

Now there is one more thing that can make a difference for focus: POSTURE

If you are slouching, you are actually reducing your lung capacity and sending a message to your brain that you feel unsafe, which in turn can make it more difficult to focus and concentrate. So sitting up straight may actually help your brain function better, as well as help you think more clearly because you feel calmer and more confident!!

Mindfulness helps during the test too!

And going back to the mindfulness that we discussed at the beginning of this article, the more you interact with the test, the easier it will be to stay in the present moment. So, cross answers off, use the annotation tool, and use your note sheet!  

How to focus on the SAT...

I hope this article gave you a couple of ideas ways you can help yourself focus!!  Don't forget:

The best way to study for the SAT is to start with a practice test. Upon completing the practice test, you need to look at which questions you are getting wrong so that you can learn what to do the next time you see similiar questions.

Click this link to get access to the FREE SAT practice test: https://bit.ly/DigitalSATPracticeTest After you finish, you can set up a 15-minute Zoom call with an expert tutor from My2tor to discuss the results and recommendations for preparing for the actual SAT.

____________________________________________________________________________________

About Tina

Tina is the CEO and Lead Tutor at My2tor, a company that provides holistic standardized test preparation for adults and kids nationwide and abroad. Her passion is to help students of all ages become more confident to increase their test scores and open the doors to their future goals. She uses her experience as an industrial engineer, math teacher, and 16 years as a professional tutor to develop her unique approach to helping test takers: developing a confident mindset, teaching strategies, and reviewing content. This approach humanizes test taking, decreases anxiety, and results in higher test scores.