FACTORS THAT AFFECT PERFORMANCE
- Internal factors: attention, concentration, capacities, intelligence, motivation, psychological state, etc.
- External factors: environment and study location.
- Techniques for intellectual work: planning, taking notes, study methods, planning reviews, preparation of exams, self-evaluation.
INTERNAL FACTORS
Among the internal factors that affect academic performance, the first to be considered are:
the psychological state of the person. If we are worried about something or feel uneasy, concentration is affected and diminished; this is why it should be considered a priority to confront the problem beforehand, if possible, and to try to solve it before studying, looking for help if necessary.
Motivation. It’s incredibly difficult to do something if we can’t find meaning in it. This is why the first step should be to consider this point.
Ask yourself: why am I studying? What reasons do I have for doing it? Are they short, medium, or long-term reasons? Am I studying because of family or social pressure, or because I’ve personally decided to? How would my life look like if I didn’t study?
It’s important to establish one’s personal motivations for studying, distinguishing them from social reasons that lead us to doing it. In doing this, you make your decision a personal decision, and therefore can take responsibility for what you do and for what you decide.
It can really help you. Write a list with (credible) reasons for studying, and have it always close to you, on your desk or inside your notebook. Use it and never lose sight of it.
When a student doesn’t achieve the results he or she is hoping for, the first reaction is to question one’s intelligence and capacities. Am I good at studying? The truth is that in most cases failures are due to inadequate study techniques or other hidden problems that make concentration difficult.
EXTERNAL FACTORS
STUDY ENVIRONMENT
It should be: personal, isolated, and organized.
Caring for the environment where you study helps you concentrate, and keep concentrated for a longer period of time.
You have to care for this place, it should be your workplace, it has to invite you to stay there, not make you want to leave as soon as possible. You should care for: your desk, organizing it; your chair, making it comfortable, but not as much as a sofa or a bed; the light, which should enter the room opposite from your writing; ventilation, which oxygenates you and stops you from getting sleepy and tired.
The location where you study should always be the same, and you shouldn’t do any other activity there, except studying, and this includes watching TV, reading for pleasure, etc. This helps your mind concentrate much faster.
If you get distracted too much, you shouldn’t stay at your study location, it’s better to get up and sit down again only when you are ready and willing to keep studying. It’s a matter of creating a habit, even if at first you have to get up frequently.
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