Mindfulness
‘Be aware that you are not the only one finding this transition hard. Other students and even teachers are having to get used to it all again. No one expects you to pick up where you left off straightaway – except you yourself, perhaps. Give yourself time and be gentle and kind to yourself. Take some time every day to stay grounded and in touch with yourself, through a mindfulness exercise for example. And if that doesn’t work, just breathe in and out. It’s enough to try. You will notice that you will gradually get used to the new situation again.’
The student psychotherapist team
One task
‘Don’t work for too long on one task, but switch tasks as soon as you find yourself getting distracted. Make room for relaxation in between these tasks. Take a walk across the campus, for instance, peel and eat an orange, or listen to some music. Whatever happens, avoid doing several things at once. So don’t check your emails during a lecture, and don’t be distracted by WhatsApp messages during practicals and assignments. I hope that this way you can slowly build up your concentration again.’
Piety Runhaar, associate professor of Education and Learning Sciences
Train
‘With personal challenges like this, always get in touch with your teachers, so they are aware of the situation. Meanwhile, there are things you can do yourself to increase your concentration. It is a kind of stamina that you can increase with practice. When you are studying at home, create a kind of “restaurant ambiance” using YouTube. And go and see the lecture theatre or lab in advance to familiarize yourself with it. For seminars or computer practicals, noise-cancelling earphones with a music filter (the same as is used for concerts) could be a solution. They cancel ambient sound, but you can still follow the conversation in a group.’
Tim Hoogstad, Farm Technology lecturer
Headphones
‘I would advise you to invest in noise cancelling headphones. Since I bought my own pair, I never study without them anymore. Coupled with some music you can easily mute your surroundings. Personally, I prefer listening to movie soundtracks as they are mostly instrumental. As a bonus, headphones send a message to your fellow students that you would rather not be disturbed.’
Paul Mol, Master’s student of Food Quality Management
Next WURry: Undesirable behaviour
Do you have advice or tips for this WURrier? Or could you use some good advice yourself? Email your tips or your question (100 words max) by 5 October to resource@wur.nl, subject noWURries.
