When it comes to schoolwork, “Learning how to focus and get something done is about more than just good grades it’s the foundation for success in life.”

While many students have heard it before, these tips based on the TeensHealth.org article, Staying Focused on Schoolwork, serve as good reminders about how focusing not only helps get the job done, but gets it done well. As we like to say around our house (while hoping we’re not wasting our breath), “You’re going to do it anyway, so you might as well do it right.”

Get organized. Organization makes everything you do easier, focuses your efforts on what’s important, and keeps you from dropping the ball. Expect to try various techniques before finding find a system that works for you.

Plan ahead. Setting and enforcing your own deadlines helps you manage your time and makes it easier to stay focused on the task at hand.

Claim your workspace. A quiet, orderly environment is essential for focusing on schoolwork. Find ways to escape all distractions to get your work finished faster.

Don’t even think about multi-tasking! Studies show that all of us perform poorly on tasks when we try to squeeze-in additional activities such as talking on the phone, listening to music, checking email, texting, and IMing. If you want to absorb knowledge and retain information, do whatever it takes to avoid these temptations. Then give them 100% of your focus when the work is done.

If the hassle of getting organized, planning, and concentrating doesn’t seem worth the effort, it might help to know that students who train themselves to stay focused 1) perform better in school and 2) have more free time than those who allow disorganization and interruption to derail their work.