To focus on homework, move your phone out of the room, pick the one assignment you will do first, and work in a short timed block of 25 minutes with the tab or page for that task and nothing else open. When the block ends, take a five minute break, then start the next one. Doing it next to a friend, in person or online, makes the start easier.
That is the short version. Below are nine steps in the order you would use them on a school night, each with the reason it works and a source you can check. Most of them take under a minute to set up.
Roomie Cafe is a free focus timer you share with friends. We make it, and working beside other people is one of the steps, so we mention it there and briefly at the end. The rest has nothing to do with us.
Before you start
1. Put your phone in another room
Silent mode is not the same as out of reach. In two experiments, people whose own smartphone was merely nearby had less mental capacity available for other tasks, even when they did not touch it. The cost was largest for people who depend most on their phones [1].
Leave it in the kitchen, in a bag in the hall, or with a parent. If you need it for homework, such as a calculator or a class chat, use a different device or ask for one thing at a time.
2. Pick the first task and write it on a sticky note
Looking at "homework" as one big pile is a common reason people stall. Choose one assignment and write a specific first action: "answer questions 1 to 5 of the chemistry sheet". Put the note where you can see it.
When you switch between tasks, part of your attention stays on the task you left. Researchers call this attention residue, and it made performance on the next task worse in experiments [2]. Finishing a small piece before you jump to another one avoids it.
3. Close every tab that is not the assignment
If a class portal is open, keep only the page you need. Close chat apps instead of muting them. In one classroom experiment, students who received many text messages during a 30 minute lecture scored 10.6% lower on a recall test than students who received few or none [3].
Interruptions you cause yourself count too. A study of office work found that people finish interrupted tasks quickly, but they do it by working faster, and they report more stress, frustration and effort afterward [4].
While you work
4. Run a timer for one block
Set a timer for 25 minutes and work on the first task only. A timer turns "do all my homework" into "do this for 25 minutes", which is easier to begin. Our guide to the Pomodoro method explains the standard 25 and 5 split and when to change it.
If 25 minutes feels too long, start with 10. The point is to start and finish a block, then lengthen it later.
5. Do the hardest or most boring task first
You have the most energy at the start. If your first block goes to the task you dislike, the rest of the evening gets easier. If you cannot face it, begin with the easiest question in that assignment and let it pull you in.
6. Write down stray thoughts instead of acting on them
When you remember a message you need to send or something you want to look up, write one line on a scrap of paper and go back to the task. This keeps the idea without opening a new tab, and you can deal with the list at your break.
7. Take a real break
At the end of each block, stand up, drink water and look out of a window. Do not pick up your phone for the break, because a five minute scroll often turns into thirty. After three or four blocks, take a longer break of 15 to 20 minutes.
When you cannot get started
8. Do five minutes, then decide
Tell yourself you will work for five minutes and may stop afterward. Most of the effort is in starting. If you are avoiding the task, our post on how to stop procrastinating covers the methods with the best evidence, and the one on why you procrastinate explains what is going on.
If trouble starting is common for you across school, work and home, how to focus with ADHD has tips written for that case.
9. Work next to someone else
Sitting with a friend who is also working can make starting easier. In two vignette studies with student samples, students reported less procrastination in group work with interdependence than in individual work, especially students who procrastinate a lot, and the difference was larger when the group made a commitment to finish on time [5]. These were vignette studies, so they show what students expect and report, not what they were observed doing.
You do not need to be in the same room. Agree on a start time, say what you will do, and check in when the block ends. Our guides to studying with friends online and study with me options list ways to do this.
A simple plan for one evening
Where Roomie Cafe fits
Roomie Cafe is a free focus timer you share with friends. You start a session, friends see you are focusing, and you can run the same 25 minute blocks together. You can try it at roomie.cafe or read why we built it in our manifesto.
FAQ
How long should I focus on homework at a time?
25 minutes is a common starting point, followed by a five minute break. Use 10 minutes if you struggle to begin, and longer blocks once focusing feels easy.
How do I focus on homework with ADHD?
The steps above still apply, with extra weight on a visible first task, short blocks and working beside someone. See our guide to focusing with ADHD for more.
What should I do when I am too tired to focus?
Do the most important task first, work in short blocks and stop when your work stops being useful. If you are tired most nights, look at how much you sleep, and talk to a doctor if it continues.
References
- Ward, A. F., Duke, K., Gneezy, A., & Bos, M. W. (2017). Brain drain: The mere presence of one's own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(2), 140 to 154.
- Leroy, S. (2009). Why is it so hard to do my work? The challenge of attention residue when switching between work tasks. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 109(2), 168 to 181.
- Rosen, L. D., Lim, A. F., Carrier, L. M., & Cheever, N. A. (2011). An empirical examination of the educational impact of text message induced task switching in the classroom. Revista de Psicologia Educativa, 17(2).
- Mark, G., Gudith, D., & Klocke, U. (2008). The cost of interrupted work: More speed and stress. Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
- Koppenborg, M., & Klingsieck, K. B. (2022). Social factors of procrastination: Group work can reduce procrastination among students. Social Psychology of Education, 25(1), 249 to 274.