Focus/Concentration Issue

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musicalfeet

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Does anyone else experience concentration/focus lapses while doing the self-assessments and even when doing loads of passages? I realize my concentration dips about 4 passages in, and then I'll start missing some really ridiculous questions. How do you guys maintain focus? I have less of a problem with this on the AAMC FLs because in each section they change it up with different topics, but when I have a day of say " I'm going to do 7 physics passages", I'll get bored of physics after about 3 passages.

Should I just do more subjects and less quantity of same subject passages while practicing? Like, do 10 passages, but only do 2 physics, 2 chem, 2 verbal, 2 bio and 2 ochem? I also have a huge inability to do large amounts of passages in a day before I get bored. Maybe I just lack discipline. UGH.

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I pretty much do 2 passages per subject per day (since I have trouble with physics/chemistry I just throw in an extra 2). We all lose focus at times when going through passages and yeah it can be tough. I would suggest two things: 1) try to highlight- since this helps you keep your mind active it should keep you more focused 2) take 5 seconds between passages and look away/close your eyes - your mind will always wander and this is a tip I picked up from one SDNers here on the forum. By doing this, you intentionally take a mini-break between passages to clear your mind, instead of unintentionally losing focus during a passage. You can close your eyes or look away from the passage and take deep breaths. After those 5 seconds, you start the next passage. This way you are more focused when tackling the passage.
 
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