How can I concentrate during training? During an actual over the board game, I can be very concentrated. It's almost as if I feel things like the danger an uncastled king is in, and it matters that I find the very best move.

But when I try to improve my chess at home alone with the board and the pieces, and do some exercise positions from a book, the feeling just isn't there. I look very superficially, my mind wanders, I have tunnel vision, and taking more time doesn't lead to more ideas.

What's a good way to improve my concentration level during training?
If you have a demanding job, studying in the evenings can be difficult. You can even have the feeling that your brain simply says, "No".

Personal Productivity Stack Exchange has many questions related to concentration, and many of the answers there should be relevant to chess training:


Using the pomodoro technique: divide tasks or study session into sequences of intervals of roughly 25 minutes. Take a break after each 25-minute interval. This is one "pomodoro". Take a longer break after four pomodoros. (I'm just covering the basics of the technique here, obviously. One of the questions that mentions the pomodoro technique is My thoughts distract me, how do I keep my focus?.)
If your mind still keeps wandering in spite of this technique, there are two things you can consider:


Meditation. (I haven't tried it myself, but it is often mentioned on Personal Productivity SE.)
Some vigorous exercise before a study session or during a longer break. (See also How to quickly restore concentration?, which is actually about restoring concentration after an interruption, but the answers are more generally applicable.)

Make sure that you get enough sleep. In addition, you can also take a nap before a study session.
Some people find it helpful to visualize goals to maintain motivation. Alexander Heyne (on YouTube) proposes a different approach to goals; see his videos on goal setting &amp; outcome goals versus habit tracking (and process goals): Why goal setting DOESN'T WORK (and what does) and Stop Setting Goals - Stack Your Habits. He does not talk about chess study, but his ideas should also work for this.
If concentration is still difficult in spite of all of the above, don't keep "banging your head against the wall". If you repeatedly force yourself to keep on studying in spite of being tired, you can create negative associations with studying chess.