beginner advice

Hello. Currently, I am stuck around 300 elo, but when I play OTB or on Lichess, my rating seems to be more between 800s on the lower end and 1050 on the higher end. I've beaten bots up to 1600 elo (not sure if bots are actually a good standard to measure by) but for some reason when i play online i zone out and constantly can't keep focus like i do on OTB.(I know to slow down, I know to take more time, more practice, more play, more puzzles, and most of the basic tips people give to beginners) It seems like all the advice points to adding everything together, keep doing everything, and at some point, things will just "click," and then I'll get better over time but it doesn't or my increase is quickly dashed by a bad week. Then, after getting better comes the natural plateaus and increases over time. How do I get to that point where it just "clicks"...?

Those general pieces of advice you mention are all good advice. I'll just throw out two others (which you may also have heard before).

1) Not sure on your preferred time controls, but it looks like you're mostly rapid. If you're playing rapid, (and feel like you're losing focus sometimes), try to use your *opponent's* clock to think about your next move, as well - try to anticipate his move (good mental/tactical exercise in itself), and think about how you'd respond if he does X,Y, or Z. (And if he does something you don't expect, oh well, you've still got your clock to work with).

2) If you haven't already, mix in a few daily games, or even a daily tournament. The results will probably be rough at first, but don't worry about that. Having a handful of games-in-progress you can call up, stare at, and really chew on, without any immediate time pressure -- that can really beef up your "thinking ahead muscles".

I appreciate your advice. I should try adding in some daily games/tournaments. I recently switched to 15/10 games, and my focus isn't hindered by the time constraints of a typical 10 mins rapid game. I'm not sure if it's because I'm playing mostly on my phone (I easily tune out while using my phone normally as well) or if having the physical board and opponent in front of me increases my need to focus.

Hi there.

I am rated over 2400 online (https://www.chess.com/member/ppandachess). I created a free course that will teach you a training plan to improve. Feel free to check it out: https://www.panda-chess.com/daily-improvement-plan

Use a physical chess board when playing against bots, solving tactics, and etc. It does help in overall playing improvement. Big tendency in working on the screen is "just clicks" and you tend not to think and just guess things out..