Concentrating takes a lot of effort and time. Even if you exercise for a week or even a month you won't get satisfying results if your brain isn't working right. However, there are very simple ways to improve your concentration quickly and effectively. If you are having a hard time concentrating, then this article might come in handy.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Long-Term Solutions
Step 1. Rest
It has been scientifically proven that the factor that most affects concentration is rest. To concentrate, you need to have a calm mind, but it will be broken if you have not rested well. So, try to get enough sleep and at the right times. Fall asleep and wake up regularly and you will have the key to being more focused.
Sleeping too much isn't good either. A prolonged increase in the duration of night sleep upsets the natural rhythm and can make you lazy. Avoid this by scheduling your alarm to wake you up on time
Step 2. Develop a program
You always have to get organized, whatever you want to do. If you start working without a pattern, there is a risk that your attention will be caught by other thoughts, such as the curiosity to check emails, chat or surf the Internet. If you don't have a purpose, you will only waste time and be at the mercy of nagging ideas instead of focusing on the most important tasks.
To avoid this risk, prepare a clear plan that meets your needs. Insert a few breaks of 5-10 minutes and use these moments to check your emails, then close your inbox and dedicate yourself to your most important task. When organizing the work ahead, make sure you leave enough room for fun, study, and sleep
Step 3. Meditate
The practice of meditation will be extremely helpful. Indeed, when you try to meditate, concentration is the first thing you need to learn to manage. Meditating every day allows you to improve your concentration techniques.
Step 4. Choose a place to focus
Obviously some places are more suitable than others. Libraries, study rooms and private rooms are the best. More than anything else, the place you choose doesn't have to include distractions. Try to stay away from others if you want to focus on your work.
Step 5. If you want to become a master of the art of concentration, follow a correct and balanced diet
The excesses at the table disturb digestion, can make you sick and promote drowsiness. A healthy and light meal, on the other hand, will improve your ability to concentrate. As Thomas Jefferson said: "We rarely regret having eaten too little." You may also find that in order to feel full, you don't have to eat the quantities you thought were right to feed yourself.
Step 6. Train frequently
The ability to concentrate depends a lot on our physical well-being. If you are tired, sick and haunted by a thousand ailments, it will be difficult to gather your energy. Of course it is always possible, but only more complicated. However, try to make your life easier and give your physical health top priority:
- Getting enough sleep.
- Staying fit.
- Maintaining the body weight within the norm.
- Practicing physical activity on a regular basis.
Step 7. Take a break and change the air
Always working in the same place would drive anyone crazy, but a few interruptions can solve the problem. This way you will be more active and feel more motivated to work.
Step 8. Remember that practice makes perfect
Concentration is an activity like any other. Clearly, the more we practice it, the more efficient it will be. You can't expect to become a runner without training. The same goes for concentration. Think of it as a muscle - the longer you keep it running, the stronger it will become.
Part 2 of 3: Quick Remedies
Step 1. Use ear plugs
They are very useful. Unless it is night or you live in a quiet place in complete solitude, there are always annoying noises produced by people, machinery, outdoor environments and so on. The caps are likely to be a little uncomfortable, so avoid using them for too long (for example, take them off after an hour).
Step 2. Make a mark on a piece of paper when you get distracted
Divide a sheet into three parts: morning, afternoon, and evening. Whenever you find yourself thinking of something else, put a mark in the correct section. After some time you will find that, thanks to this method, the mind will no longer tend to wander so often!
- Awareness is the first step in solving a problem. So, with this strategy you will realize all the times you lose focus. Knowing what you are doing may also help you improve your concentration without any additional effort.
- In this way you will be able to understand the moments in which you are inclined to distract yourself. For example, you may lose focus more often in the morning when you are still tired and not very alert. In any case, this is a sign: it probably suggests that you sleep more or eat a healthy breakfast to improve concentration.
Step 3. Give yourself a moment of distraction every day and let your mind wander
If you've scheduled a break at a particular time of day - for example, at 5:30 pm when you get home from school or work - you will tend not to get distracted around 11:00 or 15:00. If you lose focus at the wrong times, think that you have a scheduled break and keep your mind focused on whatever task you are doing.
Step 4. Try to improve the oxygen supply to the brain
Blood is the main vehicle of oxygen in the body. However, it tends to stagnate in the lower limbs due to gravity, hindering the oxygen supply to the brain and, consequently, impairing concentration. Therefore, to oxygenate the brain, get up from time to time and take two steps: you will circulate the blood in the right direction.
If you're stuck at work and can't find time to work out, try doing desk exercises, such as isometric and aerobic ones
Step 5. Remember to briefly rest your brain approximately every hour or, if you can, every 30 minutes
If you have to stay focused for several hours at a time, your processing power and concentration level are bound to drop. You should better organize your work and give yourself breaks or naps to recharge and keep your concentration to the maximum.
Step 6. Learn to do one thing at a time and get it done
If you immerse yourself in a thousand things at the same time and start with a new project without having completed the previous one, the brain will understand that it is normal to move from one commitment to another. If you really want to improve your concentration, start pushing your mind to finish one task "before" starting another.
Apply this philosophy to other aspects of your life. You may think that finishing reading a book before starting another has nothing to do with finishing one task before undertaking another, but if you think about it, they are two sides of the same coin. Even the simplest tasks affect other areas of life
Step 7. Learn the spider technique
What happens if you vibrate a tuning fork near a spider and its web? The spider will approach to understand where the noise is coming from to understand what it is. But what if you keep vibrating the tuning fork near the spider web? After a while the spider will stop approaching. He knows what awaits him and, therefore, he ignores it.
The spider technique consists of behaving like a spider. You have to expect distractions that will threaten your concentration: a door slamming, a bird singing, a street performer playing… Whatever it is, keep working on your task. Like the spider, it ignores distractions that can cause you to lose focus
Step 8. Work at your desk, not in bed
The bed is where you sleep, while the desk is where you work and concentrate. The mind operates these associations unconsciously, so if you try to work sitting on the bed, you will send the mind a green light to "sleep". It is counterproductive because in this way you ask the brain to do two things at the same time: concentrate and sleep. Rather, invite him to focus or sleep by choosing the right place.
Step 9. Try the rule of five more things
It's very simple. Whenever you want to throw in the towel or lose focus, try adding five things to what you're already doing. If you need to solve math problems, pick five more. If you have to read, move on another five pages. If you need to focus, give yourself another five minutes. Find the energies within yourself to quintuple the work, whatever it is.
Part 3 of 3: Keyword Technique
Step 1. Try the keyword technique
The only thing you have to do is find the right keyword in relation to the subject you are studying or the assignment you are doing and, whenever you lose focus, get distracted or find yourself with your mind elsewhere, start repeating over and over. the key word you had chosen until you get back to work. The keyword is not a single word that is always fixed, but it can change according to the subject of study or the development of the work. There are no rules for choosing it, but any word or verbal phrase capable of offering the right concentration is valid.
Let's say you need to read an article on guitars. As a keyword you could use "guitar". Start reading each sentence slowly and, if you get distracted, lose your train of thought or get lost as you go along, start repeating the keyword until your mind returns to focus on the article and you can resume reading. Also, to improve concentration, get into the habit of meditating for at least ten minutes. You will see that thanks to this practice you will be able to make progress and get better results
Advice
- Always be positive when you have a goal to achieve!
- When you get discouraged, think about the successes you have achieved in the past.
- You must have a rigorous study program.
- Divide your time in order to complete all the subjects to study.
- Don't be too demanding of yourself. It's not a problem if you lose focus every now and then. You are a human being, not a machine.
- If you are not convinced that you have completed a task, you risk only wasting time.
- Create a calm and inviting atmosphere that allows you to focus.
- When you notice that your mind is moving away from what it should be focusing on, send it in the right direction. Don't allow her to wander elsewhere.
- Commit to your work. Don't get distracted by problems and worries. Establish a reward system and give yourself gratification when you can stay focused.
- If you go to school, study each subject hard and take a break in the last 5 minutes of the lesson.
- Learn to understand distracting gestures, objects or noises and stay away from them before you get to work.
- Do not stay in the same place for too long, otherwise you will get bored quickly and will not be able to study effectively. Give yourself a few breaks or naps every 25 minutes. Since yellow is the color that promotes concentration, try using a giant poster of this color in your room, but if you are overexposed, you may feel overwhelmed.
- If you are too sleepy to concentrate, it is unlikely that you will finish a paragraph of the book you are reading.
Warnings
- Remember that the greatest personalities would have accomplished nothing if they lost their focus.
- Don't work in crowded places as you will be easily distracted.
