Techniques to Improve Concentration
In this article we shall cover some methods and techniques to help you
improve your concentration. These are simple but effective steps that will
go a long way to aid you focus on the tasks at hand without being taxing
or difficult to put into effect. However, please understand that improving
your concentration is not something that will happen overnight, you have
to be consistent and regular in the application of the methods given
below, for them to bear fruit.
What is concentration?
In order to improve anything, you must first have a clear understanding of
what it is. What is concentration? In the simplest form of explaining, it is
nothing but the ability to take your mind off multiple things and devote
your complete focus and attention to the singular task at hand.
What do you want to concentrate on?
As mentioned earlier, it is very important to decide and finalize the matter
on which you wish to concentrate. The decision making part has to be
done properly. You may be faced with a lot of issues that require your
attention, but out of such issues you have to prioritize and select the one
that is the most urgent.
Rule out the distractions
Now there are some people who can focus and work despite having loud
music playing in the background or with the television on, but for the vast
majority of others who cannot do so, it is very important to make sure that
there are no external factors to distract you. The principle here is to avoid
what is called the “sensory overload”. It has been showed in many
researches that the average human being can concentrate better when the
number of sensory inputs is minimal. And if you can’t get to a quiet place,
learn to shut your mind towards the distraction.
Give it your full
The key to attaining focus is to elevate the particular task in front of you
to the most important status, and thereby give it your full. This sense of
priority that you attach to anything will involuntarily help you
concentrating better.
Don’t panic, be calm
Concentration stems from a calm mind. Don’t be jittery when face with a
task. And this has more to do with the principles of good and bad energy.
When you stay calm, positive and creative energy flows through you,
whereas, when you panic, the distractive negative energy deters you from
being focused on the job at hand.
Time-outs
You may have heard this countless times before, that you should take a
break at regular intervals to be more productive. And let’s just reinstate
that fact here. It is actually true and holds good especially for people who
have trouble in concentrating. Medical research has proved it beyond
doubt that the attention span of an average person does not exceed an
hour and a half at a stretch.
Take frequent breaks, go out or walk to the window and take a breath of
fresh air to rejuvenate your senses. Have a coffee or some light snack and
think about something completely unrelated to the work you were doing
prior to the break. This is very important, if you keep thinking over the
same issue over and over again, even during the break time, the very idea
of taking the break is made redundant.
Energy flow
Learn to control the flow of energy through your body. The concept here
is simple, as mentioned earlier, positive energy helps you focus and
concentrate more while negative energy does the opposite to you. This
flow of energy can be controlled by you to a large extent. It does take a lot
of time to figure this out and master it, but it is by no way unattainable.
The key here is to understand what makes you feel positive and content
and then making sure that you are, in some way, in the presence of that
factor when working. Similarly stay away from the variables that give a
sense of foreboding or make you feel unhappy.
Meditation
We have saved the best for the last. Meditation can be the most effective
tool to help you focus better and concentrate. Consider it as the most
powerful weapon in your arsenal. Learn at least a few meditation
techniques and make sure that you practice them daily for a minimum of
half an hour to one hour.
And when you do meditation, watch the breathing. Many half-baked
theories suggest that you should take conscious effort to control your
breathing while meditating. But is not so, in fact, instead of controlling it,
just let it be. Simply observe the way you are breathing. This helps you to
focus as well.
The following five tips can help you to learn how to concentrate, no
matter what environment you are working in:
F = Five More
There are two different types of people – those who have learnt how to get
round frustration and those who dearly wish that they had. This one is for
you – if you are halfway through doing something and you fell like
throwing in the towel, do just five more.
Five more minutes, read five more pages, finish five more letters,
whatever it is just do five more before you give up and give in. This is a
technique used by many different people in different walks of life. Athletes
use it to push themselves past exhaustion point or through the pain barrier
and you can use it to build up your concentration and focus by pushing
past frustration.
Give it a go – you’ll find that, once you get past a certain point, your brain
will kick into gear again and your focus will come back.
O – One Think at a Time
“If I look confused, it’s because I’m thinking” – Samuel Goldwyn
Do you feel as though you are completely disorganized and cannot
concentrate? Is it because your mind is usually on several other things at
once, leaving you no room to focus on what really needs to be done? Use
the Godfather plan to overcome it and make your mind a deal it simply
can’t refuse.
Believe it or not, your mind can be bribed. When you tell yourself (or your
mind) not to worry about something, especially if it is not a high priority,
you will automatically focus on it. Instead tell your mind to do something
with a time limit. For example, you need to pay off a credit card debt and,
to do that, you need to work out what your disposable income is. Tell your
mind that you will do it tonight when you get home but, for the next 30
minutes, you need to concentrate on a presentation you are preparing for
a high-powered client. That should clear your mind and allow you to focus
on what’s important.
If you can’t clear your mind, write everything down on a to-do list. That
way, you will find you forget about them until you come against them on
your list. A to-do list means that you are not having to use up your brain
as a mental to-do list, thus freeing it up for bigger and better things.
C – Conquer Procrastination
Procrastinators are people who put off doing something especially things
that should be done in a timely manner. Next time you feel like putting
off doing something, ask yourself three questions:
Do I really have to do this job?
Should I get it done so it isn’t constantly playing on my mind?
Will the job be any easier if I leave it to later?
Asking yourself those questions can push your mind into concentrating on
a specific task because they make you actually think about the task. They
make you face up to the fact that it isn’t going away and that putting it off
constantly will just make you feel more guilty; that will lead to the task
taking up much more of your time than is necessary.
U = Use your hands as a form of blinkers
Imagine your mind is a camera and that your eyes are the aperture. Most
of the time, your eyes take in what’s going on and your brain is acting as a
kind of wide-angle focus. We are actually capable of thinking about
several things at once and still operating efficiently.
So, let’s imagine that you want to switch your mind to telephoto focus.
You need to focus 100% of your concentration on one thing to get it
done, say, a difficult letter that you need to write. Cup your hands around
the sides of your eyes, thus blocking out everything around you – in effect,
they are out of sight, thus they are out of your mind. Cupping your hand
around your eyes focuses your concentration on one thing at a time and
you can actually train your brain in this way.
It’s called classical conditioning and it was first discovered in the 1890’s
by Pavlov, a Russian psychologist. He noticed that his dogs salivated when
they were fed and eventually began to salivate whenever he walked into a
room – because they associated him with food. He conducted an
experiment whereby he rang a bell and gave his dog food at the same
time. After a number of times repeating this, the dogs would salivate just
at the sound of the bell. In the same way, by cupping your hands around
your eyes and repeating it you can train your brain into learning that this
makes you focus and concentrate on the task at hand.
S = Seeing as if it is for the first or the last time
Have you ever heard the saying, “in the here and now”? How often can
you truly say that you are present mentally? By that I mean that, more
often than not, when you are, let’s say sitting at your desk, your mind is
more than likely elsewhere. Next time you find your mind wandering
away from you are and what you are doing, take a good look around you
and open your eyes to what you see. Study your surroundings, truly see it
and concentrate on it and your mind will snap back to attention.