How to Improve Your Concentration

Hmm, I have so much to do today. Better get onto it. So. Much. To. Do. Diddy dee, diddly dum, Okay, first I’ll write this email and then I’ll – oh, Something shiny! And a! Oh my …

Does this sound like you? Are you attracted to sparkly objects, nearby conversations, blog sites, Pinterest, Facebook and even just running around in circles instead of doing what you’re meant to be doing?

MIA: Concentration

Unfortunately, the chances are pretty high that you answered ‘yes’ to this question.

These days, we are absolutely horrible at focusing and concentrating on one thing. And to be honest, to a large extent you can’t really blame us.

There are TV’s blaring, radios shrieking, blogs blogging, shopping waiting to be shopped and distractions abounding. There’s so much to do, see, think, feel and experience that we can get caught up in the next thing, rather than what we’re doing right now.

Some people call this FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out syndrome. It’s when you’re trying to eavesdrop on your co-workers or the people on the bus next to you, while reading an article on your iPhone, replying to a text message and checking Facebook.

Why?

Well, because there’s just so much happening that it’s all too easy to miss out on something.

But what FOMO is propagating is a concerted and decisive prevalence towards multi-tasking. But multi-tasking is good, right?

We’ll let you decide.

Here are the facts:

No longer do we focus on one task single-mindedly. That’d be almost impossible to do nowadays. Instead, we flit from website to website, task to task, device to device, trying to do it all and be it all.

We draw out our deadlines, work longer hours than ever and rarely, if ever, actually switch off from our working and social lives. We are constantly connected. We’re on the bus, on the couch, in bed, on the toilet all while checking our phones frantically, just in case someone has contacted us or has something interesting to share that we may, shock horror, have missed out on. As a result we’re wired, stressed, anxious and frantic.

Does that really sound like something you want?

In a recent article I wrote about the concept of flow, which occurs when you’re completely absorbed in the task that you’re doing. Flow results in higher creativity, more involvement in your task and a greater sense of enjoyment and satisfaction. Flow is what happens when an artist sits down to paint or a writer sits down to write.

Flow is also connected to meditation, which helps us control our minds and take charge of our thoughts. More on that later.

So now that you know what multi-tasking results in and what flow is capable of achieving, how would you rather behave?

Making the decision to focus

If you’ve chosen flow over distraction, then you’re in the right place. The rest of this article will show you how can you boost your ability to concentrate and focus while achieving flow.

But first, you need to make the decision to focus. Focus is all about taking control of your busy mind and forcing it to concentrate on something. And each time you take control you make the choice to choose focus over multi-tasking.

Now I’m not saying that you’ll have to choose to focus forever. Eventually, you will develop the skill to sit down at your desk and automatically focus on what you need to be doing.

But to begin with, you’ll need to make the choice to focus first. And you’ll probably need to remind yourself every few minutes to continue focusing, particularly on boring and tedious tasks. But if you stick to it, if you can master the art of focus, the world will be your oyster, my darlings.

Tips to boost your ability to concentrate

Made the choice? Awesome. But don’t worry; we’re not going to leave you there. Here are some other tips that will help you boost your ability to concentrate and knock down distractions.

Tip 1. Meditate

Remember when I mentioned that flow was a little like meditating? Well, this is kinda crucial because meditating can actually help you master the art of flow.

This is because meditating is all about controlling the ‘crazy monkey mind’ as the Buddhists describe it. It’s about taking charge of your thoughts and learning to focus on one specific thing.

Meditating can help you tune out distractions and improve your concentration. It can also help you feel calmer, more satisfied and more content.

Oh, and did I mention the meditating also boosts your health too? Meditation has been shown to improve cognitive performance including memory and concentration, as well as help decrease blood pressure and stress levels and increase your immune function.

There are stacks of other benefits too, but basically you can’t go wrong with meditation. It may very well be the one single thing you can do that offers the most benefits to your body.

Tip 2. Have brain breaks

When you’re starting out, concentrating for a long period of time will feel impossible sometimes. Which is why it’s really important to schedule in brain breaks every hour.

A brain break could be going to the kitchen and making a tea or grabbing a glass of water, or it might be walking around the office or doing a lap around the block. You could also just stare out the window for a few minutes, but you might get a few weird looks from people.

A good idea is to schedule your brain break into your phone so that it pops up as a reminder every hour. This will help you stick to your breaks and make them easier to remember.

Tip 3. Never, never, never, give up

Okay, so sometimes there’s stuff you have to do that you really don’t want to do. Like studying for an exam, listening to a speech or presentation or reading a chapter of a boring book.

But by persevering you are working on your mental concentration muscles. Think of it like a gym for your brain. If you tell yourself that you’ll read one more page, study for ten minutes longer or try to listen for the rest of the talk, what you’re really doing is sending your brain to the gym.

And what happens at the gym?

Well, besides disputes over squat racks, people get stronger. Fitter. Tougher.

And who doesn’t what a stronger, fitter and tougher brain?

Tip 4. Do the worst thing first

Let’s say you have five things to do today. Four of them are kinda fun, but the fifth one is a doozy. Think snoreville with a capital ‘s’.

So what do you do? Well, you sidestep procrastination and do the boring task first. This way, you don’t have to worry about it and you get to your fun tasks sooner.

Genius, right?

Tip 5. Limit your distractions

To begin with, I also recommend limiting the amount of distractions in your workplace. Okay, you might not be able to kick out the loud co-worker or the guy who chews with his mouth open, but you can slide on some headphones (playing classical music) to tune them out.

You can also use software to restrict your access to the web while you’re working on a project so you have no choice but to focus and you can give your phone to a friend to keep with instructions to not give it back until you’re finished.

There are plenty of ways you can make your desk and surrounding area more concentration savvy too. And if you’re not sure where to start, begin by looking at the things that you get distracted by. Is it your ‘motivating’ picture of a beach house in Hawaii that you spend hours staring at each day, or is it your habit to always check Facebook when you’re feeling ‘stuck’?

Watch out for distractions and then actively look for ways to eliminate them.

Tip 6. Have faith

And finally, my last tip is to have faith in your brain. It might sound silly, but even if you feel like you will never be able to concentrate properly, know that you have already mastered the skill.

Don’t believe me?

Think about all of the times that you’ve sat in front of the TV and have been completely absorbed by your show or movie. Or when you were playing that video game and when you looked up, hours had gone by without you realizing. Or how about the book that you lose yourself in, the music that you listen to each day or the hobby that you love.

All of this stuff is concentration in action. Get it? You’ve already done it. You already have the skill available.

Now you just need to direct it to stuff that is harder to concentrate on, like work tasks, studying and essays.

Trust me, you can do it. You will do it. And you’ll be amazing at it.