We live in a busy loop. We try to balance our time between family, work, health, and relationships. Our goal is to make everyone happy by doing a lot, but we usually don’t get much accomplished. It’s like trying to accomplish tasks from your to-do list while also trying to stay afloat. The real problem is not how much time we have, but how we use our time and energy.
The majority of your tasks each day are repetitive. But the unpleasant truth is that it doesn’t lead you anywhere constructive. The person remains distracted and does not address the issue, instead choosing to delay the problem by procrastinating.
If you’re easily distracted or low on energy, then more time won’t help you. A Harvard study found that we spend about 47% of our time thinking about something other than what we’re doing. If you don’t focus and put forth effort, you will never learn to manage your time well.
How to Sharpen Your Focus And Increase Your Attention Span
A strong focus is based on three fundamental things:
- Mental Strength: Your mental strength is determined by how firmly you can direct your attention, maintain concentration and uphold your mental energy. When you direct all your energies toward your goals, your mental strength is utilized properly.
- Clear Thinking Patterns: These reflect how sharply and efficiently your mind can process information. You cannot focus on any objective or goals if your thinking pattern is disoriented. It is imperative that you keep a clear head when focusing your attention on goals.
- Mindfulness & Awareness: Everyone gets distracted, but your skill to control and manage your mental state to overcome these distractions demonstrates your mindfulness and awareness. Mindfulness also extends to mindful meditation, where one is aware of the present and chooses to live in the present. You can expect better focus when you are completely aware of your present situation.
Fundamental #1 – Mental Strength
How strong is your focus, concentration and mental energy? Here are the key factors that influence your capacity for Mental Strength:
Your Focus Muscle
Your ability to focus your attention, retain your concentration, and sustain your mental energy is determined by your mental power. This means that you are using your mental strength well when you focus all your energy on your goals.
Focusing is something you have to keep practicing to get better at. Strengthening your concentration muscle will help you focus better. Having the ability to focus is important for being successful in school, at work, and in life in general.
The mind-muscle connection can be summarized as a deliberate and conscious effort to engage the muscle. The difference between passively moving weight and actively moving weight is determined by how well you can control the tension.
How To Develop Focus Muscle?
Just like how physical muscles can be trained to become stronger, so can the brain. Your brain is in charge of maintaining focus. If you work a muscle and then rest it, it will grow stronger. Developing focus is an ongoing process that will get easier with practice.
In order to improve your strength, you need to both practice resistance training and do other activities that challenge you mentally. There are a few ways to help develop focus muscle, such as paying attention to detail, staying disciplined, and putting in the extra effort.
Fundamental #2 – Clear Thinking Patterns
How sharply and efficiently your mind processes information? We can help improve this through:
Efficient Mental Models
Thinking requires mental energy. We use up a lot of energy by thinking too much about things, or thinking about things that don’t matter. Mental Models help you think more effectively by breaking down complicated concepts and making it easier and faster to make decisions.
Here’re some examples:
- First Principles Thinking
- Circle of Control
- Opportunity Cost
- The 80/20 Rule
- Retrograde Thinking
- Diminishing Returns
- Finding Leverage
A Simple System To Manage Information Proactively
The brain has a mechanism for identifying crucial events by picking out a few items we see or hear and holding on to them. Selective Attention is when you focus on only a few of the things you senses pick up. The lizard brain is responsible for this so that we don’t become overwhelmed by the many things we see, hear, and feel.
Paying attention, according to neuroscientists, consists of two parts [10] :
- Picking important things out of the continual flow of information that reaches our senses (for example, sight, hearing, and touch), and
- Safeguarding these important things from being overridden by less important pieces of information.
Filter out the unimportant information and focus on the what is important.
Fundamental #3 – Mindfulness & Awareness
The practice of mindfulness involves being aware of your thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations as well as the external world around you in each moment.
Presence is cultivated through mindfulness practice in order to active inquiry the nature and functioning of the mind. [13]
If you want to be more mindful and aware, you need to learn how to better control your mental state and how to deal with distractions.
Here’s how to make mindfulness part of your regular routine:
1. Focus On Your Breathing When You Feel Distracted
According to research, slow, regulated breathing was found to be associated with improved feelings of wellbeing, relaxation, and mental clarity. Adult volunteers who were trained in diaphragmatic or “belly” breath exercises for eight weeks had a significant decrease in the stress hormone cortisol, as well as an improvement in their ability to focus for long periods of time. [18]
Use the 4-7-8 breath when you feel distracted. Inhale deeply while counting to four, then hold your breath while counting to seven, and then exhale slowly while counting to eight. There will be a total of four patterns repeated. The next time you find yourself distracted during a mindful meditation, simply return your focus to your breath and continue counting.
2. Try The Reel It In Method
The Reel It In Method is a way to overcome distractions by being more mindful of what you are doing.
This method can help you to immediately transform a distraction into something useful, and practicing it regularly can help you to improve your focus.
This method can help you deal with the majority of distractions where you have a choice, such as clicking on a Facebook notification, replying to a WhatsApp message, or worrying about something you have to do next week.
If you use the “Reel It In” Method, you’ll be able to make the right choice every time. Every time you’re distracted, you make a decision that becomes more and more concrete.
How to Boost Brain Power At Any Age
A good memory depends on how healthy and active your brain is. There are many things you can do to improve your memory and mental performance, whether you are a student studying for final exams, a working professional, or a senior citizen.
Scientists have discovered that it is possible to teach old dogs new tricks when it comes to the brain. The human brain is highly adaptable and can change even as a person ages. This ability is known as neuroplasticity. Your brain can form new neural pathways, change existing connections, and adapt and react in different ways with the right stimulation.
The brain’s ability to change itself is true for learning and memory. The brain’s natural ability to change and adapt can be used to improve cognitive abilities, learning and memory at any age. These nine tips can show you how.
Tip 1: Give your brain a workout
Your brain has developed millions of neural pathways by the time you reach adulthood. These help you process and recall information quickly, solve familiar problems, and execute habitual tasks. If you never venture off of the beaten path, you aren’t providing your brain with the stimulation it needs to continue growing and developing. I think it’s important to mix things up every once in a while to keep things interesting.
The more you use your memory, the better it will be. This is because, like muscles, your brain will become better at processing and remembering information the more you use it. But not all activities are equal. To keep your brain healthy and fit, you should do exercises that are different from your normal routine and challenge you to use and improve new brain pathways.
Four key elements of a good brain-boosting activity
- It teaches you something new. No matter how intellectually demanding the activity, if it’s something you’re already good at, it’s not a good brain exercise. The activity needs to be something that’s unfamiliar and out of your comfort zone. To strengthen the brain, you need to keep learning and developing new skills.
- It’s challenging. The best brain-boosting activities demand your full and close attention. It’s not enough that you found the activity challenging at one point. It must still be something that requires mental effort. For example, learning to play a challenging new piece of music counts; playing a difficult piece you’ve already memorized does not.
- It’s a skill you can build on. Look for activities that allow you to start at an easy level and work your way up as your skills improve —always pushing the envelope so you continue to stretch your capabilities. When a previously difficult level starts to feel comfortable, that means it’s time to tackle the next level of performance.
- It’s rewarding. Rewards support the brain’s learning process. The more interested and engaged you are in the activity, the more likely you’ll continue doing it and the greater the benefits you’ll experience. So, choose activities that, while challenging, are still enjoyable and satisfying.
What is something new that you have always wanted to try? This could be learning to play an instrument, make pottery, juggle, play chess, speak a foreign language, dance the tango, or mastering a new skill. You can improve your memory by doing any of these activities, as long as they are challenging and engaging.
Tip 2: Don’t skip the physical exercise
Although it is important to keep your mind active, this doesn’t mean you should never do any physical activity. Physical exercise helps your brain stay sharp. It helps improve your brain function by increasing the oxygen levels and reduces the risks for disorders that can cause memory loss, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
exercise can help to improve your mood by reducing stress hormones and increasing helpful brain chemicals Exercise is important for neuroplasticity because it helps the growth of new cells and connections.
Tip 3: Get your Zs
There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you need to survive and the amount of sleep you need to function well. The majority of adults need between 7.5 and 9 hours of sleep per night to avoid sleep deprivation. Even skimping on a few hours makes a difference! All of the skills that involve memory, creativity, problem-solving, and critical thinking are weakened.
Sleep is critical to learning and memory in a fundamental way. The research showed that sleep is necessary for memory consolidation. The key memory-enhancing activity occurs during the deepest stages of sleep.
Get on a regular sleep schedule. Try to maintain a regular sleep schedule by going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. Although it may be tempting to break your routine on weekends and holidays, try to stick to it as much as possible.
You should avoid using any type of screen for at least an hour before you go to bed. The blue light that is emitted by TVs, tablets, phones, and computers has been known to trigger wakefulness and suppress hormones such as melatonin that make you sleepy.
Cut back on caffeine. Caffeine affects people differently. Some people are highly sensitive to caffeine and it can interfere with their sleep patterns if they drink coffee in the morning. You may be able to improve your sleep by reducing or eliminating your intake of caffeine.
Tip 4: Make time for friends
When you think of ways to improve memory, do you think of more lighthearted pastimes such as hanging out with friends or enjoying a funny movie, or do you think of “serious” activities such as wrestling with the New York Times crossword puzzle or mastering chess strategy? If you’re like most people, it’s probably the former. Numerous studies have found that having a social life full of friends leads to cognitive benefits.
Tip 5: Keep stress in check
Stress is one of the brain’s worst enemies. Stress that occurs over a long period of time can cause brain damage and affect the hippocampus, which is responsible for forming new memories and retrieving old ones. Studies have also linked stress to memory loss.
Tips for managing stress
- Set realistic expectations (and be willing to say no!)
- Take breaks throughout the day
- Express your feelings instead of bottling them up
- Set a healthy balance between work and leisure time
- Focus on one task at a time, rather than trying to multi-task
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