Ability to concentrate on a particular thing and directed mental efforts towards it is the core of learning new things and achieving optimum results. This is what decides your failure or success. But it’s difficult to focus and remain focused. It becomes more of a challenge when you are constantly surrounded by distractions in the form of mobile phones and social media. In today’s always-connected high-tech world distractions are literally at your fingertips. So what can we do to remain focused? Fortunately, the focus is more like a mental muscle the more you work it the stronger it gets.
Achieving and improving mental focus is possible, but here too you need a lot of conscious effort. There is no wonder pill to gain focus and improve concentration but there certainly are tried and tested ways of training yourself and your brain to do more. Some of the tips and tricks backed by psychological sciences are discussed here that can help you achieve laser-like mental presence and focus.
Start By Assessing Your Mental Focus
Before you start working on improving your mental focus you may need to assess what your current capabilities are. How long can you focus and with how much precision. You may need to consider following statements and analyze yourself with which are you more coherent with.
- I daydream often when working on an important task.
- I find it difficult to avoid distractions.
- I often forget about what I was on to and have to restart.
- I tend to focus on difficult tasks during times of the day when I know I will be the most alert.
- I break tasks into shorter segments and like to set goals.
- If I find my mind wandering, I’ll take a short break and then come right back to what I was working on.
If you find yourself more in accordance with first three statements you need to work more on your concentrating abilities. If you find second of set statements describing your condition better you probably have fair focusing abilities that can be improved with little practice.
Eliminate Distractions
We all know how we get distracted during work. These intrusions that deviate our mind from work on hand are of two types.
- Internal distractions.
- External distractions.
Internal distractions include anxiety, fidgets, exhaustion, worry and poor motivation. These distractions are difficult to control compared to external distractions. Few strategies may help to reduce these. Make sure you are well-rested prior to starting your work. Another thing you can do is to use positive thoughts and imagination towards your work and goals. Staying motivated helps a lot. You can use motivational videos and material to keep your spirits high. Keeping your mindset positive is essential toward remaining focused.
Related: 5 Most Common Mental Health Disorders In Pakistan
External distractions include environmental disturbances like television, radio and maybe an obnoxious co-worker who drops by frequently for a chat. While avoiding some external distractions are as simple as turning off television it becomes difficult when it comes to a co-worker, child or spouse interrupting you during work. One way to deal with this is to specify your work timings and mention not to disturb you during this time. Trying out a quiet location in your house, working in a library or a quiet coffee shop might all be good options.
Avoid Multi-tasking
Multi-tasking may sound great when it comes to doing a lot of things in shorter time but it turns out people are actually bad at it. It turns out that our attention resources are limited and trying to focus on a lot of things at once decreases efficiency. Think of your focus like a spotlight when it shines at a spot you can see clearly all details of that particular spot, on the other hand, spreading that ray of light in a dark room may only make you notice shadows and lines of things within reach.
Part of improving your mental focus is all about making the most of the resources you have available. Stop multitasking and instead give your full attention to one thing at a time.
Live in The Present
When you are regretting your past and afraid of future you cannot focus on life going on. To live in the moment is key to remain focused. To be fully engaged in present needs your conscious efforts to neglect all physical and emotional disturbances and be totally tuned into present moment. This seemingly simple tip has vast consequences on your focus and concentration. It makes you more vigilant about what’s going on now rather than what has happened and what will happen.
Meditation
Meditation teaches you mindfulness. Like taking deep breaths and keeping your attention to the process of breathing while inhale and exhale. It might appear simple but once you start practicing it you will it’s quite a task. Continued practice will make you learn how to deviate your attention from distractions and concentrate on what’s important.
Treat Yourself to Short Break
When we are working on a task for a long time we find ourselves attention deficit after some time. Psychology explains this is due to depletion of our attention resources or because of brain’s ability to ignore stimulus from things that require constant attention. Either way, this can be improved by taking a short respite from work and indulging in something different. Doing this even for a very short time can keep your mental focus sharp.
Keep Practicing
Building your mental focus and improving it does not happen overnight. You have to work your way towards it. Recognize the impact being distracted is having on your life. Realize what bounties staying focused can bring to you. If getting distracted is increasing the distance between and your goals, it is the time to put a high value on your time. By working on your mental focus and improving it you will realize your true potential. Hard work is not in getting things done it is in discovering your capacity to do so. Discover your capacity.
By following these tips, if you still unable to concentrate at your work, Find Best Psychiatrist in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad or other main cities of Pakistan from where you belong.