Usually, when you need to focus quickly, the advice is to turn off notifications and get your smartphone out of your line of sight. And that makes sense. visit here
Studies show that even if your smartphone is off and lying around, it’s distracting and wastes cognitive energy.
But what if the smartphone is hidden, notifications are turned off, messengers and unnecessary tabs in the browser are closed, and thoughts still return to a YouTube video, a cup of coffee and an email? Here are some tips for such a case and to Focus Quickly.
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Why Is It Difficult for Everyone to Focus Quickly?
Multitasking may be to blame here. We often want to speed up our work by doing several things at once. Alas, the brain struggles to process and complete two tasks at once, much less more. Switching up takes energy from the brain and stimulates the production of the “stress hormones” cortisol and adrenaline.
Because of this we work inattentively: we make mistakes more often, and also we cannot get rid of the feeling that there is a lot of work, but not enough time and energy. Studies show that people who are used to multitasking find it more difficult to focus, even if they are busy doing just one thing or even if this thing is joyful, like betting at Bet22 or reading books.
Canadian neuroscientist Daniel Levitin suggests: the reason is dopamine. When we are distracted to look at our phone or check our mail, we receive new information and thereby stimulate the production of this neurotransmitter. Dopamine is part of the brain’s reward system. It is produced – we feel pleasure. Which means the more often we get distracted, the more our brain gets used to not being attentive because it feels so good.
Mentally Shift- Focus Quickly
Often concentration problems are caused by anxiety. For example, important tasks can cause a lot of anxiety. Because of this, procrastination begins: a person spends time on endless clarifications and searching for additional information, and cannot concentrate on the task itself.
If this is about you, try the exercise “Leaves on the stream,” which psychologists use to combat restless thoughts.
Imagine sitting next to a stream. The water is flowing slowly, and leaves are floating on it. Place disturbing thoughts or images that interfere with concentration on those leaves. Let the leaves float downstream, and you just look at them. This is how you learn to look at your problems from the outside instead of identifying your life with them.
This technique will allow the mind to return to the present moment instead of worrying about potential future problems. Shifting and detaching from anxious thoughts is one of the key techniques of acceptance and responsibility therapy. The effectiveness of this therapy for dealing with anxiety has been shown by many studies.
And if mindfulness isn’t for you, move on to the next tip.
Listen to Music
Playing your favorite songs while you work is a bad idea, as vivid emotions are distracting.
Here’s what the perfect music for concentration should be:
- Loud. If the background is too noisy, it draws attention to itself and reduces the speed of information processing. So adjust the volume so that it is less than when you listen to music for pleasure.
- Monotonous and monotonous. For example, “white noise”: a sound with an even distribution of high, middle and low frequencies that masks other sounds, from banging doors to colleagues’ phone conversations. Experiment with A Soft Murmur or Noisli: you can mix a variety of sounds, from howling wind to coffee shop noise.
- On the contrary, moderately rhythmic. But then the compositions should not be too fast, not too complicated and not too boring.
Take a Walk in the Park
When you feel that the focus is gone, go for a short walk in nature – 15 minutes will be enough. Even a small park will do. Here’s how contemplating nature can help:
- Reduce stress levels and get your concentration back quickly. Scientists even have a whole theory about this – the theory of attention recovery. To test it, one experiment asked participants to take a short break – just 40 seconds – and look at pictures of high-rise buildings or a blooming meadow. The concentration of those looking at high-rise buildings dropped 8 percent, while that of nature watchers rose 6 percent. Living nature, with its smells and sounds, is probably even better for attention.
- Train your brain to be attentive. When you walk in the park slowly and thoughtfully, you learn to notice details that usually escape perception. It’s almost like meditation, and meditation improves concentration.
Take a Jog
Or walk briskly for at least twenty minutes. Such aerobic activity improves cognitive functions. Concentration of attention is one of them.
The method works fast, as attention increases immediately after jogging or walking for about an hour. If you do physical activity daily, your ability to concentrate will improve in about four weeks.
Watch This Video With Cute Animals
More specifically, with kittens, puppies, and ducklings. Watching them is good for attention – more useful than watching adult animals or something not so cute.
Japanese researchers showed the participants of the experiment pictures of kittens and puppies, adult cats and dogs or neutral, non-cute images. Then they asked them to perform a task that required concentration. As a result, participants who looked at kittens and puppies did the task more thoroughly than anyone else.
What to Do if You Still Can’t Concentrate?
If nothing helps, analyze the reasons for being unfocused.
Pay attention to the thoughts, feelings and sensations in the body that arise when you can’t concentrate. These are the internal triggers that encourage you to become distracted. They could be, for example, thoughts of your incompetence, anxiety, and tension in your chest. Write down the triggers in a notebook. Record the time and circumstances: where you were, what you were doing.
Do this exercise for at least a few days and analyze the notes. What is the most common trigger of procrastination? What fears and thoughts? At what moments do they arise?
Can you adjust your behavior to be less anxious? Say, don’t check Instagram before work or check your inbox less often?
The more often you do this exercise, the better you’ll understand what keeps you from being mindful and how you can deal with it.