Concentration is focus of the mind, the ability to hold the awareness of your mind on one point, one place, without wavering. It can be the ability to release one’s thoughts and emotions from all other interests and involvements.
It’s been said that the greatest power of the human mind is its ability to focus on one thing for an extended period. If you’ve ever held a magnifying glass in the sun, you know how scattered sunlight can be focused to start a fire. Imagine if we could concentrate your brain power into one bright beam and focus it like a laser on whatever we wish to accomplish.
But most of us struggle to concentrate. And when we can’t concentrate, everything we do is harder and takes longer than we like. We may be looking to improve our concentration to perform better at work, to ace our exams, to increase reading comprehension, or simply to make everyday life easier.
Here we aim on the ways on how to improve concentration and focus by removing distractions, properly nourishing your brain, and using some simple concentration techniques.
We need to understand that being easily distracted isn’t all bad. In fact, in the right circumstances, it can help you survive. But concentrating at the task you are doing at the correct time makes it easier to complete the work and makes the work effective.
One of the worst things you can do for your concentration and focus is to multitask. We don’t do several things at once; our brain quickly toggles back and forth between tasks.
We can do unconscious tasks such as walk and talk at the same time, but once it gets more complicated than that, we are sacrificing the efficiency of one task for another.
Some people need complete silence while others concentrate better in the buzz of their favorite coffee shop. We aim to help the students understand the best way they can concentrate and help them keep the track of how they are getting the goals achieved and what adjustments need to be made along the way.
Few other techniques for concentrating better are:
Start assignments with some curiosity about the material and a positive attitude toward learning.
- Designate a place where you go only to study. Use proper lighting.
- Use “active study” techniques: sit straight in a chair at a desk, start out with questions about the material, outline chapters, underline key phrases after reading a section, write notes in margins, ask yourself what you have learned.
- Divide your work into smaller manageable tasks that can be completed in a short period of time. Push yourself to complete one small task, then move on to the next task. Focus on one small task at a time.
- Use times of peak alertness for studying difficult or less interesting topics. When you are tired or hungry concentration will be lowered.
- When your mind starts to wander come up with some cue words to say to yourself (e.g., “Focus.” “Get back on task.”) to focus your concentration again.
- Take breaks when you have completed tasks or when you feel concentration has decreased. Breaks should be approximately 10-15 minutes.
- If you have other assignments or issues on your mind write them down on a “to do” list or take a small step to deal with them. Then get back to focusing on the task at hand.
These are a few ways to improve concentration. Few other techniques to improve concentration is by understanding our thoughts and prioritizing them, by listing them down on a paper or thought blocking. It’s very important to understand and be aware of thoughts and things that cause distraction. Being able to understand the cause of distraction helps concentrate better and the output is much more effective.
Shruti Patwari
Development Coach
References:
https://www.ccri.edu/advising/success_links/concentration.html
https://www.successconsciousness.com/blog/concentration-mind-power/the-importance-of-concentration/
https://www.k-state.edu/counseling/topics/career/concentr.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/memory-medic/201102/12-ways-improve-concentration
https://www.interactiontalks.com/tips-for-improving-concentration-for-high-school-students/