How to improve focus and attention?

How to improve focus and attention: No one will ever develop incredible powers of concentration from just reading. Your mind muscles, just like your physical muscles, need resistance, they need challenges that push their boundaries and while doing so, grow their focus and attention. Below we are outlining a few tips that will feed up your focus so that you can start handling heavier and heavier mental loads.

How to improve focus and attention:

Improve the strength of your focus gradually

If your attention span is currently quite droopy, it is best to slowly build up. So start with an easy goal and work your way up from there. Set a timer for 5 minutes and focus entirely on your work for that period. Then take a break for 2 minutes before going at it again for another 5 minutes. Every day, add another 5 minutes to your attentive work time, with an additional 2 minutes to your pause time. Once you get satisfied with this setup, you can work to increase your focus practice a little, while trimming your break times.

Create a distracting list

The internet has made all the information instantly accessible, and we manage to want to look something up the moment it hits our minds. Consequently, we will distract ourselves away from what we are working on. Problem is, once we get distracted, it takes an average of 25 minutes to return to our original task and shifting our attention back exhausts its strength. So to stay on task, whenever something you want to check out pops in, just write it down and promise yourself you will be able to look it up once your attention session is over and your break time has arrived.

Also Read: Tips to achieve self-actualisation.

Increase your willpower

Voluntary concentration and willpower are intimately intertwined. Our willpower permits us to intentionally ignore distractions while staying focused on the task at hand. It would help your attention span well.

Meditate

Not only does meditation help keep you cool, and make you peaceful, and organized, but as per the research, mindfulness meditation can boost your attention span greatly. You do not need to spend your days meditating in a monastery to take advantage of its attention-boosting power. Just 10 to 20 minutes of meditation a day will do wonder. You will notice improvements in your attention after just four or five days. So if you want the power to focus and attention to your studies for hours at a time, start your mornings off by just focusing on your breath for a few minutes.

Practice mindfulness 

In addition to dedicating 10 to 20 minutes a day to mindfulness meditation, find opportunities to practice mindfulness throughout the day. Mindfulness is concentrating entirely on what you are doing, slowing down, and observing all of the physical and emotional sensations you are experiencing at that moment. You can practice mindfulness while you eat as you take time to chew your food and concentrate on its flavors. Including short sessions of mindfulness throughout your day will strengthen and expand your attention and focus span for the times when you require it.