Do you feel like you may have ADHD on a daily basis? Attention span of a fruit fly? I sure struggle with this on a regular basis. To make matters worse, I spent many years in a world where multi-tasking was worshipped. I already wrote on this subject here.
I know that this title makes you think of my post about improving your focus. It sure has a few things in common, but this time, I will be talking more about training your brain to stay focused.
Reduce multitasking
Since multitasking damages your ability to focus, stopping this practice will be an easy gain for your ability to focus. It will take time to get used to this new, single-track approach, but the more you do it, the easier it will get. It will also help your brain develop the ability to stay focused on one task at a time.
Exercise regularly
By now, you must expect me to sing praises to regular exercise routine! But it’s true… Regular exercise has been shown to improve cognitive function, including focus and attention. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, which can improve cognitive function and increase focus.
Mindfulness meditation
Another all-around good practice that has improved focus as one of its long-term benefits is meditation. When you meditate, you work on taming your thoughts and to be more aware of yourself. Over time, it will improve your ability to stay focused on a task and to ‘sit still’ when you need it. According to a this article from from George Washington University School of Business, even occasional, short meditation sessions will help.
Practice visualization
There is a good reason why athletes visualize their race ahead of time! Visualization is focusing on your goal or desired outcome. Practice it to get a better vision of what you want to achieve. When you set your mind to focus on something specifically, your brain will learn to do it while you are performing it.
But it’s not only about visualizing your goals. Try to picture an object or a place. It takes focus to conjure the image in your mind and it helps to train your brain. What makes this exercise attractive is that you can do it almost any time and almost anywhere. Now, close your eyes, relax and picture your favorite dog 😉
Brain exercises
I suspect this is the part you came looking for! Here are some ‘workouts’ for your brain to help you focus better:
Increase focus periods gradually
Use a timer for your focus period. Start with intervals you can do comfortably. Over time, increase the duration and how many you do in a day, while decreasing length of breaks in between. If it sounds like theory behind improving your fitness (increase intensity and number of reps/ length), it’s because it is. Mind is part of your body, why would you expect it to behave differently?
Write down your distractions
I will admit it openly: this was a novel idea for me and I love it! Whenever an idea or a question pops into your head, just write it down rather than pursuing it. That question that just crossed your mind: if it’s not something you need right now for your work, just save it for later. This will help in 2 ways:Â
- You won’t get sucked down some rabbit hole of research (eventually ending up staring endlessly at funny animal videos on TikTok or something like that)
- You won’t be wasting the time it takes to get your focus on the given task back.
Practice memorization
Memorizing is a workout for your brain. This is something that’s pretty much impossible to do while multitasking or being distracted. Get into practice of learning by heart and you will be practicing your ability to focus.
Read
And I don’t mean your Twitter feed. Those take only a few seconds a peace. When it comes to reading articles, people usually don’t get too far – here is a fun article with research on the subject. Consuming content in short bursts gets our brain used to moving on quickly. Reading longer articles and books or increasing stretches of time helps our brains used to staying focused for longer. Bonus: you learn something new or just have fun!
Practice active listening
How long does it take you to tune out somebody who is talking to you? For most of us, it’s not that terribly long and it’s getting worse. Put some conscious effort into your conversations. I am sure that those around you will appreciate it.