How To Improve Concentration? | 5 Secret Tips To Boost Concentration

📖 Learning

Avantika Bhardwaj

Aug 20, 2020 — 10 min read

Imagine a night before an important exam, when it's all hasty, you just can’t see yourself focusing on a single task. You tend to ponder from one page to another book and what you just lost was concentration. Or, you just got some free time to read an article and wait, What! Here’s a mail from your boss. It is quite difficult to concentrate when so much is happening around, but to make something happen you need to keep your power concentrated on a single work.

"The digital generation considers constant interruptions normal and these days we expect to multitask, which spreads concentration very thin and can be counterproductive." - Harriet Griffey, journalist, and author of The Art of Concentration

Concentration is the second name to Meditation.

Concentration refers to the mental effort you direct toward whatever you’re working on or learning at the moment. It’s sometimes confused with attention span, but attention span refers to the length of time you can concentrate on something. There are many psychological facts involving concentration and some are quite astonishing, for instance, one said that concentration helps your subconscious mind be much more powerful than you think. i mean isn't it amazing, when you already know how much powerful your subconscious mind is.

Factors Affecting Concentration

Attention span and concentration vary for a number reason and some reasons are natural and unavoidable but when it comes to distractions, this is what can be controlled.

When people age, they tend to forget things more readily, and decreased concentration can accompany memory loss.
Head or Brain injuries, such as a concussion can affect concentration.
Stress, anxiety, and frustration are sort of distraction when you’re trying to concentrate on things that are more important than anything else; because that’s what makes us more anxious.

If that sounds familiar, keep reading to learn more about research-backed methods to help improve your concentration. We’ll also go over some conditions that can affect concentration and steps to take if trying to increase concentration on your own just doesn’t seem to help.

how to get your brain to focus

5 Secret Tips To Concentrate Effectively

1. Get Your Game On

Brain games may not be a type of game that can improve your concentration, but according to research, playing video games could help boost your concentration. The reason behind it is that an hour of gaming help improves your Visual Selective Attention (VSA).

VSA, basically, refers to your ability to concentrate on a specific task while ignoring distractions around you. Although the study covered small aspects, so these findings can’t be conclusive and, encouraging masses for gaming is sheer nonsense. So, study authors are still researching and exploring how video games can help increase brain activity and boost concentration.

This review had several limitations, including the fact that the studies focused on widely varying topics, including video game addiction and the possible effects of violent video games.

Although playing certain types of games can help you get better at concentrating. Try:

sudoku
crossword puzzles
chess
jigsaw puzzles
word searches or scrambles
memory games

2. Improve Sleep

Lack of sleep makes you more frustrated and can affect your concentration. Sleep deprivation can easily disrupt concentration, not to mention other cognitive functions, such as memory and attention. Although a day or two of sleepless nights can’t show you serious consequences if it’s continuing in a row, then that’s a problem.

Being too tired can even show, slowing down of your reflexes and affect your ability to drive or do other daily tasks. Getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep can be a tough job when there’s a demanding schedule, health issues, or lots of travel and, other factors sometimes make it difficult to get enough sleep.

But improving sleeping habits may show you wonders. A few quick tips:

Turn off the TV and put away screens an hour before bed.
Keep your room at a comfortable but cool temperature.
Wind down before bed with soft music, a warm bath, or a book.
Go to bed and get up around the same time each day, even on weekends.
Exercise regularly, but try to avoid a heavy workout just before bed.

3. Take A Break And Listen Music

Take a break, and have a KitKat. I don’t know how much this ad makes an impact on you, but it covers two aspects and both improves your concentration. First, the idea of taking a break might seem counterintuitive, but experts say it really works. Second, the chocolate (KitKat) also has some amount of caffeine into it, which improves your power to focus on things.

When you feel your concentration is dropping, take a short mental break, and that break doesn’t mean you’ll keep banging yourself onto the phone. But just take a small nap or lie down with your closed eyes. Refresh yourself with a cool drink or nutritious snack, take a quick walk, or go outside and get some sun. And then, after getting back to work, you’ll be surprised when you feel more focused, motivated, or even creative. Breaks can help boost these functions and more.

Turning on music while working or studying may help increase concentration. The type of music you listen to can make a difference. Experts generally agree with classical music, particularly baroque classical music or nature sounds are good choices to help increase your focus.

4. Meditate In Nature

Meditation and mindfulness practices can offer multiple benefits. Improved concentration is only one of these. If you want to boost your concentration naturally, try to get outside every day, even for just 15 to 20 minutes. Sitting in your garden or backyard can also help. Any natural environment has benefits.

Succulents make great choices for low-maintenance plants if you don’t have a green thumb. Although a child doesn’t know how to meditate, children can benefit from natural environments very much. The study hoped to determine how lifelong exposure to trees and greenery at home or in the neighbourhood might affect attention in children.

5. Vary Your Diet And Try Supplements

Always be specific on the food you eat because it can affect cognitive functions like concentration and memory. Avoiding processed foods, too much sugar, and very greasy or fatty foods. To boost concentration, try eating more of the following:

fatty fish
eggs (white and yolk both)
blueberries
spinach
Milk
Oats or Porridge

There’s no need to include caffeine in your diet if you prefer to avoid it, but research does suggest caffeine can benefit your attention and focus. If you feel your concentration starting to drop, consider a cup of coffee or green tea.

Staying hydrated is a catalyst for improving your concentration. Even mild dehydration can make it harder to focus or remember information. Always aim for routine breakfasts with fiber and protein-rich meals.

Some supplements may help promote better concentration and improved brain function. But always check it with your health care provider before taking any supplements, especially if you’re a person with allergies.

The following supplements may help promote increased concentration and overall brain health:

folate
choline
vitamin K
flavonoids
omega-3 fatty acids
guarana seed extract

Exercises Help You Improve Concentration

The above tips may sound less effective when it comes to exercise because increased concentration is among the many benefits of regular exercise. There are some listed exercises whose special focus is on to increase your concentration power in a day or two.

Exercise 1: Sitting Still in a Chair

Sit in a comfortable chair and see how still you can keep. This is not as easy as it seems. You will have to center your attention on sitting still. Watch and see that you are not making any involuntary muscular movements.

Exercise 2: Fix Gaze on Fingers

Sit in a chair with your head up and your chin out, shoulders back. Raise your right arm until it is on the level with your shoulder, pointing to your right. Look around, with the head only, and fix your gaze on your fingers, and keep the arm perfectly still for one minute. Do the same exercise with your left arm.

Exercise 3: Fix Eyes on Outstretched Glass

Fill a small glass full of water, and grasp it by the fingers; put the arm directly in front of you. Now fix the eyes upon the glass and try to keep the arm so steady that no movement will be noticeable. Do this first for one moment and then increase it to five. Do the exercise with the first one arm and then the other.

Exercise 4: Concentrate on Opening and Closing Fists

Move your chair up to a table, placing your hands upon it, clenching the fists, keeping the back of the hand on the table, the thumb doubled over the fingers. Now fix your gaze upon the fist for a while, then gradually extend the thumb, keeping your whole attention fixed upon the act, just as if it was a matter of great importance.

Exercise 5: Concentration Increases the Sense of Smell

When you take a walk or drive in the country, or pass a flower garden, concentrate on the odor of flowers and plants. See how many different kinds you can detect. Then choose one particular kind and try to sense only this. You will find that this strongly intensifies the sense of smell. This differentiation requires, however, a peculiarly attentive attitude.

Exercise 6: Concentration on the Within

Lie down and thoroughly relax your muscles. Concentrate on the beating of your heart. Do not pay any attention to anything else.

Exercise 7: Concentrating on Sleep

What is known as the water method is, although very simple, very effective in inducing sleep. Put a full glass of clear water on a table in your sleeping room. Sit in a chair beside the table and gaze into the glass of water and think how calm it is. Then picture yourself getting into just as calm a state.

Exercise 8: Practice Talking Before a Mirror

Make two marks on your mirror on a level with your eyes, and think of them as two human eyes looking into yours. Your eyes will probably blink a little at first. Do not move your head, but stand erect. Concentrate all your thoughts on keeping your head perfectly still.

Exercise 9: The Eastern Way of Concentrating

Sit in a chair with a high back in an upright position. Press one finger against the right nostril. Now take a long, deep breath, drawing the breath in gently as you count to ten; then expel the breath through the right nostril as you count to ten.

Exercise 10: Controlling Desires

Desire, which is one of the hardest forces to control, will furnish you with excellent exercises in concentration. It seems natural to want to tell others what you know; but, by learning to control these desires, you can wonderfully strengthen your powers of concentration.

Some ways to improve concentration may work well, while others may not seem to do much for you. Consider giving a range of approaches a try to see what helps. What’s more, these tips are unlikely to decrease concentration or cause other harm, so you know that concentration helps increase your memory

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