10 Tips To Improve Your Focus
Whether working, driving, or watching TV, do you ever feel like your mind wanders too easily? Are you struggling to focus on even the most important things?
Author:Paolo ReynaReviewer:James PierceAug 28, 202342.8K Shares603.6K Views
Whether working, driving, or watching TV, do you ever feel like your mind wanders too easily? Are you struggling to focus on even the most important things? It could be that your attention span has deteriorated, but rather than being a fun little quirk you laugh about with friends, you could put yourself and others at risk.
Struggling to focus on the smallest, simplest things can spell disaster. You risk missing key information or hazards, especially out and about. So, what can you do about your ability to focus? Consider these ten tips to determine how you can improve.
Get More Sleep
You may have been able to survive on a few hours of sleep once upon a time, but that isn’t the case now you’re older. You need at least seven hours to ensure a thorough and restful sleep and help you remain focused during the day. If you struggle to get to sleep, consider natural or synthetic sleep aidsto get you into the habit of going to bed at a certain time. Eventually, you’ll naturally feel tired at that time and you can still wake up at the same time every morning feeling more energized and focused.
Eat A Balanced Diet
Your diet could also impact your ability to focus. While some foods and drinks, like coffee or blueberries, can increase alertness and focus, other foods (typically fatty fast foods) have the opposite effect. If you stuff your face with unhealthy options, you may also experience dietary and health problems that interfere with your day. With this, you can’t focus because you are uncomfortable or need to visit the bathroom regularly, so you never get into a groove.
Exercise
The link between exercise and mental healthis well-documented, and there are many reasons why working out can help you focus. Besides making you feel great, you can also take lessons from your workout routine because it teaches you the discipline to focus. When running, you need to pay attention to your breathing and posture without letting your mind wander. The same goes for lifting weights because you don’t want to drop heavy dumbbells on your feet.
Keep A Tidy Home Or Office
Clutter can also significantly impact your focus. Leaving dishes in the sink or having clothes strewn over the floor means your mind is always distracted by (at least) one thing. This means you can’t pay full attention to your work, a book, or the show you’re watching.
The same goes for your office. A messy workspace makes it impossible to focus on your projects because you’ll always want to rearrange items or put things away which hinders your productivity. Try tidying your desk at the end of each day to ensure you can start tomorrow in the right mind frame.
Stop Playing On Your Phone
While smartphones have made it easier than ever to stay up-to-date with family, friend, and the rest of the world, it has also caused a significant shift in the average person's ability to focus. The link between social media and attention spansis well-known, so if you’re someone who is always on their phone, try putting it away for the day. Keep it out of reach and out of sight and you may find that you aren’t as reliant on it as you thought you were. Instead, you’ll be able to focus on things in front of you easily.
Improve Your Environment
Your environment may also impact how well you can focus. If you live or work somewhere that’s too loud or bright, try a change of scenery. You might be surprised at how the constant bombardment of your senses gets in the way of staying focused. Of course, this isn’t as straightforward as you may like, so experiment with different areas, such as coworking spaces, to increase your chances of improving focus and find what works best for you.
Practice Meditation
Meditation can be one of the most effective tools to improve your focus because you’re expected to sit there and do nothing but focus. Meditation works best with the discipline to let your mind switch off as you focus on your breathing. You can find several apps that offer guided meditation courses, including Headspace.
Teach Your Brain to Focus
You can also use apps to teach your brain to focus. There are hundreds of brain training apps on the app store and they are an excellent way to replace mindless scrolling when you don’t have anything to do. The games offer brain teasers and challenges that encourage you to think outside the box and look for unique solutions that could benefit you in your professional life.
Keep Your Space Separate
You can’t expect everyone to have the space to set up a home office, but if possible, it’s worth separating where you work from the space you relax in. This way, it is easier for your brain to associate the different areas with different activities, making it easier for you to focus. Working in a home office rather than working from your sofaor your bed can significantly boost your ability to focus, even if you only work from the kitchen table or set up a small desk in the corner.
Speak to A Professional
If you try all of these techniques and still find it hard to focus, it could be a sign of other issues. Speaking to professionals can benefit you and help you find a solution. Depending on where you live, Manhattan's Integrative Psych are leaders in accurate diagnose and treatment of ADHD, which could be the cause of your inability to focus. However, other factors could include eyesight trouble you have not solved. It is worth contacting experts for testing to see what they find out.
Focus
You might think you’ll never be able to focus on anything again, but that isn’t true. You can use these techniques to evaluate areas in your life that could help you improve your focus and concentration to ensure you are more alert at work, at home, and out with friends or driving. While the benefits won’t appear overnight, you will start to see vital improvements as you ditch bad habits, receive adequate treatment and advice, and make positive lifestyle changes.
Paolo Reyna
Author
James Pierce
Reviewer
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