Hey everybody. Today I'm gonna share up my 6 helpful tips on how to improve your concentration.
Now, with school starting and work never really ending, spoilers, we can all find ourselves struggling to stay focused and to finish all that we need to do. If you're like me, you can continue to put off tasks that are gonna take more time or even ignore small tasks because, you know, you mentally already finished working that day. Also, remember that depression and anxiety can make concentration at times feel impossible. And if we aren't interested in the thing that we have to do, ADHD can pull our brain into a million other directions. But the good news is, that we can take some steps to help us keep focused and to turn our to-do list into a to-done one.
So let's jump into those tips.
1) Set up a study/work space.
According to psychological research that mixing our areas can cause all sorts of issues. Like if we study in our bed, our brain begins to associate our bed and bedroom with being alert, awake and focused. Which is great when we're trying to study but terrible when we're trying to fall asleep.
So setting up a comfortable, but not too comfortable, an area that is free from distractions, don't try to work on that boring project while your roommate or spouse is watching Netflix or anything like that and making it space where you always do your work. It'll help you sit down, stay focused and complete all that you need to do.
2) Set up realistic goals.
You're not gonna finish that entire 10-page paper or 40-minute presentation in one sitting, or in one day, for that matter. So make sure you take into consideration just how long you can usually focus. Hint, hint: the average person, sans ADHD, anxiety or depression, can only focus on one task for about 30-45 minutes at a time. So maybe your goal for that paper should be to write three pages before dinner. Even as I prepared this video, I was preparing five videos that week, I gave myself breaks every time I completed my research, then I completed the outline, I rewarded myself at the end of the day with dinner out. So, set up some goals you can achieve and reward yourself with something that you love so when you meet those goals, you get to do a really fun thing. Also, doing this just keeps us feeling good about ourselves and our ability to complete the tasks. I love putting checks in boxes. I'm like, "Ooh, I completed something, yay!" And therefore, it'll keep us motivated to keep going and do more.
3) Set time limits.
Just like I said, our brain can only focus for so long. Recognize what that limit is for you and set a timer to go off so that you get to take your break. Or, if you just can't focus any more for whatever reason, give yourself a five-minute break to do something you enjoy. I love to take a break to watch part of an episode of my fav show, that way I allow myself to watch the ending, which let's be honest is the most exciting part when I complete the task that I had originally started.
4) Break down the larger tasks.
Do not put do the project or release seven videos down on your to-do list. You'll just feel defeated before you even get started 'cause that's a lot. Instead, we need to break it into smaller, more achievable tasks. For example, going back to my content creation example, if I was to break it down, I'd give myself one task for coming up with the articles and research, then another task for reading that research, and key points that I wanna make, next I'd edit, you get the idea. There are a lot of little tasks inside those larger tasks that we can complete each and every day. So break it down and then create your to-do lists. And also, as a side-note, and I've mentioned this before, our to-do lists should never be longer than seven things. We find that daily that's about all we're able to see, absorb and complete, so just keep that in mind too.
5) Move around.
Not everyone can sit and focus on a project, especially if we have ADHD or anxiety symptoms. Moving around while we read, like pacing around your study or workspace or using a fidget toy while we work on a project can help us stay focused longer. Maybe even while you sit, you move your feet around on a foam roller or one of those spiny balls that's made to, like, you know, if you have an achy muscle, it breaks down the fascia, or whatever. Movement can help us keep our brain focused on what we're working and allow us to get more done, so see what type of movement works for you.
6) Get enough sleep.
If we don't get enough sleep, we really can't do anything. Trust me. Sleep is the time our brain gets to clean out all of the bits it doesn't need anymore. Just for some cool science stuff, our brain increases the amount of fluid that can flow through it at night, it increases by 60% in a sleeping brain. 60%! That extra fluid allows all the dead bits to be washed away, to pull them out and to dispose of them. It's the time when our brain processes all that we did that day, by consolidating our memories and filing them away.
Sleep is a time that it, like, completely forms those and rolls those away. And also sleep, it heals our body. If we aren't giving our brain the time it needs to do all of that, which is a lot, it's only gonna get bogged down, be filled with all those dead cells and it's gonna struggle to concentrate when we need it to. So make sure you're getting enough sleep each and every night.
I hope these 6 powerful tips to improve your concentration will be helpful, but as always if you have any that work for you, please share those in the comments down below.
Now, with school starting and work never really ending, spoilers, we can all find ourselves struggling to stay focused and to finish all that we need to do. If you're like me, you can continue to put off tasks that are gonna take more time or even ignore small tasks because, you know, you mentally already finished working that day. Also, remember that depression and anxiety can make concentration at times feel impossible. And if we aren't interested in the thing that we have to do, ADHD can pull our brain into a million other directions. But the good news is, that we can take some steps to help us keep focused and to turn our to-do list into a to-done one.
So let's jump into those tips.
1) Set up a study/work space.
According to psychological research that mixing our areas can cause all sorts of issues. Like if we study in our bed, our brain begins to associate our bed and bedroom with being alert, awake and focused. Which is great when we're trying to study but terrible when we're trying to fall asleep.
So setting up a comfortable, but not too comfortable, an area that is free from distractions, don't try to work on that boring project while your roommate or spouse is watching Netflix or anything like that and making it space where you always do your work. It'll help you sit down, stay focused and complete all that you need to do.
2) Set up realistic goals.
You're not gonna finish that entire 10-page paper or 40-minute presentation in one sitting, or in one day, for that matter. So make sure you take into consideration just how long you can usually focus. Hint, hint: the average person, sans ADHD, anxiety or depression, can only focus on one task for about 30-45 minutes at a time. So maybe your goal for that paper should be to write three pages before dinner. Even as I prepared this video, I was preparing five videos that week, I gave myself breaks every time I completed my research, then I completed the outline, I rewarded myself at the end of the day with dinner out. So, set up some goals you can achieve and reward yourself with something that you love so when you meet those goals, you get to do a really fun thing. Also, doing this just keeps us feeling good about ourselves and our ability to complete the tasks. I love putting checks in boxes. I'm like, "Ooh, I completed something, yay!" And therefore, it'll keep us motivated to keep going and do more.
3) Set time limits.
Just like I said, our brain can only focus for so long. Recognize what that limit is for you and set a timer to go off so that you get to take your break. Or, if you just can't focus any more for whatever reason, give yourself a five-minute break to do something you enjoy. I love to take a break to watch part of an episode of my fav show, that way I allow myself to watch the ending, which let's be honest is the most exciting part when I complete the task that I had originally started.
4) Break down the larger tasks.
Do not put do the project or release seven videos down on your to-do list. You'll just feel defeated before you even get started 'cause that's a lot. Instead, we need to break it into smaller, more achievable tasks. For example, going back to my content creation example, if I was to break it down, I'd give myself one task for coming up with the articles and research, then another task for reading that research, and key points that I wanna make, next I'd edit, you get the idea. There are a lot of little tasks inside those larger tasks that we can complete each and every day. So break it down and then create your to-do lists. And also, as a side-note, and I've mentioned this before, our to-do lists should never be longer than seven things. We find that daily that's about all we're able to see, absorb and complete, so just keep that in mind too.
5) Move around.
Not everyone can sit and focus on a project, especially if we have ADHD or anxiety symptoms. Moving around while we read, like pacing around your study or workspace or using a fidget toy while we work on a project can help us stay focused longer. Maybe even while you sit, you move your feet around on a foam roller or one of those spiny balls that's made to, like, you know, if you have an achy muscle, it breaks down the fascia, or whatever. Movement can help us keep our brain focused on what we're working and allow us to get more done, so see what type of movement works for you.
6) Get enough sleep.
If we don't get enough sleep, we really can't do anything. Trust me. Sleep is the time our brain gets to clean out all of the bits it doesn't need anymore. Just for some cool science stuff, our brain increases the amount of fluid that can flow through it at night, it increases by 60% in a sleeping brain. 60%! That extra fluid allows all the dead bits to be washed away, to pull them out and to dispose of them. It's the time when our brain processes all that we did that day, by consolidating our memories and filing them away.
Sleep is a time that it, like, completely forms those and rolls those away. And also sleep, it heals our body. If we aren't giving our brain the time it needs to do all of that, which is a lot, it's only gonna get bogged down, be filled with all those dead cells and it's gonna struggle to concentrate when we need it to. So make sure you're getting enough sleep each and every night.
I hope these 6 powerful tips to improve your concentration will be helpful, but as always if you have any that work for you, please share those in the comments down below.
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