Exercises to improve concentration and focus

Activities to improve attention and concentration

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Living in a world where we have so much work that we can’t handle it, it becomes very difficult to concentrate or stay focused. Considering the fact that most people spend their working day interacting with some form of technology, creating work schedules, and managing personal lives, it is challenging to keep the mind focused.

However, the need for increased concentration and focus on work is paramount to achieving success in any task, whether it is learning, doing a job, or completing work effectively. The good news is that concentration is a muscle and it can be trained that way, if certain exercises are used for this purpose.

In this article, several exercise routines that should be adopted in an individuals’ daily schedule will be highlighted with the intention of improving concentration levels.

1. Mindfulness Meditation

Another valuable exercising that can be prescribed for enhancing the focus is called mindfulness meditation.. Meditation conditions the mind for learning to get into the present moment, to exclude extraneous considerations. These websites also indicate that through increased mindfulness, the gray matter of the brain is found to improve especially the areas of learning, memory and attention.

How to Practice Mindfulness Meditation 

• Now, sit down somewhere you can be alone and won’t be interrupted.
• Take a rest, sit comfortably and keep your eyes shut.
• Focus on your breath. Feel the air as it flows within and out of the body.
• If you get distracted, simply return to your breath; do not scold yourself.
• Initially 5 minutes should be taken and then steps must be taken to extend it.

If you take mindfulness practice into your daily routine, then you will have enhanced focus labeling ability when it comes to sustaining attention in the long haul.

2. Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is specifically a productivity technique of time management that seeks to help you be focused on the job at hand.. This technique was invented in the late 1980s by Francesco Carillo and can be described as work for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minutes break. Finally, between four intervals, you have a longer break of 15 to 30 minutes.

How the Pomodoro Technique Works

1. Pick an activity you wish to work on.
2. Switch on a particular track and undertake the task with maximum concentration for 25 minutes.
3. After the 5 minute warning has been given, take a 5-minutes break.
4. The whole procedure of exposition is performed for 4 times and then continues with a longer interval.

Short pauses make the brain to calm and continuously direct its attention to the task on hand while the timed parts encourage high level of focus.

3. Physical Exercise for Mental Sharpness

Not only does exercise allow for your body to become physically healthy, but also allows for your brain to become mentally healthy, attentive and focused. Exercise and any activity that raises heart rate benefits the blood vessels in the brain and ensures that chemicals that help memory are released.

Exercises for Better Focus

• Aerobic Exercise - Running, swimming, or cycling for 30 minutes a day can significantly improve focus.
• Yoga - Yoga poses such as the Tree Pose and Eagle Pose require balance and concentration, making them great for mental clarity.
• Tai Chi - it is Sing-Indonesian martial arts is characterized by its slow motions that aim at developing concentration in the mind.

A number of researches have shown that exercise enhances new brain cell formation, improves brain function and hence concentration.

4. Brain Training Games and Puzzles

Much like the physical organ of the body; the heart, requires exercise, the human brain also needs similar exercise to complete.Cognitive function games are specifically built to task your intellect of memory, analytical ability, and focus.need to challenge your cognitive abilities, including memory, problem-solving, and attention.

These games are not just entertaining, but they are also helpful since play just helps increase attention span and concentration levels.

Some brain training games and activities include

• Sudoku - A number based game that challenges logical and concentrating abilities of the child.
• Crossword Puzzles - These improve on areas such as vocabulary and even problem-solving area.
• Chess - A turn based strategy game that really engages the player and demands a fair amount of thought.
• Memory Games - For example, there are Apps such as Luminosity and Elevate that contain games that have been designed mainly to increase attention and memory.

Incorporation of brain training can thus be used to enhance strength of faculty and ability to work for long time without being distracted.

5. Visualization Techniques

Visualization is a mental technique that makes use of the brain in order to maintain a strong and consistent focus on a goal. It can be employed by athletes and performers to increase concentration and bring optimal performance.

In other words, when you plan or visualize a certain activity or goal, then you will always see it from a right perspective any time you are performing it in the real world.

How to Practice Visualization

1. Take a seat comfortably in a place with little or no noise at all, and this is by closing your eyes.
2. Picture how you want that particular project or a given task to be accomplished.
3. Imagination is doing a pictorial display – the feelings you have, the things you observe, and the actions you are performing.
4. Bring into focus the results that are wanted while ignoring the negatives that are unwanted.

Visualization assists you to mentally draw picture of the destination thereby bringing easiness to your working and achievable of goals.

6. Deep Breathing Exercises

Practical breathing exercises that are considered helpful in reducing stress and anxiety in one's mind and aid in concentration. Stress is another enemy of humans because whenever we are under pressure for time, the mind moves from one point to another.

For this, relaxation processes like deep breathing increase the supply of oxygen blood to the brain so that activities can be carried out efficiently.

How to do deep breathing exercises

1. You may perform this exercise while sitting or while lying down.
2. Place one hand above the navel and the other hand below the collarbone.
3. Inhale through the mouth and nose and count to four and fill the lungs as well as the stomach.
4. Breathe normally for 4 seconds.
5. More specifically, exhale through the mouth while counting to four.
6. Do this again for about 5-10 minutes.

If you take time to do deep breathing exercises every day, you will be in a better position to focus as well as stay calm during real-world pressures.

7. Progressive Muscle Relaxation

PMR is a process that can actually be used to streamline the muscles and body, thereby enhancing and promoting mindfulness. In this method, the muscles of the body are contracted and relaxed with the intention of relaxation and focus.

How to Practice Progressive Muscle Relaxation

1. Try to lie down or sit in low noise level environment.
2. A solution to this is to contract the muscles in your toes for five to ten seconds before releasing the tension.
3. Slowly go through your entire body producing tension, then relaxation starting from down your legs, tummy, chest, arms, neck, and forehead.
4. Concentration should be on the feel of tension and well-being.

PMR assists in reducing muscle and mental tension and therefore directing concentration to jobs with fewer interruptions.

8. The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique

It is an easy to learn and use tool to guide you back on track whenever you get distracted. It functions in a way that helps you focus by grounding you in the present sense, that is, its use your senses to focus.

How to Perform the 5-4-3-2-1 Technique

1. Name five objects in your immediate surroundings.
2. Identify 4 things you can feel (the texture of your clothes, the surface you’re sitting on, etc.).
3. Identify 3 things you can hear.
4. Identify 2 things you can smell.
5. Identify 1 thing you can taste.

In this way, each moved focus on the senses help to bring your concentration back to the present moment.

9. Single-Tasking vs. Multitasking

Gen chatting with friends While multitasking appears to be an effective suggestion for increasing productivity, it may hamper concentration.Cross a task off your list by dedicating your energy and time only to the particular task at hand.

Tead of juggling multiple tasks at once, try single-tasking – focusing on one task at a time until completion. From prior studies, single-tasking has proven to enhance productivity and focused work on the tasks, one at a time.

How to Practice Single-Tasking

• Organize your work and aim to execute the most important of the said works first.
• Exclude all loitering factors for instance, switch off the notificational system or close other fora.
• Choose a concrete number of minutes/hours for a given task and agree that, in the process of accomplishing it, you won’t be distracted by anything else.

Whereas multi-tasking overwhelms the brain and impairs focus and productivity, single-tasking will make a world of difference in cutting distraction and increasing efficiency.

10. Taking Regular Breaks

Humans are not built to focus on one thing for hours, days, months and years without a break. Sometimes it is appropriate to take a very short break, but it should not be spread out throughout the day instead of taking a long break. According to research, after 90 minutes of work it becomes very difficult for the brain to concentrate, so breaks are necessary.

Effective Break Strategies

• Short Breaks - Sit down for 5-10 min every hour break and get up and either stretch or take a short walk.
• Longer Breaks - This protocol is effective after spending 3-4 hours consecutively on a specific type of work or any other activity not related to work such as lunch breaks.
• Microbreaks - Just a few breaths or glancing out of the window is enough to offer your mind a breather.

Pausing work means that you are giving the brain time to destine new information, intensity, and refocus when called upon to work.

Conclusion

That is the reason why we need to devote time and effort to practice; nevertheless, the results are definitely worth it. There are various forms of exercises which help in the improvement of mental functions, these may include, Mindfulness meditation, exercising, brain jogging through games and relaxation.

Of course, just like every other skill, the ability to concentrate enhances with practice and so should incorporate these exercises into our lifestyles. Soon, depend on how consistent you are, you will begin to find yourself paying much more attention, getting more done in less time, and achieving your goals.