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Posts Tagged ‘Focus’

Meditation and Self-improvement

Jan 5th, 2010 by admin

There are particular moments in life where you wish to depend on other people’s advice. Some would readily give it to you with best intentions.  Despite these intentions, you are always going to blame those persons if anything goes wrong. Every time you find yourself at a crossroad, specialists strongly advise you to always make the decisions by yourself. The burning question is: how will you know how to make the best decision? No matter how young or old you are, you must have reached a point in your life where you need to make a big decision. This major decision will probably affect your entire existence. There is no doubt that there are certain moments in life when you feel helpless and disoriented. In such case, you could use some self-improvement advice in order to figure out how to proceed with your life. The answer is never simple. There is one self-improvement advice that can greatly help you have great results. This tool is popularly known as meditation. Meditation has been used for centuries in certain rituals and by ancients civilizations. Old and famous books, like the Bible, discuss how people meditate in order to discover themselves and fight the evil forces. Upon gaining self-mastery, they develop self-control over their decisions and lives. How do you do meditation? First, you need to be away from sources of distraction. You cannot analyze your deepest feelings and thoughts and watch a movie at the same time. Second, ask yourself a series of questions that will help you determine who you really are. The questions should relate to everyday aspects. §  What do you like doing? §  What made you most proud of yourself during your entire life? §  What is it that you always wanted to do and you never found the time? §  What role does money play in your life? §  What is it more important for you? Is it you family or career? §  How much do you depend on others? If you are concerned about certain decisions, let all the questions be related to that issue. Do not forget to write down the answers. Try to concentrate and be honest. After all, nobody will judge you. Write the first thing that comes into your mind. All these questions will help determine exactly where you stand and what you want from life. All you have to do is to get the right interpretation of your own replies. In order to do that, help yourself to a cup of tea or your favorite coffee and take the time to do a thorough analysis. Mark with a red pen answers that you are proud of and mark with a black one the things that do not make you proud. Post the list in a place where you can see it more than once a day, or post it in more than one place. You will notice that little by little, the black things on your list will start turning red. Do not forget to renew the list when most of it has turned red! It is best to be aware about your expectations from life. Take this simple self-improvement advice and see the positive results for yourself! Experience the moment with “MAJESTY OF CALMNESS”. http://calmness.pan100.net/?e=kevin121554@yahoo.com Kevin Hensey speaks at business clubs and prisons on personal growth. He has written articles regarding personal development.
His website is:
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Improve Focus and Concentration Plan

Jan 4th, 2010 by admin

You think you figured out what is keeping you from focusing on work or school studies and you have dealt with it. You found that nice quiet place to do your work or you have figured out how to control the things around you to the point where you can focus. You have also learned to stop doing things like procrastinating and have learned to control stress and anxiety.
However, after everything you have done to get your mind to focus you are still having problems with your mind swimming with all kinds of thoughts. It does not matter how hard you try, if fact the more you try to concentrate on what you are doing the more you find that you cannot focus. Therefore, you find yourself looking through the widow or deep in thought while your project still needs to be finished.
Most of the time it is because we have not properly thought of the ultimate goal that keeps us from concentrating. If you do not know what it is that you want or need to do it can be a little tough to get started right? I mean, you can not take a successful road trip if you do not know which direction you want to go in or at least where you want to go.
So now is the time to sit down and set your goals, decide where it is you want to go and what it is that you want to do. If you find that your goal is a little hard to reach, just break it down into smaller goals that do not seem so overwhelming. You have to have a plan in order to get anywhere in life; even the smallest tasks need to have a plan of completion.
Having a plan can help you to easily overcome the overwhelmed feeling you have, which in turn will help you concentrate on the task at hand. The thing is, you know what it is that you want, you know how to get what it is that you want and you know how to get to that point. If you follow the plan you will get to the place you need to be in order to get what it is that you are looking for.
Now you have all that figured out. You have your goals set and you have you plan all planned out but wait, your assignment still has to be done and your thoughts are still scattered. You are still finding it hard to focus on the task at hand and getting it all your thoughts in order. If you still find you head swimming with thoughts it may be best to write all them down.
You can even try keeping a journal, this can help you decide what it is that you are really focusing on and then learn how to direct that focus where you need it to be. It would be really nice if we could all focus with the sharpness of a laser on the task at hand but unfortunately, it is unlikely that anyone can be as sharply focused as a laser.
When you are trying to focus on the project at hand and all other thoughts seem to be disabling us from doing so it is time to relax and find yourself in the Alpha State of mind where the mind is most creative. There are many things that we need to learn in order to keep our minds focused on the things that we need it to focus on.
We need to learn to block thoughts that are unwanted, keep our minds from being overwhelmed, make our attention spans longer, switch from one certain project to another and keep our minds from wondering around to other things. Get Your Free Brain Food and Nutrition report and Increase IQ, download the full IQ Mind Brain Library at http://www.IQMindBrainLibrary.com

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A Sick Company Needs to Concentrate on its Core Competence

Dec 31st, 2009 by admin

The surgeon operates only one patient at a time. Similarly, a sick company needs to concentrate on its core competence.
During the turnaround phase when the company is on the brink of bankruptcy, there are time and resource constraints. The company needs to concentrate all its resources on doing a few major things right.
You should have a laser-sharp focus just as a surgeon focuses on only one operative field during surgery. If you are a patient, you will not allow your surgeon to operate on you and another patient simultaneously.
Similarly, an ailing company needs to concentrate only on its core competence and try to rid itself of activities that do not help the bottom-line targets as well as those that do not immediately improve its cash flow. Under such critical circumstances, you can even succeed at far lower cost by ensuring that you do a better job with the businesses and skills you already have.
In order to release resources for its core business, the ailing company has to divest any unprofitable or non-related businesses. Quite often, in their bid to bolster sales performance, troubled companies clinch lots of sales contracts with thin profit margin. This tantamount to buying sales and they often turned into subsequent financial losses. Such a scenario is equivalent to having a lot of sizzle but no steak.
It is better to amputate all loss-making ventures and unprofitable sales whenever possible. According to the standard surgical procedure if there is pus, get it removed.
In fact, the famous Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu believed in the principle of concentration in fighting a war. He said: “The strength of an army does not depend on large forces. Do not advance relying on sheer numbers. Rather, one must concentrate one’s forces and anticipate correctly the movement of the enemy in order to capture him.”
To compete in the global market, it is important to narrow your focus to a specific segment, Olivetti has lost its competitiveness as its product lines proliferate from typewriters to computers. When the market is 58 million people in Italy, a broad line is all right. But when Olivetti went global it could not compete.
Hyundai, S Korea a major conglomerate also lost focus in the quest for expansion. It is involved in all kinds of businesses ranging from chemicals, ship-building, engineering, automotive, pharmaceutical, etc. As a result it confuses the minds of the customers. When the financial crisis hit S Korea in 1997, Hyundai was one of the first chaebols to fall apart. Marketing will need to be focusing on specific niches for the riches are usually found in niches.
The soft drink giant Coca-Cola tried to venture into the bottled water market in Europe with the launch of ‘pure’water Dasani. News broke out that the Coca-Cola’s treated tap water contains cancer-causing chemical and it had to withdraw the Dasani from the market, creating a lot of bad taste. Although Coke drinks and ‘pure’ water are in the soft drinks category, the technology and know-how can be quite different. Coca-Cola should have stayed with the ‘real thing’, its core competence.
Remember to have laser sharp focus. The laser is actually a weak source of energy. A laser takes a few watts of energy and focuses them in a coherent stream of light. A few watts of energy are not useful. However, laser is able to drill through diamond, the hardest rock and eradicate cancer cells as well for lasik treatment. Similarly, companies with laser sharp focus can dominate a market. When a company is not focused, its limited energy gets dissipated over too many products or markets. Dr Mike Teng (DBA, MBA, BEng) is the author of best-selling book, “Corporate Turnaround: Nursing a Sick Company back to Health.” He is known as the “Turnaround CEO in Asia” by the media.Check out the Corporate Turnaround ebooks and video at www.CorporateTurnAroundExpert.comWordpress Autoblogging Plugin

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Improve Focus and Concentration: Studying For Exams

Dec 23rd, 2009 by admin

For many students, when exams are announced, a fear overcomes them. A sense of dread fills them and they panic. This is due in part because exams are a very stressful time for many students. The fear of getting a bad grade, or worse failing the exam forces the student to literally keep their nose in a book, studying hour after hour, for weeks on end.
Perhaps the worst part of knowing an exam is approaching. The pressure builds and it makes if difficult to concentrate on studying. To study successfully, and retain what you have read, requires extreme concentration. This is called productive studying. Believe it or not, it is not as easy as it sounds.
Many people find that the pressure of upcoming exams stunts their power of concentration. They are unable to focus on just one subject long enough to retain the information necessary to pass the exams. There are some steps that you can take to assist you in concentrating.
The first thing you should do is to find a quiet place to study. Do not sit in the living room with the television on, you will find yourself watching TV instead of studying. This is the number on distraction for teenagers. Another big distraction is trying to study with music on in the background. You need a quiet place where you will not be disturbed by siblings or normal household activities. Those who say they can study better with music on do not realize that they are actually creating a distraction for themselves.
When you find a quiet place to study, make sure that you will be comfortable and the lighting is adequate. You do not want to strain your eyes trying to read, it will only give you a headache. You also do not want to study in the cellar or garage; these places usually are musty and can distract you from studying from a subconscious level.
When you choose a place to study, it is not recommended that you study outdoors. On a beautiful spring day, you may find yourself taking a catnap instead of studying. Drinking a beverage that has caffeine in it may help you to stay awake. You are also chancing running into friends that may also distract you from studying. Choosing the perfect place to study is crucial to your concentration. It should be well lit and well ventilated, with nothing to stimulate your senses at all.
It is important that you study one subject at a time. You may also be hurting your chances of retaining what you have studied when it is time to take your exam you are risking failure. Studying multiple subjects at the same time will only aid in confusing you, and when you take your exam, you may get the subjects confused.
It is important that you develop good study habits in your early school years. As you go up in grades it will become more difficult because you will have more subjects to study. Concentration is the key to good study habits. These habits will follow you through your adult life. When you create good study habits, you are increasing power of concentration that is necessary in everyday life. Leon Edward helps people improve IQ, focus, memory, concentration, public speaking, time management and reducing stress. Download his IQ Mind Brain Memory Self-Help library at his website Be Smarter website… AND Visit his Self Improvement Articles at hisSelf Improvement BlogMovie Plots

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Tips for Laser Like Focus and Concentration

Dec 22nd, 2009 by admin

When you set goals for yourself, whether is in school or the workforce, it is important that you concentrate on the task at hand to obtain those objectives. For millions of people, it is not that easy.
It is difficult to obtain your objectives if you do not know what they are. It is necessary to
define what your goals are. This will assist you obtaining them. When you have clear and concise objectives, you will be able to focus and concentrate better.
When you take on too many tasks at one time, you are setting yourself up for failure. Overwhelming yourself with too many tasks will inhibit your ability to focus because you will stress about getting everything done on time. Doing one thing at a time will help you to concentrate better.
If the task that you have is a big one, breaking it down in segments will assist you in completing more competently. Focus on the segment that you are working on and not the whole project. Concentrating on the task in front of you will allow you to complete it correctly with very little stress, and more often than not, you can complete it before the deadline.
No matter who you are, expect the unexpected. There are no guarantees that you are going to have a error proof life. Obstacles always crop up and you need to be prepared to handle whatever is thrown at you in order to meet your goals. Distractions are all around us everyday, being able to shut them out and concentrate on your task will assist you in completing it quickly and efficiently.
Success and recognition is gained over time. Nothing worth having is easy. You need to be able to concentrate and do the very best that you can in everything that you do. It is important that you do not give in to stress, it will only slow you down and concentration will be difficult if not impossible. Sometimes taking a short break will help you to regain your focus and concentration. You may find that by doing this, your focus will improve.
To be a success, sacrifice is sometimes required. It is like an exchange. You will give up one thing to gain another. You just need to make sure that what you give up is worth what you are gaining. If you have a job that requires you to focus intensely on your task, you may want to remove the telephone from your desk, as each time it rings, your concentration is broken. When you remove the daily distractions you are doing something that can help you to focus on your job.
Putting things off is the number one cause of stress. When you put things off, they tend to creep up on you all at once and you find yourself with a multitude of tasks that need to be finished all at once. This not only causes stress that leads to loss of concentration, it also can cause you to become overwhelmed with work, and that can lead difficulties in focusing. When you do what you are supposed to do at the time you are supposed to do it, you will find that your concentration will be stronger. Leon Edward helps people improve IQ, focus, memory, concentration, public speaking, time management and reducing stress. Download his IQ Mind Brain Memory Self-Help library at his website Be Smarter website… AND Visit his Self Improvement Articles at hisSelf Improvement BlogHummer Parts

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Crucial importance of Focus – 3 Steps Towards Improvement

Dec 17th, 2009 by admin

In order to be the most successful person you can be, you need to be committed to your goals. But focusing on those goals can be difficult, especially with all the distractions that come our way. Susan Jacoby recently wrote a book called The Age of American Unreason which stated that technology has started to damage our ability to focus and think clearly. The more our minds are divided, the less effective we are as individuals, and the weaker our thinking. So how can we refocus in today’s hectic world? It isn’t as though we can stop using the internet or other technology. But the top achievers find a way to use technology, while maintaining their focus. Here are the top 3 ways to improve your concentration: 1. Daily meditation: Daily meditation can do an enormous amount to calm your mind and return clarity. In her book Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World, Naomi S. Baron shows how multi-tasking has diminished the quality of our thoughts and reflection—even our productivity. To get ahead in the office, Baron advises individuals to spend some time every day turning off distractions, and re-learning how to focus on the task at hand. This can be accomplished through daily meditation, which not only quiets the mind, but it allows you to prioritize, so when you return to work, you can know what requires your immediate focus, and what can wait. 2. Daily Visualization: Baron’s book goes on to argue that poor language and writing skills are the result of electronic communication—short emails, text messaging, instant messaging—it’s all dumbing down the quality of our prose. Being successful requires you to be able to verbalize clearly and eloquently what you want, inspiring confidence and leadership, improving your interpersonal relationships. The answer to improved verbal skills is daily visualization. In daily visualization, you create a perfect, detailed picture of something that you want, and then imagine feeling the corresponding emotions associate with this picture. This requires detail, creativity, and a clear idea of what you want and how you want to feel. This will help you verbalize your goals, feelings, and thoughts more clearly in the outer world. 3. Gain Knowledge There are a lot of books that prove that overuse of technology makes us weaker. Another one is Nicholas Carr’s The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, From Edison to Google, which posits that daily Internet use may be rewiring our brains for skimming rather than for the sustained concentration that is required for reading books, listening to lectures, and writing essays. The natural way to combat that? Read books, listen to lectures, and write essays! The more time you take educating yourself, the less time you spend skimming. Your base of knowledge will be more substantial, leading you to greater achievement and success. By taking the downtime you need to concentrate on your own education, goals, and desires, you can improve your focus. It won’t be long until your desires manifest themselves! Mario is the creator of the Five-Minute Mindset Workout and the Millionaire Mindset Success Series ebook and audio program.search engine optimization service

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Seven Easy Steps to Improve Your Concentration Powers

Dec 8th, 2009 by admin

If you have the willpower you can easily learn the skill of mastering the power of concentration very quickly.
You’ve heard the saying,” If there is a will, there is a way” the same holds true with concentration. Diane Sawyer is a very popular and well-known television news correspondent. When Diane was once asked about what has lead to her professional success, she had only one answer. That answer was being able to paying attention.
So the question still remains, “How do you learn to maintain your focus and enhance your concentration?”
The list below is helpful suggestions to improve your ability to concentrate in the most effective way possible. These tips apply whether you are at school, an important business meeting, at your office busy with work, or if you are just trying to finish a specific project.
1. Do five more
You are either one of two types of persons in this world. Either you know how to go through and eliminate frustration or you are the type that only wishes they are able to work through it.
So try to concentrate and focus in doing an additional five more things. This type of mantra is best used when you feel like giving up.
An example might be if you are reading or writing and you no longer want to continue to read or write, push yourself to do just five more pages. Complete five more math questions or if you are exercising add and extra five minutes on the treadmill. Remember that athletes build their own physical physiques by pushing themselves to the point of exhaustion, that also helps to develop mental stamina.
2. Take one step at a time
There may be times when you feel like you are a scatterbrain because your mind is filled with many ideas. Controlling your brain is the key.
Do not worrying about lots of matters, prioritize tasks and do only those that are needed.
For instance, you cannot help but think of your mounting bill problems and this causes you to quit focusing on your presentation that needs to be done in five minutes. Tell yourself that after the presentation you can then focus on ways to pay off your bills. This gives your mind closure and allows you to focus completely on the presentation.
3. Get tunnel vision
You can actually cup your hands around your eyes and this could serve as a mechanism to tell your mind to stay on task.
Case in point: you are in a room and you need to study but there are many distractions preventing you from concentrating. Cupping your hands around your eyes will help your brain to remember to focus and keep it on task.
4. Keep a notepad handy
That way when a thought pops up and distracts your focus, you can write down the thought immediately.
By writing it down you effectively get the thought out of your mind. Now you will focus on the job that you need to accomplish at the moment.
5. Take a break
You are not a machine. You may need to take a break to be able to effectively focus on the job that you have to do.
You can mange the job more effectively by using breaks to break your tasks it to smaller parts. Try taking a walk outside or go out for lunch.
6. Record your start and end time
When doing work, try to record the time you started and the time that you loss focus.
This helps you know how much time you actually spent doing work and when you began losing your concentration. Being aware of this leads to understanding.
7. Mix up your activities
It is wise to change the activities you do so that you keep your mind alert and not bored.
A bored mind is not completely on its game and will wander.
All in all, these activities and suggestions should be practiced regularly to help you to be able to focus and concentrate on the things that really matter most to you. Leon Edward helps people improve IQ, focus, memory, concentration, public speaking, time management and reducing stress. Download his IQ Mind Brain Memory Self-Help library at his website Be Smarter website…Visit his Self Improvement Articles at hisSelf Improvement Blogasap travel

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Attention and Concentration, How to Concentrate

Dec 3rd, 2009 by admin

ATTENTION AND CONCENTRATION – HOW TO FOCUS AND CONCENTRATE(Based on author’s site www.geocities.com/cncnrtn)

Concentration, attention, to focus is difficult think many. Most can not concentrate. To be able to concentrate, focus one’s attention, concentration, even merely paying basic attention to focus on ordinary things is regarded as the greatest power. Concentration and attention, concentrating and focusing, have been described as the power which if one possessed would make all other known power insignificant to one. Focusing attention, concentration, is what intelligence is, is about.

Concentration and attention, one can easily, quickly acquire. What are attention, concentration, focus? There are three simple definitions relevant to attention and focus, concentration – intelligence. Intelligence is knowing how to avoid distractions and concentrate on issues -it is concentration, focusing attention; concentrating, knowing how to concentrate and focus attention -success in life situations by effective concentration, effective focus of attention.Attention is part of focus, concentration, a component of intelligence. Attention, focus of attention, only lasts a few seconds (tests suggested up to 90 but 30 seconds is regarded as maximum for focusing attention). Attention is the act or process of focusing on one or more particulars in the content of one’s consciousness to give special clearance to essentials by restricting one’s sensory input from the environment’s unwanted aspects. Attention is never entire; it digresses, but can be re-focused at will.

Concentration and attention are subject to will. When one is trying to concentrate, paying attention, waves of electricity called ‘alpha rhythm’ are given by one’s brain at a frequency of 8 – 12 Hz.; but attempts by bio-feedback on an electroencephalograph (EEG) or a ‘mind-mirror’ to usefully experiment with focusing attention to concentrate failed without direct input from the brain tissue, and because in 10% of subjects no waves were recordable -in concentration, while trying to focus attention, sensory input in attentive states can be sealed off at sense-organ level. Practice helps improve attention.Concentration is exclusively to focus on, to give one’s attention to, the task at hand by habitually bringing one’s digressed attention back to quicker focus the attention and to focus that attention more accurately. Concentration, concentrating, is being able also to re-focus attention if and when one is much distracted, or immediately after any rest or other one or more breaks, on the same task or other tasks (as opposed to ‘concrete thinking’ -which is not attention or concentration but obsession with a specific fact or task and inability to switch focus of attention, concentration, to any other). The strength of the ability to concentrate, focus of attention for concentration, is by mental conditioning.

Concentration, attention, focus, involve thought. Thought outwardly directs itself creatively when uncontrolled, and with 5 a minute break ideally the ability to focus and refocus attention as concentration lasts at best 20-40 minutes. But focus and re-focus, attention and concentration, are aided by a network of nerve fibres within the brain stem, and because this (’reticular-activating system’ -RAS) despatches signals to other parts of the brain, the brain is capable of being stimulated for attention also by conscious attitude -i.e., focus of attention, concentration, increases by confident familiarity with, excited interest in, the task at hand, easier and quicker it becomes possible to focus and re-focus one’s attention on the subject of one’s concentration.Diet and Exercises to improve focus of attention and re-focus of attention, concentration, is easy, effective in a healthy body (nerve cells affect mental functions and vitamins B1 & B12 help -whole grains, nuts, milk help better focus of attention and concentration).

Exercising focus of attention, concentration, as follows safely improves attention and concentration:(Sophisticated breathing techniques to deprive the brain of oxygen to force greater alpha-rhythm by increased carbon-dioxide retention, by some suggested, are known sometimes to have even upset one’s automatic breathing, and should never be attempted.)

1. The simplest, easiest attention and concentration exercise is for 3 minutes a day to sit 5 feet away from a black spot 2 inches in diameter on a wall trying to focus attention, to concentrate, to see nothing but that.

2. Another attention and concentration exercise is studying carefully for a few minutes a picture or postcard of something unfamiliar to one (this must never be the picture of a person, nor a place where there may have been or can be expected to be any person or animals ~and, it must be an unfamiliar scene -e.g. an artist’s from imagination painted picture of mountains, fields; the same one always); then, after focusing attention, concentrating on it, one tries to recall the details of it -this daily increases success in focusing attention, concentration.

3. Depending on one’s time and interest, to exercise attention and concentration, one, in one’s imagination, may expand a spot to a circle on a blank wall learning daily to more easily focus attention and concentrate. Later by focusing attention, by concentration, add your in imagination a square around it; when you can do that easily proceed in imagination, by attention and concentration, to pull toward you the centre of that circle to form a cone; as gets easier your focus of attention, concentration, then a pyramid -daily improved attention and concentration will enable you to easily change their colour and to paint them in imagination in many different colours. (It is possible to so improve one’s attention and concentration as to place a piece of silver foil no bigger than a pin-head on a mirror and be able at will immediately to so focus attention as to concentrate, see absolutely nothing but just that – learnable is focus of attention, concentration.)

Concentration, focus of attention, it is generally agreed by science, can be improved. Even the simplest and easiest of focus of attention and concentration exercises improve effective focus of attention and concentration on issues in life situations and in the true sense of attention and concentration one’s intelligent success or grater success in all matters important to one. Power and intelligence are the ability to focus attention, concentration.The author has a website at: http://www.geocities.com/eoa_uk The author’s favourite site is: Teacher of Teachershow to get a six pack fast

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Are You Really Concentrating?

Nov 7th, 2009 by admin

The ability to totally concentrate on a task without being distracted is one of the most valuable skills that anyone can develop. The most intelligent, gifted or educated person is unlikely to succeed without being able to focus on important tasks and concentrate totally on their completion. Any person with even average intelligence who can discipline themselves to concentrate 100% on their highest priorities, will almost certainly achieve better results than supposedly ’smarter’ people who can’t, don’t or won’t. Whether natural or learned, there’s no doubt that successful people in all fields have well developed concentration skills. Concentration can be described as the ability to direct your thinking and to focus on the task at hand without being distracted. As children, most of us were able to concentrate, at least on the things that interested us. In fact, it’s possible that one of the reasons our abilities to concentrate seem to deteriorate as we grow older, may be because our parents, teachers and others tried to get us to concentrate on things they wanted us to be interested in rather than the things we were interested in. Most people, whatever their age, are still able to completely lose themselves in things they enjoy. In these cases, concentrating is rarely difficult. When it’s more likely to be a problem is when we have to do something that we aren’t that interested in, or find boring, or when we are at work. Then you may find your mind wanders from one thing to another, and you are easily distracted by other things without even noticing. You may find yourself thinking about what you’ll be doing this weekend with your friends, or worrying about your problems.
Many people are easily distracted and stop and start things they are dealing with, or jump from one job to another, wasting vast amounts of time and losing momentum in the process, causing tasks to take dramatically longer than they would have taken if dealt with without diversion. Making the conscious decision to single-mindedly concentrate on your most important tasks puts you ‘in the zone’ or allows you ‘to get in the flow’. These may be cliches, but they do clearly describe feelings most people are familiar with. I’m sure everyone can remember times when you were being incredibly productive and everything was just going exactly as you wanted it to, almost effortlessly. This can happen almost without us even being aware of it, or with apparently little input on our part. Sometimes it may even feel like you’re performing in your own film, as if you were being subconsciously driven and guided in your actions, and that everything was just opening up in front of you. You may even feel like a spectator watching a film of yourself. This is actually a common feeling described by sportsmen and women and athletes when they are performing at their absolute peak. They often describe feeling removed from the events, as if watching themselves perform rather than actively participating. This usually happens when you know exactly what outcome you are expecting, totally concentrate on taking the necessary actions, and fully expect to succeed. Improving your ability to concentrate can massively improve your productivity and make these sort of events the rule rather than the exception.
Improving concentration comes down to practice and willpower. As our minds are designed to carry out more than one thing at a time, it takes discipline and concerted effort to focus all our attention on a single task. It’s common for our attention to be split in many directions; in fact humans would have been unlikely to have survived as a race without this ability.
You can try to keep your attention on a task by thinking about how pleased you will be to have it behind you and done. Remind yourself that dragging any task out, particularly unpleasant or boring tasks, will just make it seem much worse than it would be if you completed it quickly. That should help to discipline you to return to the task whenever your mind wanders. If you keep forcing youself to refocus your concentration should improve. Whatever you’re doing, try to get comfortable and keep your body still and take breaks and drink water regularly. If you find yourself fidgeting and losing focus and you can’t easily concentrate, give yourself a short break – try taking some deep breaths, doing some stretching or walk around the room or even go outside. Movement and activity should help to clear your head. There are ways you can practise concentrating. Sit quietly in a room and look at an object (not the TV!) and give it your full attention, or close your eyes and hold a single picture of an object, scene, or idea in your mind. Pay close attention to all details and consciously block out any other thoughts whenever they enter your mind so that you become immersed in whatever you are concentrating on. If you practise this you’ll find that it will get much easier to concentrate without distractions for longer periods, and you’ll also improve your memory. Never tell yourself ‘I can’t concentrate’ because you can rest assured this will be a self fulfilling prophecy. But so will saying ‘I can and will concentrate’. When most people say ‘I can’t’ what they’re usually saying is ‘I won’t try’. It’s really all down to your willpower, self discipline and belief. How well you are able to concentrate single mindedly on your most important tasks at any time will be one of the most decisive of all factors in determining your levels of success and achievement, whatever your walk of life. Anyone who has learned how to fully concentrate and focus on their highest priorities without distractions will be amongst the most productive and successful people in their field, so it’s definitely a skill well worth mastering. science kits

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