5 Ways To Improve Your Focus

5 Ways to Improve Your Focus

by

Amy Ashwell

In our society, poor food, lack of exercise and sleep, and increased levels of stress are working hard to decrease our mental focus. Have you noticed a difficulty in focusing on your work or whatever task is at hand? All these contributing factors are making us feel like we have adult ADD. We probably don’t, but life is hard and complicated and it is becoming increasingly hard to focus.

Aside from the usual advice of trying to improve your diet and exercise routines and getting enough sleep, there are a few specific things you do to help increase your mental focus.Use Your Head Using your brain for more than your usual activities will stimulate your thinking. Try doing puzzles, word games, anything different. There are online games, crossword puzzles in books and newspapers, jigsaw puzzles you can do at the kitchen table, among others. These activities can also be great ways to relax and relieve stress. It’s true that if don’t use it, you’ll lose it.Visualize a beam of light A technique you can use in situations where you are trying to focus narrowly on something is to imagine that you are looking through a flashlight. What you see at the end of the light is only what you are focusing on. Everything outside your circle of light is black. Use this technique to block out all external stimuli while you are trying to narrowly focus on something.Take a Break Take a long break when you can, but when you can’t, at least take short breaks. Take a walk around the block during coffee breaks and lunch time. More than just a little exercise, walking can be a form of meditation. Walk alone if you can and it will help clear your head.Make a List When there are too many other thoughts distracting you from your current task, write them down. Keep a small notebook with you all the time to keep track of things you need to do. When these future tasks are contained in one place, you are free to use your brain to focus on the task at hand without the fear of forgetting these other things.You Can’t Ignore Your Diet Even making small changes will help. Try to eat fewer carbohydrates during the day, and more protein. Coffee, in small doses, can really help your focus. Just don’t overdo it. Getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly and managing stress are still the best places to start. You just can’t avoid the basics.

AmyAshwell writes about ways to

improve your mental performance

at http://www.mentalstresstraining.com

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