How To-114: "How to Improve Your Concentration"

How to Improve Your Concentration

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Concentration requires great amount of effort and time.Even if you practise it for one week or even a month the result won't be productive if your brain isn’t performing well.If you're having trouble with concentration this article may come in handy.

Steps

1. Take rest. The biggest factor affecting concentration is rest and this has been approved by research. Concentration requires your mind to be calm. But your mind will be scattered if you are not well rested. Make sure that you get the right amount of sleep at the right time. Also have regular sleep time, and this can be the key step for concentrating.
   
• Sleeping too much is also not ideal. Oversleeping disrupts your natural rhythm and can make you lazy. Avoid this by having an alarm clock to wake you up in time.
  
2. Make a Plan. Always have a plan for whatever you are up to. When you sit down to work without a plan, you may easily get caught in activities like checking mails, Instant messaging (chatting) and browsing the web. Without a purpose, you are wasting your time. You’ll find yourself distracted by a variety of nagging thoughts instead of devoting all your attention to one important task. To avoid this, make a clear plan that meets your needs beforehand. Take 10 or 5 minutes break in between, and use this time to check email, and then close your inbox and move on to your most important task. When making a plan make sure to allocate enough time for entertainment, studies and sleep.
   
3. Meditate.The practice of meditation will definitely improve our powers of concentration. Actually, when we try to meditate, it is concentration that is the first thing we need to master. A daily period of meditation gives us the chance to specifically work on concentration techniques.
   
4. Choose a place of your choice -Choose a place that you favor the most.But obviously some places are better than others.School libraries,study lounges and private rooms are the best.Above all the place that you choose should not be distracting. Try to stay away from other people if you want to concentrate on your work.
   
5. .If you want to master the arts of concentration, develop a controlled and balanced diet.Overeating puts a huge load of digestion and can make you feel uncomfortable and sleepy.Eating light and healthy meals can help you maximize your ability to concentrate. As Thomas Jefferson said, we rarely regret eating too little. It’s likely you’ll find that you need less food to satisfy you than you think.
   
6. Exercise. The ability to concentration depends a lot upon our physical well-being. If we are tired, unhealthy and afflicted by numerous minor ailments, concentration will be more difficult. Of course, concentration is still possible but it is just more difficult. However, we have to try to make life easy for ourselves; we need to give a high priority to our physical health - getting sufficient sleep, staying physically fit. Undertaking exercise will help develop our concentration. It will help if we lose weight, clear the mind,allow your body to sweat out impurities and create a sense of dynamism.
   
7. Have a change while studying.It is difficult to concentrate on one thing for an extended time period. Sometimes, the best solution is to give ourselves frequent change. If we concentrate on one task for an hour, we can then move onto something different. This change in activity enables us to maintain our powers of concentration without becoming tired of one activity
   
8. Take Breaks and Mix Up Your Environment.Continuous work in the same place can drive anyone crazy.Taking constant breaks can solve the problem. This will make you active and more interested in your topic.
   
9. Practice can make you perfect.Concentration is an activity like any other. Clearly the more we practice, the better our concentration will become. We wouldn’t expect to be a strong runner without doing some training. Similarly, concentration is like a muscle, the more we exercise the stronger it becomes.

Tips

• If you are not determined to do it you are probably wasting your time.
  
• When you find your thoughts straying from what you should be concentrating on, redirect it. Do not let it wander off.
  
• Commit a time to what you should be concentrating on. Do not allow yourself to be distracted by problems or worries. Setup an award system for yourself. Promise yourself rewards for maintaining concentration.
  
• Create an inviting and calm environment to allow you to concentrate.
  
• If you are too sleepy to concentrate, it is highly doubtful if you’d be able to finish a paragraph of a book you’re reading.
  
• Do not force yourself if your mind keeps wandering. It doesn’t help at all.

Warnings

• Do not work in a crowded place as you will lose you're focus.

Related wikiHows

• How to Avoid Getting Bored While Reading
  
• How to Develop Your Sense of Time
  
• How to Keep to a Daily Schedule
  
• How to Plan a Homework Schedule
  
• How to Get Work Done in a Home Office

Sources and citations

• http://altmedicine.about.com/od/optimumhealthessentials/a/Concentration.htm
  
• http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/how-to-improve-your-concentration.html
  
• http://seniorliving.about.com/od/keepyourmindshar1/a/concentration_b.htm
  
• http://www.k-state.edu/counseling/topics/career/concentr.html

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