The mobile beep announces a new notification from social networks or the reception of a new message. Have you ever counted how many times this happens a day?
One showed that, approximately, a person checks his cell phone 150 times a day and even more.
In the midst of so much stimulation, working to improve concentration is challenging – but not impossible! Here are some top tips to help you focus on your daily activities.
1. Practice physical activities
An article published in the newspaper showed a series of investigations that prove the strong influence of physical exercises on the brain.
In addition to making memories more consistent, exercises are proven to be one of those responsible for helping concentration.
According to the report, around 20 minutes of aerobic exercises interspersed with classes helped improve the concentration of students in Dutch schools.
Another report showed that German adolescents who spent 10 minutes practicing playful coordination activities managed to improve their results in schools. Therefore, choose your sport and start practicing it!
2. Don’t try to multitask
from Stanford University debunked the myth that multitasking is a good thing. For them, multitasking lowers our level of competence and intelligence. Our brain suffers from an overload that overwhelms our mental capacity, preventing us from performing more than one task with the same quality as we would if we were doing just one.
Thus, if you need to do important tasks, organize yourself so that you do not do more than one at a time. This will help you focus on priorities and maintain the high quality of your actions.
3. Meditate
Meditation is an ancient practice in which the individual uses techniques to maintain the focus of the mind, whether on a particular thought or activity. By acting on the prefrontal cortex, this directly influences concentration and .
Therefore, if you want to improve concentration, practice meditation, as it activates the cortex region, increasing the volume of gray matter. This produces a direct effect on the brain.
In addition, the practice reduces the activity of the parietal lobe, which consequently makes us less sensitive to external stimuli.
4. Have a good night’s sleep
Have you noticed that when we have a good night’s sleep, the next day, we have more disposition? Just like the other organs in our body, the brain needs to rest. Therefore, if you want to improve concentration, try to sleep well.
During sleep, the central nervous system restores itself, causing neurons to pass appropriate information to each other. This influences brain activity and helps us develop a superior ability to focus on certain tasks.
5. Do not forget about leisure
The brain is not a machine. If you don’t give him a break, over time, your concentration falters and activities start to go your way.
For this reason, set aside some moments of your day to pause and relax – this will help you have more courage to do tasks that require concentration.
Having moments of leisure is essential not only to guarantee well-being, but also to improve concentration. Therefore, bet on these moments of relaxation.
Do activities that give you pleasure and that are not an obligation, such as walking in a park or watching a movie.
6. Unplug
A certain dose of stress is essential, as it helps us to respond quickly to emergency situations. However, care must be taken that this does not become a burden.
Today, we are receiving constant stimuli, in addition to being exposed to too much information, which ends up overloading our brain.
Have you already noticed that anxiety increases when we are connected all the time?
Therefore, if you want to improve concentration, disconnect, turn off your computer and mobile phone and do not enter social networks. Disconnection helps exercise a part of the brain known as the standard neural network, allowing room to dream and consolidate memory.
7. Eat well to improve concentration
Some foods help in the regeneration of neurons, impacting concentration. Hypoglycemia, which is a lack of glucose in the body, can impair reasoning. Therefore, choose sources of this substance, such as whole grains and fruits, to improve concentration.
Zinc is another important element, as it acts against free radicals, preserving the membranes of neurons and thus contributing to the exchange of information between them.
In this case, eat foods like eggs, dairy, and red meat for a more focused brain.
8. Make a list of your tasks
Do you need to concentrate on certain tasks, but can’t stay focused? Make a list!
For this, you can use eg.
Making a to-do list will help you focus on the important things you need to get done on a given day.
Thus, you can set priorities – like work. The document also helps you avoid losing focus along the way, as you know you need to finish one task before starting another.
9. Stimulate your mind
Just like the body, the brain also needs to exercise. Mental gymnastics is essential and must be applied to your routine. An American neuroscientist, Larry Katz, even gave this activity a name: neurobic.
For him, practices such as doing crossword puzzles, playing chess, using the hand you don’t normally use, and doing math the old-fashioned way, without the help of a calculator, are excellent alternatives to stimulate and improve concentration. This happens because these actions help the brain learn different ways of doing things.
10. Memorize things
Do you usually practice memorization? If not, you should start doing it.
Memorizing phrases, poems, and even songs not only helps build vocabulary, but also trains the brain to focus on important activities.
Remember that memory forms the basis of learning and without it, we cannot concentrate. Therefore, have daily habits that allow you to exercise your mind: this will directly affect you and your personal life.
The importance of concentration
The vice in the use of electronic devices is the villain of concentration, a typical problem of the 21st century. Technology dominates virtually every aspect of life during waking time, and this comes at a cognitive cost.
Therefore, if you want to improve concentration, try to put into practice the advice we have given you.
You will see that you will have a greater ability to carry out your daily commitments and you will be able to relax your mind, increasing your quality of life.
We hope you have enjoyed our tips.
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