11 simple and effective ways to improve your attention

Attention is the key to being able to record information from our environment and store it. It is the basic psychological process for normal cognitive functioning and a key piece to being able to generate memories in the future. Hence the importance of knowing effective strategies that allow you to improve your attention.

Now, there are several diseases that are related to attention deficit.. Some of them are: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, depression, among others, which directly affect the state of alertness.

However, it is quite common that our ability to attend to stimuli is diminished by different circumstances; such as stress, fatigue or anxiety. In these cases, we could carry out a series of techniques that will help us improve attention and thus be more effective in carrying out daily tasks. We see what they are.

11 keys to improve your attention

Although it may seem that improving a process as basic as attention is complicated, the truth is that there are several simple keys to achieve it. Here are some of them, such as:

1. Do physical exercise

Practicing sports has been revealed as one of the best habits, since it is a protective factor against various physical diseases. Besides, exercise is a powerful enemy of stress, and it is even useful to consolidate knowledge and improve our memory.

Another article published in Current Biology showed that Exercising improves the consolidation of what has been learnedthe experimental group that practiced sports 4 hours after learning, after 2 days, remembered the information better than the rest.

2. Eliminate distractors

It is important that in your workplace or study there are not many stimuli that could distract you. Therefore, It is recommended that distracting stimuli such as the mobile phone are not within your reach. A good solution could be to turn it off or put it in airplane mode while you are doing a specific task.

It is also not advisable to check our email inbox every so often. or what happens on different social networks. To do this, you could restrict the use of said elements until the planned task is completed.

On the other hand, we have the matter of music. Does it help or not to improve care? This study, which reviews the existing literature, concludes that “music influences cognitive skills and functions, promoting the retention of information through patterns of sounds and rhymes; attention and concentration are also improved in conjunction with language.”

3. Take regular breaks

People do not have the ability to focus our attention for 8 hours straight, it is impossible. Although the optimal performance time may vary from one person to another. Productivity expert Ron Friedman recommends two 15-minute breaks during the workday.

Breaks are vital to maintaining correct attention at work.

Although everyone has to see when they need a break to “recharge their batteries.” These breaks help your brain disconnect. and can, after the break, increase performance and concentration. Furthermore, if an outdoor trip is added to this rest, even better.

The best way to take breaks is to schedule them in your agenda as another task. It is important to take them seriously and not do any tasks during these breaks, not even check your email. Take the opportunity to go to the bathroom, get a coffee or chat with your colleagues.

However, It is crucial not to exceed the rest time, as it can be counterproductive to maintaining optimal performance. In fact, constantly postponing an unappealing task makes it even less so if we postpone it, because over time we overestimate its negative characteristics and minimize the positive ones.

4. Change tasks

Sometimes we lose attention and interest in what we are doing due to the monotonous and repetitive nature of the task. For this reason, It is advisable to schedule the work day by interspersing different tasks so as not to end up executing tasks automatically. This way interest does not decrease and you can improve your attention.

When we pay attention to the same task or stimulus for a long time, we get bored and performance drops. For this reason, there are certain jobs that are very repetitive in which performance decreases over time, and the solution is to rotate positions to perform various jobs.

5. Sleep well

Sleep is very important for the proper functioning of our brain, influencing our performance in our tasks during the day. In this sense, attention can be affected by a night of few hours of sleep or poor quality sleep.

Sleeping well, essential to improve our attention.

Magazine Respirology published a study conducted on subjects suffering from sleep apnea. They found that the group that suffered from it, compared to the control group, in turn had a deficit in sustained attention and vigilance, even finding failures in visual and verbal long-term memory.

For its part, It is relevant to take into account the concept of sleep hygiene. It’s about optimizing the way we go to bed to fall asleep and get a restful rest. For example, use the bed only to sleep and not to watch television, do not go to bed on an empty stomach, practice relaxation exercises before going to bed, avoid screens for at least an hour before going to sleep, etc.

These habits to improve rest during sleep are relevant even in childhood. This is demonstrated by this study in which it was found that, in schoolchildren, there are various biopsychosocial factors that can influence attention and memory, such as watching television before bed, going to bed late or other forms of auditory-visual stimulation.

6. Avoid multitasking

Although it may seem that doing several tasks at the same time is synonymous with productivity, the truth is that it has a negative effect on attention. . Schedule the tasks of the day, estimating the time each of them will take and trying to complete it.

A good habit is that every day, before starting work, you write down on a piece of paper everything you have to do and the estimated time it will take you to do it. So, even if you don’t strictly follow the schedule, do not start the next task without having finished the previous onethis way you can improve your attention.

7. Train your cognitive abilities

Attention is one of the cognitive functions that can be trained through exercises designed for this purpose. Divided, sustained or selective attention exercises can be performed.

For example, tasks as simple as finding the 7 differences between two images. It also helps to locate a certain letter among a series of characters, trying to attend to two auditory stimuli at the same time or reading numerical figures and trying to say them in reverse order are good training tasks to improve your attention.

This type of tasks is used to prevent cognitive deterioration in older people, and can help increase cognitive reserve and protect us from suffering from dementia. The brain is the most important muscle in the body and we must take care of it and exercise it.

8. Meditate

Meditation and its variants, such as mindfulness, has established itself in the Western world as one of the best forms of relaxation, but also as training for the internal focus of attention.

In a study published in 2010 it was found that subjects trained in mindfulness They improved significantly on sustained attention tasks. Furthermore, the results had no correlation with relaxation states: participants improved in attending to a stimulus continuously regardless of their stress level.

Although the effectiveness of mindfulness As a unique program to improve care, it remains to be confirmed, the analyzes give results that tend to be positive. Therefore, from here we advise you to try it, because you will obtain different benefits from it.

9. Stay hydrated

Mild dehydration can negatively affect attention. In fact, With mild dehydration, negative effects on selective and sustained attention are already found.

That’s why, When you are going to perform a task that requires your concentration, make sure you drink regularly. It doesn’t matter if you’re not thirsty: automate taking a sip of water every few minutes.

10. Eat well

Diet has to do with many aspects of health, including cognitive functioning. It is known that fats and sugars, in high proportions, are related to attention and concentration deficits.

11. Ask questions

Finally, if you want to improve your attention in work meetings or during your academic classes, we advise you to ask questions to the speakers or participants. This not only will keep you engaged with the topic discussedbut it will allow you to contribute to the conversation and learn something new.

The importance of going to the psychologist

In short, if we do not have an underlying psychological disorder that is directly affecting our attention, we can practice a series of techniques that can help us improve this capacity. Besides, We emphasize the importance of carrying out healthy habits (sleep well, exercise, eat properly, etc.) to enhance results.

However, if you suspect that something is wrong with your attention, do not hesitate to go to a psychology professional. It is better to confirm a diagnosis than to fight against yourself all your life, so don’t be afraid to face your attention problems with someone prepared.

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