I can’t concentrate lately: what’s wrong with me?

Maintaining a conversation, performing at work, making a decision no matter how simple it may be… In recent days, even the simplest things cost a world. It’s more, The most common phrase we hear these days is “I can’t concentrate, I don’t know what’s wrong with me”. It seems as if, suddenly, many of us have the same attention span as a goldfish, which is eight seconds.

Is this normal? Are we perhaps suffering from some kind of problem? Well, the simple fact that this phenomenon is common should reassure us a little. Fear, anguish, excess of information that we are aware of, changes, constant uncertainty… Our brain is incapable of processing so much stimulus, so much noise and emotional ups and downs.

Now, beyond the fact that it is a recurring fact, it is essential to control our focus and manage attention a little better. The mind that is scattered and that little by little becomes erratic takes a toll on our well-being. Daniel Goleman already explained to us in his book focus that We have neglected the importance of attention for several decades. We forget that this psychological resource is the essential piece for performance in life.

What’s more, and it is not only important for the work or school environment. Focus attention improves our relationships and optimizes opportunities to be happier, to remember what is important and work on it.

What are the symptoms of not being able to concentrate?

Some symptoms you may experience are:

Inability to remember things that happened recently.Difficulty sitting still.Trouble thinking clearly.Losing things frequently or having trouble remembering where they are.Inability to make decisionsInability to perform complicated tasksLack of concentrationLack of physical or mental energy to concentrateMaking careless mistakes.

You may have noticed that sometimes it is more difficult to concentrate at certain times of the day or environments. Others may comment that you seem distracted. You may miss appointments or meetings due to lack of concentration.

Why can’t you concentrate?

The concentration is the ability to focus our cognitive resources on a task. We all have it to a greater or lesser extent, however, sometimes you may notice that it is difficult for you to concentrate and you forget things. Because? Let’s look at some reasons:

You have a long list of tasks to do: The more things on your to-do list, the harder it is to focus on anything in particular. But if you start thinking about the tasks you have left to do, you won’t be able to pay attention to the task at hand at that moment.Your work day is very long: Days of more than 8 hours are counterproductive, since they do not leave time for the body and brain to recover. And if the mind is fatigued, concentration will decrease.You rest very little: According to a study, lack of rest can affect attention and concentration due to increased sleep pressure.You are not motivated: Having a job that you don’t like, doing activities that you don’t enjoy, not having a specific goal, or not receiving congratulations or thanks, can be the cause of your concentration problems.You use technology a lot: All electronic devices, such as cell phones, computers…, are a great source of distraction. If you can’t live without social media, it’s probably hard for you to concentrate. and maintain attention on a specific task.You don’t exercise: The lack of physical activity could be related to problems with concentration, since exercise also affects mental skills and memory. A study carried out on children with ADHD suggests that exercise can be useful for learningas it provides greater impulse control and improves concentration.You are very disorganized: If your desk is cluttered, dirty, or cluttered, you’ll have a harder time concentrating. This is because The mind places its attention on any object and not on what it should focus on.You have anxiety: Anxiety is one of the main causes of inattention. Being so worried about what is going to happen in The future does not allow us to focus on the present or enjoy it.

All of these factors can explain your lack of concentration. It is considered that the lack of concentration is pathological when it influences different areas of your life, when it lasts for a period of more than 6 months or when it occurs as a consequence of a mental disorder.

I can’t concentrate, what can I do?

Concentration is essential in our daily lives. Without it, the mind gets lost, wanders and chooses to go where it should not. (towards worries, that cell phone notification that later leads us to respond to a message and then look out the window…). The tendency to wander and lose focus often causes us to fall into circles of genuine frustration.

This low concentration slows down performance. Seeing that we have not arrived and that we cannot achieve the objectives set for that day increases anxiety.. Shortly after, this accumulation of emotions tends to further block attention and the ability to be productive. It is like a journey with no return that makes us desperate and places us in a state that we don’t really know how to handle.

When I can’t concentrate the most common thing is that I wonder what’s wrong with me. The only way to respond requires us to first understand how human attention works.. Let’s analyze it.

Your concentration level is always low

When we ask how long sustained attention lasts, on average, there is usually no consensus among scientists. The data is almost always disparate. Psychologists Wilson and Korn (2007), for example, did not find conclusive data, but stipulated that although individual differences exist, they are generally low.

As a striking fact, we even found the study carried out in 2015 by Microsoft Canada in which it was stipulated that the average attention span was 12 seconds.

Now, despite there being no consensus, one thing is evident: it is difficult for us to concentrate so much that Many education experts insist that the 50-minute class model does not work.

The context that surrounds us further reduces our attention span

If we start from the basis that our ability to focus is (on average) low, to this we must add another factor: the context that surrounds us.

Social, economic and cultural challenges can take their toll on us. Whether consciously or unconsciously, many of these elements are constantly in our brain, consuming its attention and energy.The level of anxiety among the population has increased in recent years. One of the characteristics of the anxious brain is the inability to maintain attention, to solve problems or make decisions. Likewise, our environment has been filled with many more stimuli as a result of technological advance: the level of news has increased, which , we check our cell phone more frequently. We also receive more messages from our environment.The mind also wanders like never before.. We think about the present and the future. We ask ourselves questions, we imagine scenarios, situations… Right now, we are a factory of worries and ideas.

If I can’t concentrate… what strategies should I apply?

«I can’t concentrate, I don’t know what to do, I have a hard time performing at work or even having a conversation.». We hear this phrase more and more frequently. We know that it is normal, that the pressures that surround us are many, but we need to take control and educate the mind to regain focus. These would be some strategies.

Divide your times into 30 minutes. If you have to work or perform a task, set them in half-hour intervals. At the end, you can give yourself a short break, but the important thing is to be aware that in those minutes you must perform at your best.One thing at a time and one thought at a time. If we want to increase your mental well-being, visualize your mind as if it were a house. You only allow visits one by one. Many presences (concerns) cannot accumulate inside you at the same time, so it is better individually. The same goes for the tasks you need to do, avoid doing too many things at once. If you focus on just one, performance improves.Hygiene and emotional self-care. In difficult times, calm down. On days with many stimuli, balance. Likewise, in moments when everything accumulates and everything worries, emotional self-care. Pay attention to that internal world and manage every emotion, every sensation. Your ability to concentrate will improve if you manage to regulate that universe.

To conclude, nothing is as common right now as telling ourselves that I can not concentrate. Our brain is aware of a world with greater complexity, with new challenges. Let us be able to train focus by first regulating emotions. Little by little we will regain control. Let’s keep it in mind.

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