Photo: Columbia Pictures/Getty Images Woody Allen has never sent an email. He does not own a computer. (He admits to owning an iPhone, but only for making calls and listening to jazz while traveling.) After over 50 years in the film business, Allen’s daily routine hasn’t changed one iota: He still sketches out his script ideas in freehand on a yellow legal pad. And…
Concentration, or the ability to focus on a task at hand while blocking out distracting stimuli or thoughts, is one of our most powerful mental tools. When at optimal levels, concentration helps make our work flow easier, retain information better, and complete tasks in appropriate amounts of time. It can become difficult to focus our attention and proper amount of…
While mental exercise is important for brain health, that doesn’t mean you never need to break a sweat. Physical exercise helps your brain stay sharp. It increases oxygen to your brain and reduces the risk for disorders that lead to memory loss, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Exercise also enhances the effects of helpful brain chemicals and reduces stress…
The science behind concentration and improved focus Isn’t it sweet when you lose yourself in the work you’re doing? You get the rush of real productivity, not just ‘busy work’. You have a strong feeling of purpose and completely lose track of time. Whether you call it concentration, focus, flow, or even work-induced trance, you have to admit it’s really an exhilarating…
I often hear my clients complain of difficulty concentrating. Be it on the job, on their creative tasks, or even in their daily routines, I frequently hear them talk about difficulty keeping track of their ever-growing list of to-do’s and their frantic efforts to keep themselves organized and on top of their various roles and demands. I hear them tell me about the…
Attention Game: Stroop This game is a variation on the famous Stroop effect. It s a fun way to test your ability to focus while processing information. It will train you to focus, improve your concentration, and pay attention. Attention and Age As we get older the challenges associated with inattentiveness grow. Deteriorating visual attention can affect behavior…
Funny things happen when I snap my fingers. On a stage in Syracuse, a grown man fell instantly and deeply into a state of total relaxation and collapsed onto the floor. At a training event in Philadelphia, a woman became convinced she was communicating with extraterrestrials and started shouting in beeps and whistles. During a conference in Cleveland, an executive…
If you are looking for a certain concentration technique, it will not come about overnight. You may need to practice it for some time before you can master it completely. I will suggest some important Concentration Techniques that can help you develop a certain concentration and work faster. To start with, you must create a strong mental focus that will be the basis…
Concentration methods include learning about how to concentrate, the things that are considering distracting, and what other kinds of activities you can get involved in while learning to focus. In today s world, you have the option of focusing your attention to a variety of things. With technology being so advanced, you can use your computer, cell phone, television…
A wandering mind is common for people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Whether you’re talking to your boss or best friend, you might easily lose track of conversations. Or get easily distracted and forget what you were working on. Or miss details and make careless mistakes. But this isn’t an oversight on your part. An inability to focus is a prominent…
In case you haven’t noticed, I write about all the stuff I suck at. And here’s my worst struggle yet: staying focused. But this discipline is a non-negotiable for a writer. It’s essential for anyone who is serious about doing great work. I don’t care if you have to trick yourself into it. If you’re going to do stuff that matters, you will need to find a way to stop…
They say the key to success is to simply show up every day and do what needs to be done. But showing up is the easy part. How to focus and stay on-task is the real challenge. Like an old lawn mower, it probably takes a few tries to get going. However, when you do, you enter a state of focus where you forget the world and are able to get lost in your work. It’s in…
