Think of your mind as a muscle!
Your mental muscles, just like your physical muscles, need endurance; they need challenges that stretch their boundaries and, in doing so, grow your focus and attention. Just as weight training helps build muscle mass, following a brain-healthy lifestyle and engaging in regular brain exercises can also increase your cognitive reserve.
Keep your brain as healthy and fit as your body with these simple tips.
1. Gradually increase your focus
If you decide you want to run a 5K and need to get in shape, the worst thing you can do is start an extreme training program: you’ll end up hurt and discouraged, and you may quit before you really start.
Similarly, if your attention span is short, the best way to develop it is slowly. Start with an easy goal and go from there.
An easy way to get started is by using the Commodore technique.
Set an alarm for 5 minutes and focus on one task during this period of time. Then take a 2-minute break before returning to focus for another 5 minutes.
Every day, add another 5 minutes to your focused work time, along with an additional 2 minutes to your break time.
In 9 days, you should be able to work for 45 minutes at a time before allowing yourself an 18-minute break. Once you feel comfortable with this method, you can work on lengthening your focus sessions a bit longer, while shortening your rest times.
2. Conquer distractions
Because the Internet has made any information instantly accessible, we tend to search for something the moment it crosses our mind. “What will the weather be like tomorrow?” “What movies are you showing this weekend?” “Wonder what’s new on my Facebook?”
The problem is that, once we get distracted, it takes us an average of 23 minutes to get back to our original task, moving away from what we’re working on the instant these questions or thoughts pop into our mind.
To figure this out and not get distracted, every time you have something to review, just write it down on a piece of paper to look it up later.
Once you have finished your focus session or at your break time you can turn your attention to this list.
3. Exercise your body
Physical exercise has also been shown to strengthen the brain.
Exercise affects the brain in multiple ways: it increases your heart rate which pumps more oxygen to the brain, and it facilitates the body’s release of a host of hormones, providing a nourishing environment for brain cell growth.
So integrating a little aerobic exercise into your routine can help your brain to be more attentive.
Physical activity, diet and weight are factors that can contribute to overall functioning and concentration levels.
For example, if you skip breakfast, it is unlikely that before noon you will be able to complete tasks and concentrate because you feel hungry.
Taking care of your health, staying active and eating healthy foods is the best way to improve your concentration.
4. Try to memorize
Memorizing passages, Riddles, poetry and songs over time is a very effective way to make your brain more receptive to memory.
It is not necessary to try to memorize entire books, start with everyday things: try to always memorize important numbers instead of having them on your cell phone. Do you have a small market list? try to go without it, making a conscious effort to remember it, leave the GPS and do manual accounts.
This type of memorization task exercises your brain, giving it strength to retain more information.
Some easy exercises to do are:
Test your memory: Make a list and memorize it. An hour later try to see how many items on that list you can remember. Try making even more challenging lists for more mental stimulation.
Draw a memory map. After returning home from visiting a new place, try drawing a map of the area; repeat this exercise every time you visit a new location.
Let the music play. Learn to play a musical instrument or join a choir. Studies show that learning something new and complex over a longer period of time is ideal for the aging mind.
5. Practice mindfulness throughout the day
We know that practicing mindfulness can help us improve our productivity, as well as strengthen our attention.
Mindfulness or full attention trains our brain to concentrate better, so that every time we realize that our mind is distracted, we intentionally direct our attention to what we were doing.
The constant practice of completely focusing on what you are doing, stopping and observing all the physical and emotional sensations that you are experiencing at that moment will strengthen and widen your attention span for the moments when you really need it.
