If you're like most people. Then you most likely spend most of your day in a constant rush. You complete one task after another at a fast pace. As a result, you don't do everything in the best possible way. There are many thoughts constantly running through your head. You can't focus on them, and you just don't understand how to become a more attentive person. You are constantly thinking about what you need to do next. Where to go, what to buy in the store after work, who your children are with now and much more. And as a result, at the end of the evening you have a headache, and you realize that you didn’t manage to complete all the tasks.
Mindfulness is simply paying attention on purpose to what you are doing. And in order to become a mindful person, you need to pay attention to the present moment. And all those details you are working on. Instead of rushing to complete tasks and doing everything in a hurry. When you begin to take a more calm and thorough approach to completing tasks, it will ultimately bring you a feeling of calm. You will be able to become more attentive and will become better at performing all your tasks. But in order to develop this ability and become attentive, it requires time and work on yourself.
How to become attentive and focused: What distracts us?
External stimuli are everything that happens around us and that can be perceived by our senses. Loud music, unpleasant odors, cold or heat, visual disturbances. One of the options for getting rid of external irritants is to remove them or change your place of stay.
Internal stimuli are what happens inside us: our thoughts, internal dialogue, emotions, internal sensations. The most effective way to eliminate these types of problems is to develop the skill of calming the mind and eliminating internal dialogue.
Don't spread yourself thin
Many people believe that organized people get a lot done because they can multitask. This opinion is wrong. Spraying on several tasks at the same time threatens to perform them poorly and often takes more time. Do as few things as possible at once. If you need to complete an important task, then eliminate any distractions and focus on it. And it doesn’t matter at all whether you are finishing an annual report, meeting with partners or relaxing with your family.
External space
— Isolate yourself from external stimuli . Surrounding yourself with loud noises and watching TV makes it very difficult to maintain attention. When all your receptors are involved, attention “runs” from one to the second.
— Work in one place . When your mind is accustomed to a particular area, you are not distracted by the surroundings and surroundings, which increases your productivity and your attention.
- Make sure you are comfortable. The place where you are should be comfortable. Either make it that way, or change your attitude so that you feel comfortable.
Keeping your home tidy will help you stay organized.
Keeping your life organized means keeping your things in their place. Organized people stay organized by storing things properly and labeling storage spaces. Provide convenient storage spaces for the things you use all the time and don't let your storage units get cluttered. Be creative in finding places for things. Also, never label storage space as “miscellaneous.”
- As an experiment, choose one area in your home where you can reorganize. If there are scattered items, group them together. Once you have sorted everything, find or make a “home” for similar items, label them all “homes” and place them in the right places. For example, a holder for your pens and pencils should be in an easily accessible location, but rarely used craft supplies can be stored away.
Inner space
Concentration, concentration
- Keep calm . Worries and anxiety rob you of your internal energy—the energy of creation. When you are calm, energy enters you without unnecessary losses. When you are excited about something, you give energy to the object of your attention. Learn to be calm. Don’t worry, if you can do something, do it; if not, then there’s no point in worrying if you still can’t change anything.
— Learn to meditate . This is one of the most powerful techniques for increasing concentration. A few simple techniques of 5-10 minutes a day can change a lot.
- Watch yourself . Educate yourself when and under what circumstances you cannot concentrate. Find your weaknesses and eliminate them.
— Tune in to “your wave.” Biorhythms have a very significant influence on us. Maybe now is just not the right time. Know your rhythm of life and work during periods when you are most active and energetic.
— Find a source of motivation . When you have a strong desire, your perception of the world improves qualitatively. You are interested and exciting.
- Avoid overwork . When your strength is running low, what kind of attention can we talk about?
- Healthy sleep . Sleep as much as you personally need. Some people need more time, others less. Poor sleep is a source of decreased strength, performance and concentration.
- Explore your strengths. Maybe what you're trying to focus on isn't your profile. Try to look at the task based on what you can do and what you love. It may be possible to do it differently, differently, but if it satisfies the requirements, then why not?
— The goal should be interesting . If there is no goal, there is no result. Performing tasks without a goal means wasting energy and attention.
- Watch your thoughts . Limit yourself from “bad” news. Think about it, perhaps you are receiving too much unnecessary information that is “stealing” your attention.
The best storage solution
If you took note of the first two tips, then you understand that you need to have less things in order to become organized and keep them in proper order. The more clutter you remove from your life, the less you need to organize. Finally, calculate your options. Don't buy too much or you'll end up replenishing your deposits. And then the question will arise again: where to store all this? And everything repeats exactly in a circle. You again accumulate excess junk, and again your dreams of an organized life or work crumble to dust.
Why is it so difficult to learn to ask for help and how to overcome fear
Developing mindfulness: how to increase attractiveness according to science
Cake “Fruit Paradise” with mascarpone cream: a recipe for a dessert with vanilla flavor
How to become attentive and focused: Good habits
- Take breaks . When you feel tired of something, take a break. Your fatigue will distract you and make you less productive.
- Walking in the fresh air will improve your well-being and refresh your mind.
— Try to concentrate on only one thing, no matter what you undertake . Don't let anything distract you. Develop a habit.
— Set priorities . Make a list of your most important tasks, otherwise other tasks will constantly remind you of themselves and distract you. Eliminate nonsense and unimportant tasks.
- Multitasking . No doubt you can do several things at the same time, but in any case the quality suffers. If you want to achieve full concentration, then you need to forget about multitasking.
— Check email and social media updates at specific times . The continuous stream of news will constantly take your attention to little things. Instead of constantly monitoring updates, set aside a specific time.
— Learn to make yourself “unavailable” and set aside specific times when to be “available.” If you are available to other people 24 hours a day, then you will not have time for yourself. Set aside time when you are “unavailable” and devote it only to yourself.
— If the task is complex, divide it . After that, focus on smaller subtasks one at a time. — Set a reminder . At a certain time, when the timer goes off, you ask yourself: what am I doing now? Am I doing nonsense? Am I accomplishing the task?
— Cleaning the workplace . A neat and clean workspace can help improve your organization. When there is nothing unnecessary on it, nothing will distract you.
— Plan your days . By learning to be organized, you learn to concentrate.
— Start a diary . By writing everything down on paper or electronically, you clear your mind of unnecessary reminders and worries.
- Learn to relax . Tension and stiffness impair our perception. Learn relaxation techniques.
- Train your memory . When we have a good memory, we can process information better.
- Close your eyes . If our mind is a computer, then our eyes are cameras. And they are always on. When your eyes are open, your brain is forced to process the information coming from them, which can partially distract us. If the task allows, close your eyes, it may help you.
Calendar plan
A calendar is also an important part of your self-organization plan. It's surprising how few people use this attribute to schedule their weekly tasks. Many who use a calendar can only use it to plan meetings and appointments, but never use it to plan personal time, household chores, or other tasks. Don't forget that it's best to do what's planned in advance! As life progresses, unforeseen situations and tasks arise, but they will fit perfectly into the general calendar.
We are what we eat
Healthy food - mental clarity
— Food fills us with energy , improves our well-being and affects our attention. Some foods can improve your concentration. Proteins, fats and carbohydrates, the norm of vitamins and minerals - all this is necessary for your body, make sure that your diet is balanced.
- Dark chocolate . Contains caffeine (activates the central nervous system), magnesium (helps fight stress) and promotes the release of “happiness hormones”.
- Walnut . It's not for nothing that it looks like our brain.
- Avocado . A wide vitamin and mineral composition helps improve the supply of oxygen to cells.
— Blueberries stimulate the flow of blood and oxygen to the brain . It improves your memory, your focus and attention.
- Green tea . Caffeine improves alertness and theanine calms you down. Both of these substances are found in green tea.
- Fish fat . Omega-3 fatty acid deficiency can lead to poor memory, depression and chronic fatigue. Contained in almost any type of fish, but salmon, trout, mackerel, herring, sardines, etc. have the highest concentration.
- Water . Be sure to drink enough water. It will help you think faster, be more focused, promote mental clarity and creativity.
Meditate
Another method that directly affects the brain’s ability to concentrate is meditation. This has been confirmed by numerous studies that have shown that consistent meditation practice significantly improves attention span.
In one study [Katherine MacLean, 2010], 60 participants completed a 3-month meditation practice under the guidance of experienced mentors. Throughout their training, they were periodically tested for cognitive abilities. Scientists found that almost all participants learned to maintain concentration for much longer.
The subjects were tested again after 5 months. The improvements remained the same, especially for those participants who continued to meditate every day after the experiment.
6
How to become attentive and focused: Our body
— Physical exercise is simply necessary. If you don't pay attention to your body, it will distract you. Pay attention to yourself, exercise and exercise regularly.
Exercises and techniques for developing and improving concentration
- Monitor your breathing . Just watch your breathing. This is best done during meditation. This teaches you to keep your attention on one process. Breathing is the key to your energy, energizing your mind and filling you with creativity.
— Sitting calmly in a chair. Sit in a comfortable chair and do not move. It's not as easy as it seems. Concentrate, watch yourself, try not to make any movements. Learn to sit without moving your muscles for fifteen minutes, start with five and gradually increase. You should be completely relaxed - do not allow tension.
- Play the game - the most important thing , no matter what you do, imagine that this is the most important thing for you in life, that you are only interested in it and nothing else matters to you.
- Take some subject and study it thoroughly . For example, a plant (just don’t pick it), focus on the smell, study the shapes, colors, trace the feelings that arise in you. It sharpens your senses and trains your attention.
— Hear the heartbeat . Relax your muscles, focus on the rhythm of your heart. Don't pay attention to anything else. Imagine the entire process of blood circulation. With a little practice, you can feel the blood flowing inside you.
- Breathing exercises . Relax, close your right nostril with one finger, take your time, slowly begin to inhale, counting to yourself to ten. On the count of ten, you should be done. Then exhale slowly as well, counting to ten. Repeat the exercise with the other nostril. Repeat all 20 times.
- Control of desires. "Neither good nor bad" . When you hear good news, don’t rush to rejoice and tell everyone about it. Keep calm. Also, when you hear bad news, be neutral and calm. Don't express dissatisfaction. Controlling your desires will improve your concentration.
- Think about only one thing for 2 minutes . Set a timer and watch your hand. Don't think about anything else. Learn to subordinate your thoughts to your mind
— Visualization . Problems aside. If you have only problems in your head, imagine them as a big pile of garbage, and then reduce them to the size of a microbe. This will help you free yourself from worries.
Attention, consciousness
Types of attention
Despite the fact that the process itself is quite simple and understandable, in fact, there are several subtypes of concentration of nerve analyzers depending on the type of stimulus and previously done training that affects its perception. Even if it seems to us that we see and touch everything that is currently happening in front of us, this is just a mistaken opinion; the brain simply cuts off a very large part of the stimuli entering the information processing center. This is a defensive reaction to avoid unnecessary overload and a striking example of this is the fact that after a short time, a person stops smelling his perfume, although it remains throughout the day, or you can notice that there is no constant sensation of a watch on your wrist or a ring on your wrist. finger. Signals from the sensory system have not stopped reaching the processing center, but they have stopped being transmitted to our consciousness.
Involuntary attention
This process does not depend on previously present experience with a given object; it is the most basic type of mindfulness, which extends to everything that happens around a person. Let's say there is a passenger in a car who does not have a driver's license and does not know the meaning of road signs, but he just sees these signs from time to time and they attract his attention - this is called involuntary. Such a process rather depends not on training, but on the speed of reaction of the nervous system, which is influenced by many factors, such as nutrition, the presence of necessary microelements and the development of thinking in general.
Voluntary attention
The result of certain training that allows you not only to notice certain elements, but also to immediately understand their meaning. If we return to our example, such a process is available to the driver of a car, since, thanks to training, he has learned the meaning of road signs and has taught himself to always notice them. He looks at a road sign not because it is an attractive object, but to find out certain restrictions or necessary information on a given section of the road. This also includes the ability to read a certain language. A person not only notices an attractive inscription, but concentrates his attention on what is written there (on the information). Certain mindfulness tasks have an excellent effect on this type of concentration; they are the factor that trains the centers of the nervous analyzers to react to certain objects and not let them pass by our consciousness.
Post-voluntary attention
If we consider the levels of development of attention, then this is the next stage, after voluntary, since to achieve it, you first need to gain certain experience and learn to analyze certain information. After such an experience is repeated with a given person many times and over a short period of time, data analysis can pass by our consciousness and give us only the result. In the existing example, this looks like an experienced truck driver who does not consciously notice some signs, but clearly understands that he is already in a populated area and adheres to a different speed limit. The same thing happens with a person. If he reads books a lot, he can just skim the page without focusing his attention on what is written, but he already gets a picture of what is happening. The development of attention of this type directly depends on gaining experience in the previous type.
We adopt experience
— Watch how other people concentrate . Look at a person who is captivated by an interesting film or book. All their receptors are aimed at perceiving what is happening. Try to copy their behavior.
- Decide what, or who, you want to focus on . Have you noticed how when people become close, they communicate a lot with each other, they become similar? They adopt each other's phrases, behavior patterns and habits. When you pay attention to something and concentrate on it, we adopt some properties of this object.
- Surround yourself with well-organized people . (This follows from the previous point) If you want to learn concentration, be with those people who know how to do it.
— What we train trains . If you decide to train concentration, just do it, study it, try different exercises and techniques. What we pay attention to will definitely improve and train.
The mind can be cleared
It sounds paradoxical. But it is one of the most beneficial exercises to do regularly to feel more focused and productive. Try to throw everything out of your head, entrust it all to paper for a while. That is, you do not have to keep everything in your head. This makes it easier to organize in a clear system. This guarantees that nothing will be forgotten, and this technique also frees up psychological space for more creative tasks.
Try implementing one of these tips today and you'll be one step closer to being a perfectly organized person.
Found a violation? Report content
Advice . Write down your thoughts and upcoming tasks
Due to the large amount of information and parallel execution of several tasks, a person can get confused in his own judgments and actions, forget important points and nuances. Such violations and errors may result in administrative, disciplinary or other punishment.
We plan our affairs, create a list
It is very difficult to keep everything in your head. Therefore, you can simplify this process by keeping simple records. This method is effective and applicable everywhere: when organizing the educational process, at work, when going to the store, etc.
Avoid time wasters
Social networks, computer games, entertainment resources, long telephone conversations, etc., take up a lot of time, but do not bring much benefit. Discard them. Does not work? Install special applications that will block all your favorite entertainment. For example, Rescue Time.
Disorganized people almost never succeed. They spend a lot of time on things that are not useful. They are constantly late and often forget important tasks. They live in constant chaos. Of course, you won't become organized overnight. This is not easy and long work. But it will bring success, orderliness and the opportunity to spend time on yourself in your life. Try at least a few of the ideas we suggested in practice, and share the results in the comments.
Always keep your to-do list handy
It's not enough to just organize your tasks. They need to be fulfilled. Therefore, the list should always be with you. Today there are many special mobile applications that will save you from notepads and pieces of paper. For example, Wunderlist is an excellent service that allows you to make a list of tasks, highlight the most important ones, set deadlines, and mark completed ones. An equally worthy and well-known application is RememberTheMilk. It is very simple and understandable. It has many settings that can be selected individually and ultimately get an indispensable assistant.
