Concentration is to bring your mind to a point & keep it there. It is about being totally involved in a situation & being in the present. The past and future are not important. You can think Mindfulness is somewhat similar to concentration.
Concentration is that which enables the mind to accomplish with ease that which it would be otherwise impossible to accomplish.
Why we need Concentration?
Every successful man, in whatever direction his success may lie, practices concentration. Though he may know nothing about it as a subject. So, in order to improve your concentration, you do not have to go in-depth about it.
In the task of the hour is all the means for the development of concentration. Whether that be the college study, an Interview, or even the sweeping of the floor. For everything, you need a good skill of concentration to achieve a higher level in it.
If you understood why we need concentration, then you need to understand why we can’t concentrate?
Enemies of concentration-
Now if you ask a doctor or Medical consultant, you will get an answer like being unable to concentrate can be the result of a chronic condition, including alcohol use disorder ‘attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) chronic fatigue syndrome. And maybe this can be true for some of you, but we will see in general why we can’t concentrate.
The biggest enemy of concentration is the undisciplined mind. ‘A scattered & undisciplined army would be useless.’ If you are doing a task that may have less interest in you, then more likely you will dwell on internal feelings & fatigue. Maybe in between your task or study, you are thinking about your past & future. For some of you, this may happen to you because you are too attached to your electronic device or social media apps that you have to check in every few minutes. Sometimes this happens, due to a long to-do list.
So, you almost understood that it is not a rocket science to know or understand why you are not able to concentrate for a longer time or not at all.
This brings our last point how to increase your concentration.
How to improve your concentration.-
In order to improve your concentration, you need to understand the basics of concentration. There are four stages of concentration.
- Attention– First you need to catch your thoughts. Not only you have to catch, need to keep that as well. So you can arrest your thoughts. Now your mind is there is a center point. Attention is the first step of all successful work.
- Observation- In this Process, you need to observe your thoughts. Why you are feeling, what you are feeling at that moment. In this way, your thoughts are concerning & proceeding with the task.
- Abstraction- here you need to deal with your feelings if you can solve it then first solve it. During this time your minds are closed to all the distractions.
- Activity in Repose- This is the time to focus on your current task. There is and should be nothing in your mind after all this. By this time your mind has acquired perfect concentration. After engaging in that intense thought which results in productive work of the highest kind.
Now if this all is not helping you don’t worry we have a few tips which, will help you to concentrate on your work.-
- Set small-small goal. If you have a long task, then divide that task into a few small tasks.
- Do not try Multi-tasking.
- While studying, stay away from your electronic devices.
- Whenever your mind is distracting, take a break from that thought & try again.
- Improve your sleep. Try to get at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night.
- Try Meditation.
- Do exercise, try to exercise 4 times a week.
- If you are working for more than 45 min straight, & then you are not able to concentrate. Then it’s time to take a break.
- Research shows that a healthy diet can help you to increase your concentration.
- Try Caffeine. Another research shows that a cup of coffee can increase your concentration for another hour. Give it a try.
- If you get time, then listen to some music before any task. It can increase your focus.
- Try some brain games. It can improve your concentration.
Use the ‘POMODORO’ technique. For those who don’t know what is Pomodoro, it’s a time management method. ‘The Rule of 25-5’ after every 25 minutes of work you will take a break for 5 minutes. Then return back and do it again & again until you finish your task.