Factors affecting concentration

Some days it seems like our concentration is under attack from all sides. In
fact, concentration is  affected by both internal and external or
environmental factors. If you want to learn how to improve focus and
memory, it helps to understand what’s getting in the way now.

 Distraction. We are bombarded by a constant flow of information,

whether new or old,  during the process of doing something.
Researchers have found that our brains are so primed for this
distraction that just seeing our smartphone impairs our ability to
concentrate. We constantly assess whether the information is useful,
sufficient, or meaningless. The sheer quantity coming in muddles our
assessment of whether we actually need more information to make
decisions.
 Insufficient sleep. Scientists have found that lack of sleep can lead
to lower alertness, slower thought processes, and reduced
concentration. You will have more difficulty focusing your attention
and may become confused. As a result, your ability to perform tasks
especially relating to reasoning or logic can be seriously affected.
Chronically poor sleep further affects your concentration and
memory. Dr. Allison T. Siebern from the Stanford University Sleep
Medicine Centre notes that if you cannot concentrate on what is at
hand, it is unlikely to make it to either your short- or long-term
memory. 
 Insufficient physical activity. Have you ever noticed how vigorous
exercise leaves you feeling more relaxed and energetic throughout
the day? When you don’t do physical activity, your muscles can
become tense. You may feel tightness in your neck, shoulder, and
chest and such persistent, low-level discomfort can affect your
concentration. 
 Eating habits. What we eat contributes to how we feel, including our
mental sharpness and clarity, throughout the day. If we don’t fuel our
brains with the proper nutrients, we start to experience symptoms like
memory loss, fatigue, and lack of concentration. Low-fat diets can
ruin focus because the brain needs certain essential fatty acids.
Other restrictive diets may negatively affect concentration by not
providing the nutrients the brain needs or by creating hunger,
cravings, or feeling of unwellness in the body that are themselves
distracting. 
  Environment. Depending on what you are doing, the environment
can affect your focus. Obviously, a noise level that is too loud is a
problem, but many people also have difficulty concentrating when it
is too quiet. It isn’t just the overall noise level but the type of noise
that matters: the high-energy, anonymous hum of a coffee shop
might bring focus while the overheard conversation of two co-workers
derails it. A favorite song quickly has you singing along, happily
distracted, while less distinct instrumentals might keep you attuned to
the task. Lighting that is too bright or too dim can affect your vision. A
room that is too hot or too cold creates discomfort. 

All of these elements can affect your concentration. Happily, they are also
all addressable.

Conditions related to concentration

If you frequently can’t focus your thoughts and are experiencing ongoing
concentration difficulties, it may indicate a cognitive, medical,
psychological, lifestyle, or environmental cause. Depending on the cause,
you may have to temporarily accept that your concentration is low and
learn a few tricks to reduce the impact or accept the dips as they come. If
you need help with concentration and think your difficulties go beyond the
list above, consult with a professional. 

Possible broader conditions include:

Cognitive. Your concentration may decrease if you find yourself forgetting

things easily. Your memory sometimes fails you, you misplace articles, and
have difficulty remembering things that occurred a short time ago. Another
way your concentration may be cognitively impaired is if you find that your
mind is overactive constantly thinking of multiple things due to concerns or
important events. When thoughts and issues intrude in your mind,
demanding attention, it prevents effective concentration. 

Psychological. When you are depressed and feeling down, it is difficult to

focus. Similarly, when you are recovering from the loss of a loved one
during bereavement or are experiencing anxiety, you may have difficulty
focusing on a single task.
Medical. Medical conditions like diabetes, hormonal imbalances, and low
red blood cell count can affect our concentration. Some medication also
makes you drowsy or bleary and severely impair concentration.  

Environment. Poor working conditions, shared spaces, and intense or

negative work dynamics may also contribute to a lack of concentration.
When we are experiencing burnout or stress from work or personal life, we
will find it difficult to concentrate due to emotional exhaustion. Similarly, the
environment can create discomfort to our body with effects that we’re
aware of (heat, light, noise) and others that don’t fully register (tension,
negativity, monitoring)..

Lifestyle. Fatigue, hunger, and dehydration can derail concentration.

Lifestyles that involve too many missed meals, rich foods, or excessive
alcohol consumption can challenge our memory and ability to concentrate
and focus.

15 Ways to improve your concentration

Now you know why you need help with concentration. What can help you
to focus better? There’s no one answer for how to improve focus, but the
following tips can help.

1. Eliminate distractions. How do we focus better if we are always

bombarded with information? Make a practice to block time in your
schedule to do a specific task or activity. During this time, request
that you be left alone or go to a place where others are unlikely to
disturb you: a library, a coffee shop, a private room.

Close social media and other apps, silence notifications, and keep
your phone hidden from sight in a bag or backpack. As described
in HBR, researchers found that cognitive capacity was significantly
better when the phone was out of sight , not just turned off. Keep
Your primary focus is to complete what you need to do. Shutting off
both internal and external disturbances can help you to concentrate.

2. Reduce multitasking. Attempting to perform multiple activities at the

same time makes us feel productive. It’s also a recipe for lower
focus, poor concentration, and lower productivity. And lower
productivity can lead to burnout. Examples of multitasking include
listening to a podcast while responding to an email or talking to
 someone over the phone while writing your report. Such multitasking
not only hampers your ability to focus but compromises your work
quality. 
3. Practice mindfulness and meditation. Meditating or practicing
mindfulness activities can strengthen well-being  and mental
fitness  and improve focus. During the meditation process, our brain
becomes calmer and our whole body becomes more relaxed. We
focus on our breath during the process so that we will not be
distracted by our minds. With practice, we can learn to use our
breath to bring our attention back to a particular task so that it can be
done well even if we get interrupted.
4. Get more sleep. Many factors affect your sleep. One of the most
common is reading from an electronic device like a computer, phone,
or tablet or watching your favorite movie or TV show on an LED TV
just before bedtime. Research has shown that such devices emit light
towards the blue end of the spectrum. Such light will stimulate your
eye retina and prevent the secretion of melatonin that promotes sleep
anticipation in the brain. Use a filter or "blue light" glasses to
minimize such blue light or avoid all electronic devices before bed.
Other ways to improve sleep  include avoiding exercise late in the
day, staying hydrated throughout the day, using journaling or
breathing exercises to quiet the mind, and creating a predictable
bedtime routine and schedule.
5. Choose to focus on the moment. It might feel counterintuitive when
you feel unable to concentrate, but remember that you choose where
you focus. It's tough to concentrate when your mind is always in the
past and worrying about the future . While it isn’t easy, make an effort
to let go of past events. Acknowledge the impact, what you felt, and
what you learned from it, then let it go. Similarly, acknowledge your
concerns about the future, consider how you are experiencing that
anxiety in your body, then choose to let it go . We want to train our
mental resources to focus on the details of what matters at the
moment. Our minds go in the direction we choose to focus.
6. Take a short break. This also might seem counterintuitive, but when
you focus on something for a long time, your focus may begin to die
down. You may feel more and more difficulty devoting your attention
to the task. 

Researchers have found that our brains tend to ignore sources of

constant stimulation. Taking very small breaks by refocusing your
attention elsewhere can dramatically improve mental concentration
 after that. The next time you are working on a project, take a break
when you begin to feel stuck. Move around, talk to someone, or even
switch to a different type of task. You will come back with a more
focused mind to keep your performance high.

7. Connect with nature. Research has found that even having plants in

office spaces can help increase concentration and productivity, as
well as workplace satisfaction and better air quality. Finding time to
take a walk in the park or appreciating the plants or flowers in your
garden can boost your concentration and help you feel refreshed.
8. Train your brain. Scientific research is starting to amass evidence
on the ability of brain training activities to enhance cognitive abilities,
including concentration, in adults. Such brain training games can also
help you develop your working and short-term memory, as well as
your processing and problem-solving skills. Examples of such games
include jigsaw puzzles, sudoku, chess, and brain-stimulating video
games.
9. Exercise. Start your day with simple exercise and get your body
moving. According to the May 2013 issue of the Harvard Men's
Health Watch, regular exercise releases chemicals key for memory,
concentration, and mental sharpness. Other research found that
exercise can boost the brain's dopamine, norepinephrine, and
serotonin levels and all these will affect focus and attention.
Individuals who do some form of exercise or sports perform better on
cognitive tasks when compared with those who have poor physical
health. Physical movement helps relax the muscles and relieve
tension in the body. Since the body and mind are so closely
linked, when your body feels better so, too, will your mind . 
10. Listen to music. Music has been shown to have therapeutic
effects on our brains. Light music may help you to concentrate better,
but some music may distract you. Experts generally agree that
classical music and nature sounds, such as water flowing, are good
choices for concentration while music with lyrics and human voices
may be distracting. Multiple apps and services offer background
music and soundscapes designed for different types of focus and
work needs.
11. Eat well. Choose foods that moderate blood sugar, maintain
energy, and fuel the brain. Fruits, vegetables, and high-fiber foods
can keep your blood sugar levels even.  Reduce sugary foods and
drinks that cause spikes and dips in your sugar levels make you feel
dizzy or drowsy.
 Your brain needs lots of good fat to function properly. Nuts, berries,
avocados, and coconut oil are all great ways to get healthy fats into
your diet and help your brain run more smoothly. The science on
Research has found that foods like blueberries can boost
concentration and memory for up to 5 hours after consumption due to
an enzyme that stimulates the flow of oxygen and blood to the brain,
helping with memory as well as our ability to focus and learn new
information. Leafy green vegetables such as spinach contain
potassium which accelerates the connections between neurons and
can make our brain more responsive.

12. Set a daily priority. Write down what you want to accomplish

each day, ideally the night before, and identify a single priority that
you commit to accomplishing. This will help focus your brain on what
matters, tackling the big jobs first and leaving the small stuff till later.
Break large tasks into smaller bytes so that you will not be
overwhelmed. Identifying true priorities can help relieve distracting
anxiety, and achieving small daily goals can wire your brain to
achieve success.
13. Create space for work. Create a calm, dedicated space for
work, if possible. Not everyone can have a well-appointed office, but
desk organizers, noise-canceling headphones, an adjustable monitor,
and adjustable lighting can help. Clear clutter out of sight, make it as
ergonomic and comfortable as possible, and try to keep your space
neat and ventilated. 
14. Use a timer. Train your brain to hyper-focus on a task by using
a timer or phone alarm. First, decide what task you want to complete.
Set your timer for 20 minutes (generally not more than 30 minutes)
and concentrate on the task. When the alarm rings take a short break
for 5 minutes. You can either take a walk and do some stretching
exercise, then reset the timer and start again. This technique has
shown to be effective to improve your concentration.
15. Switch tasks. While we may want to concentrate on a
particular task, sometimes we get stuck and our brain needs
something fresh to focus on. Try switching to other tasks or
something you love to do. Switching tasks can help you stay alert
and productive for a longer period.