How To Concentrate Better When You Just Can’t

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Among some of the things we might wish we were able to do but unfortunately can’t is concentrating. Whether it’s at work, in school, or on a project, we have to admit that sometimes, concentrating is extremely hard. The reason why this happens can vary from person to person and it is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. So the question is, how do I concentrate better?

But wait, before we answer that question, have you ever wondered what causes poor concentration in the first place?

What Are The Causes Of Poor Concentration?

Distractions: It doesn’t matter how long the distraction lasts, what matters is that your attention shifts from the task you’re supposed to be completing or focusing on.
Disorders: Sometimes poor concentration can be attributed to a concentration disorder such as ADHD or ADD. People with this disorder are often easily distracted and have difficulty concentrating on a particular subject for a long time. In some cases, they also display hyperactive behavior.
Fatigue: often makes it difficult to hold your attention for a long time during the day, resulting in concentration problems.
Low motivation: could be a factor when the task or subject of focus is very boring. The result is that your thoughts wander more quickly to interesting topics or more active tasks.
Burnout: When you experience too much stress to the point that it gets overwhelming, then you might experience burnout and burnout affects our brains. With your brain going through that crisis, your concentration might be affected.
Sleeping issues: Sleep is designed to rejuvenate our bodies and make us well-rested enough to take on the responsibilities of our daily lives. Without enough sleep, we are left antsy, irritable, tired and unable to concentrate.

If your poor concentration can be traced to any of these causes, then you don’t have much to worry about because they can be remedied. If you still need convincing as to why you need to work on improving your poor concentration, here are a few reasons why concentrating better is a necessity.

Why Should I Concentrate Better?

It improves your memory
It helps you work more efficiently
It helps you do well in school
It sharpens your intuition
It gives you control over your mind
It saves you time
It reduces your stress levels

So you see why you need to concentrate better. Now how exactly can you get this done?

13 Tips to Concentrating Better

1. Clear your head

You concentrate better by clearing your mind, your mental space. Before you start with a task that you want to concentrate on better, make a brain dump. Getting that done is not complicated. Just pick up a blank piece of paper and write down everything you have in your head that you need to do. Writing increases and improves concentration and provides more ideas, especially in tasks where motivation is low or the task is boring. It is easy for your thoughts to wander but it helps if you write down these thoughts immediately and then go back to what you were doing. Try to focus on only those things and banish thoughts that are not aligned to your list.

2. Stop The Distractions

Look around you and make a mental checklist of all the things that could distract you. Like open windows. An open door. Walking people. Heavy traffic. Is it possible to do something about it? If that is not possible, it might be an alternative to temporarily sit somewhere else where it is quiet. It can also help to put on headphones or use your headset. Also, limit the sounds from your computer and your cell phone. You can temporarily turn off your internet or turn it off completely, so that your received calls go directly to your voicemail.

3. Work In A Set Pattern

Your working day often starts with a fixed pattern. You hang up your coat, turn on your computer, go and get a drink, say goodbye to colleagues. Perhaps this is conscious, but often this happens unconsciously and takes little energy. That is the great advantage of a fixed pattern. Maybe you can expand this by adding other routine jobs in the regular pattern. For example, checking your email 2 or 3 times a day. But at the end of each day, you also want to determine what you’ll be doing the next day. If you have fixed break times at work, you can schedule fixed tasks around those times. The more routine, the more energy you have to focus on other important things. This leaves you with energy for private things at the end of your working day. Such as sports, hobbies, a course, and energy for the loved ones around you.

4. Know Your Optimal Hours

The amount of energy you have varies throughout the day. If you know your moments when you have a lot or little energy, you can make optimal use of them. Do the tasks that require a lot of concentration when you have a lot of energy. Do the routine tasks when you have less energy.

5. Place Everything Within Reach

Before starting the job, gather all the necessary information and materials. This will keep you from falling out of focus due to the frustration of looking for these supplies.

6. Don’t Multitask

Performing multiple tasks at the same time is called multitasking. But your brain is not suitable for that. Constantly switching between the different tasks takes time and mental energy and this makes it difficult for you to concentrate optimally on one task at a time.

So doing that important task and checking your email and responding to all those Whatsapp and Facebook messages is bad for your concentration. Eventually, multitasking costs more time compared to handling everything one after the other.

7. Assess Your Environment

Our environment plays a big role in our ability to concentrate on anything. And by environment, we mean everything from the physical environment to the sensory environment and even to our community. For instance, things like weather, smells, sounds and even air can either help or spoil our concentration, depending on how they manifest. Staying in a well-lighted environment also has a way of affecting our concentration for the better. If you have too little light, you’ll become sleepy and find it difficult to concentrate when you’re supposed to but sufficient cold white light has a positive influence on your concentration. So assess your environment and nitpick the elements that might be causing your poor concentration and find ways to correct them, if you can.

8. Make Smaller Tasks

Drafting a plan helps you stay on course if you’re disciplined enough to see it through. While planning, you have the opportunity to ruminate on the best ways to execute the tasks and this mental exercise alone will get you into action mode faster. The more complex a task is, the more you should split it into sub-tasks. If you address it as one big heap, you might get overwhelmed and lose your zeal to complete the task altogether. So by placing all these tasks in order of completion beforehand, you won’t have to think about the next step all the time. And when you don’t have to go through a mental journey every single time, completing the task becomes a walk in the park..

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9. Learn To Say No

It’ll be hard to concentrate if your attention is required in every corner. Your boss needs you, your mother-in-law needs you, your neighbour down the street needs your help cleaning up, your brother…and the list goes on and on. Turning down requests from others isn’t always easy but if you can never concentrate on your tasks as a result, then you will have a serious problem in the long run. You must learn that you can say no and still be courteous. You’re just one person and you must make people understand that you have personal commitments you must attend to. If they are good people, they would respect your decision without any adverse effect on your relationship.

10. Shut Out The Noise

While working on an important task that requires your full attention, you can go the extra mile by blocking external interruptions before they even come. For example, you could hang a “Do not disturb” sign on your bedroom door or even in your office. This will save you the time and distraction saying it would have cost you.

11. Do It With Others

If you have to complete the same task or reach the same goal with some other people, you all can agree to work in blocks of time. It’s like having an accountability partner but this time, both of you are working towards the same thing. A great plus to doing it this way is that between the blocks of time, you could take a short break and do a progress report to ensure every person is moving at the correct pace.

12. Do The Dirty Work First

Usually, we get burdened with a task that we do not really enjoy performing and in a bid to delay the unpleasantness, we open ourselves to distractions and procrastination. Instead, why don’t you do the dirty work first? So you don’t have to look at it all day along and spend all that time wishing you didn’t have to do it. Trust me, once that job’s done, your day will only get better. Plus you’ll feel much more energized!

13. Preserve Yourself

You won’t be able to do much concentrating if you’re not your best self. So take care of yourself; drink lots of water, eat enough healthy food, sleep well, exercise (if you can), practice meditation, and go out in the sun once in a while to breathe in a clean breath of fresh air. You’ll be rejuvenated for the next task ahead.