The human mind is an incredible thing, capable of awe-inspiring things. But it’s also very easily distracted from the pursuit of these lofty goals by such trivialities as celebrity gossip, photos of cats and daydreaming about vacations you might never be able to afford. That’s just the way our brains work; the neurons that fire the activity can only last for 12 seconds before needing to refuel, which opens up the possibility for distractions to get in.
It happens to all of us and can be incredibly frustrating when we’re trying to get an important job done or meet a tight deadline and still find ourselves trying to remember which Channing Tatum film we watched last week. By the time you realize that you’ve lost your focus, it’s too late and you need to clear your mind and get back on with what you were meant to be doing.
Luckily, there are some steps you can take to regain some control over your wandering mind and cut out the chance of being distracted by a passing car or memory of a really great piece of cake you once ate. One tactic you can try is deliberately distracting yourself with instrumental music that will fill up those gaps in your concentration, or you could use chewing gum to help achieve much the same thing, especially if it’s spearmint.
Related: 5 Tips for Improving Focus & Your Mind
Sometimes the only way to deal with the gaps in your focus is to allow them – but in a controlled way. Let yourself daydream, but be aware of what you are doing, or do it productively with a brain training app or taking the time out to make a doodle, which can improve cognitive performance. There are plenty more tips to help you stay focused and you can find them in this infographic from On Stride Financial – as long as you don’t get distracted, that is.
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Originally posted on April 9, 2018 @ 11:00 am
