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10 Ways to Train Your Brain to Stay Focused
Attention is the most precious
resource that we can leverage to actually get things done. The ability to focus
intensely and for a longer period of time on one activity is undoubtedly essential
to every person who wishes to attract abundance and results.
Our brain is a very complex
mechanism that often works without our awareness. Our subconscious mind, the
deep place where all our memories, feelings, and neuro-associations are stored
can be our best friend or our worst enemy.
No matter what goals, profession,
or work you are currently pursuing, a disciplined mind is critical for your
success. For that reason, in today’s post, I’m sharing 10 effective ways to
train your brain to stay focused and productive. Pay attention and apply!
1. Plan and Visualize a
Few Critical Tasks Each Day
Our thoughts shape our reality.
Why? Because our thoughts generate feelings, feelings lead to action, and
action leads to results.
As a part of your morning routine,
establish one to three critical tasks that must be done throughout the day.
Don’t just think of them superficially. Visualize them and simulate the
feelings you’ll get after finishing each task. If you truly think about your
day’s success, your subconscious will do everything it can to help you turn
thoughts into reality.
2. Find Your
Peak Hours
Some people perform better during
the day, while others do great during the night. To find your most productive
hours — the “peak hours” — you should actively
measure your productivity during various hours of the day.
Pay attention to your energy,
thought patterns, distractions, motivation, and moods while experimenting
different work hours. Make sure you allow at least a week to establish these
peak hours. So, if you try to get your most important tasks done from 8 AM to
10 AM, experiment it for a week. Next week, focus your attention on critical
tasks starting from 10 AM and ending at 12 PM.
3. Avoid Multitasking
Multitasking has been proven to
reduce our cognitive abilities due to the fact that the brain can only fully
focus on one task at a time. Even though multitasking can be beneficial in
various situations, you should avoid it as much as you can whenever you deal
with important tasks. Give your full attention to the task at hand to improve
the quality and speed of work!
4. Treat Your Mind Like
a Muscle
What do you do when you want to
build muscles? You exercise. Not just once, but regularly. Training your brain
to stay focused is a matter of practice. Every time you experience distracting
thoughts, you have to acknowledge them for what they are — time and attention
killers.
Whenever you feel like you “must
stop working”, you should push it a little further. If you have big trouble
focusing right now, you shouldn’t try to work for 60 minutes straight. Build
your levels of focus gradually. First two weeks, try focusing for 20 minutes,
take a 5-minute break, then go again. In two months, you should be able to stay
focused for 60 minutes and get a lot of things done!
5. Build Willpower and
Discipline
Very few of us are making real
decisions. A decision is a deal with your mind that no matter what happens,
your decision sticks. Therefore, when you say, “I should exercise”, you should
immediately replace the “should” with “must”. Otherwise, your brain won’t take
your intent seriously and it won’t “care” to help.
Willpower and self-discipline are
two related traits that should be developed at the same time. Your
willpower is the fuel of your actions. Your discipline is your ability to go
past intrusive thoughts, comfort zone, and laziness.
Here’s what few people tell you:
these skills require consistent practice, building them is not easy, and giving
up is not an option.
6. Acknowledge Your Need
to Avoid Pain and to Gain Pleasure
When we do something, we do it
because we seek pleasure or because we want to avoid pain. Think about it — when students must do
their homework, they procrastinate because their subconscious minds signal
incoming pain. When the deadline is close,
they’ll take action in order to avoid the pain of receiving a bad grade.
Take this example and synchronize
it with your life. Every time you want to focus on a task, acknowledge your
immediate response. Are you trying to avoid pain? Or you’re looking for
pleasure? When you become the observer, you’ll be able to be in charge.
7. Avoid Distractions
You can’t train your brain to stay
focused unless you ensure that your external environment also lacks
distractions. Your phone, for example, should never disturb your attention.
Turn off the notifications, say “NO” whenever someone interrupts you, and be
committed to cut off every possible distraction around you.
8. Leverage the Power
of Habits
If you build empowering habits, you’ll no longer have to use your motivation and
willpower to become focused. Your mind will recognize the pattern and will make
your job easier. For example — when you wash your
teeth and face in the morning, you’re doing automatically without using any
significant amounts of focus, energy, and motivation. Building productive
habits is like teaching your brain how to behave at different yet specific times.
9. Practice Mindfulness
Mindfulness implies self-awareness.
Practicing mindfulness is nothing more than focusing your entire attention on
the present moment. Your present thoughts and feelings, the environment that
surrounds you, your breath, your heartbeat…you choose. It doesn’t matter what
you focus on — as long as you’re “here”, “now”, your mind is present.
You can practice mindfulness in
various situations: while reading, working, studying, washing dishes, walking
in the park, and so on. When your focus is prioritized on what’s happening now,
you’ll perform better in most of the situations.
10. Become Sovereign
Sovereignty is the practice of
aligning your thoughts, emotions, and actions. Most people lack sovereignty,
which means that their emotions aren’t in harmony with their thoughts, neither
with their actions.
For example, if you want to read a
book today but you instantly feel that this is going to be boring, you’ll never
actually read that book. However, if you think of something and you get
positive feelings as a reaction, taking action won’t be that difficult.
If you’re aware of this, you can
easily implement it. As a result, staying focused on your responsibilities and
work will become a piece of cake.
Takeaways
Improving your mind is everything.
Until you let yourself be carried by your thoughts, immediate pleasures, fear,
and pain, you will experience exactly what you “cultivate”. As they say, you
reap what you sow.
This refers to the universal
cause-and-effect principle, which suggests that every thought and feeling you
experience and every action you take will generate an effect. Good or bad,
that’s totally up to you.
https://medium.com/@FacileThings/top-10-ways-to-train-your-brain-to-stay-focused-dc702ea6ac19
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