According to the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language, the
concentration is “the action and effect of intensely focusing attention on something”.

For our daily lives,
it is important to learn to concentrate . Having a good capacity to concentrate helps us enormously to be more effective when carrying out any task. The benefits of having a good concentration are many: they increase our memory, our effectiveness in making decisions, our precision and our agility in the challenge at hand.

Improving concentration with 9 simple techniques

Having a good concentration is closely linked to being able to retain and remember much better . In this sense, concentration is a good virtue to have a fluid memory. If we manage to develop concentration, our memory will also improve.

The basic strategies for concentration are linked to two fundamental aspects:
avoiding external distractors and, on the other hand, having a mental state with an adequate level of activation in order to maintain focus on the task for a certain time.

In order to clarify the aspects and circumstances that allow us to enhance focus, in today’s article we have compiled nine strategies and techniques that can help you improve these skills that are so useful for everyday life.

You might be interested:
“13 practical strategies to improve memory”

1. Get enough rest

One basic point:
in order to concentrate properly we need to be rested. Getting enough sleep gives us the brain and cognitive recovery needed to perform perfectly the next day. Sleeping well provides us with a state of lucidity in the waking state.

It’s standard advice for students:
the day before an exam, you should sleep well . Because if you don’t get enough rest, at the time of the exam you will be scattered and have less memory. During the hours in which we sleep, the brain performs a “reset” of certain functions, preparing us so that the next day we will be able to process information and stimuli much better. In addition, sleeping eight hours is also very good for our long-term memory.

It is essential that we sleep for the necessary hours, so that our state of mind is lucid enough to maintain attention. When we are tired or have slept poorly, the brain suffers and the mental processes associated with memory and focusing cannot perform at 100%. In addition, lack of sleep can cause eye discomfort and temporary blurred vision, which is a serious drawback. Therefore, as a basis for everything, a good rest .

2. Chewing gum

It may seem a little strange, but
Chewing gum is good for our concentration. This is indicated by various scientific studies: chewing gum helps us remember information in the short term .

In addition, it can be an element that allows us to concentrate better on the task at hand, especially in exams and tests that require our auditory and visual memory.

3. Write with paper and pen

We’re very used to typing things on the computer keyboard. It is an automatic writing method and allows us many positive things, but it is not the best for our concentration or our memory.

If we write by hand, our brain will make a greater effort to concentrate and will remember more easily the data and notes that come out of our handwriting, as explained by Lizette Borreli for Medical Daily. Better concentration when writing down ideas will support our long-term memory. that will be able to rescue those data days and even weeks later.

4. Manage stress

Are you very prone to stress? When we are in a state of stress we see our ability to focus on something greatly reduced.

For our mind to be able to perform cognitively demanding activity for a while, we need to enjoy a state of mind that is neither excessively relaxed (which would induce us to sleep and poor data retention) nor excessively active (in which case we would be so nervous that we would simply not be able to focus on a single task).

Some tricks for managing stress are as simple as clenching your fist or an anti-stress ball for a minute. This act is going to release our tensions for quite a while. But if you are suffering from more permanent stress, the best thing to do is to get on with it. It is also important that we have good physical health: stay well hydrated,
to play sports often…

5. Play chess

If we talk about increasing our concentration, chess is the king of sports . This game requires a great capacity of concentration to analyze every situation that occurs on the board, to make good decisions and to anticipate the moves of the opponent. This has been confirmed by a study published in Science Direct.

It is a perfect activity to develop both capacities, in addition to our ability for logical and strategic reasoning.

6. Avoid distractions and find a suitable place

It’s a little obvious, isn’t it? When we try to concentrate on a task,
It is a very good idea to try to avoid being distracted by unwanted external stimuli . For example, if you are studying, ideally you should do so in silence, with adequate light, and of course without the television or other similar distraction in the background.

Environmental noise has been shown to affect our performance if we are performing a task that requires concentration (e.g., a test). The less noisy the environment, the fitter your cognitive skills will be.

If you want to focus 100% on a task, it is a good idea to find a comfortable space without distractions . It is also interesting that the temperature of the space in question is neither too cold nor too hot. About 20º-23º is a temperature in which almost everyone feels comfortable. As for the noise, there are people who can maintain their concentration by being exposed to it, as long as it is not too loud and is monotonous, but this is not usual.

7. Draw while in class

This advice is quite counterintuitive. When we are attending a master class or a conference, it is a good idea to draw small scribbles on a notepad or notebook. This is stated in a study published in the
Time magazine.

You don’t have to draw specific figures, anything goes.
This will help us to fight boredom and retain what the teacher says .

8. Background music: good or bad idea?

Listening to background music when we are focused on a task can be a good idea. But it depends on several factors.

Music has the ability to stimulate our brain and cognitive activity. It is quite positive that, just before we start studying, we listen to some music to stimulate the brain and start it up. However, during the course of the task, it is better to be silent, since music can distort the quality with which we retain information. This negative effect of music on our attention and concentration
has been reported in several scientific studies.

9. Plan your routine

There is nothing that affects concentration so negatively as a disorganized and chaotic routine . This is the ninth point on the list, but it is surely the most important one.

The day-to-day priorities must be planned and ordered. Without having the necessary time to devote to each task, we will avoid the stress, rush and inconvenience that may arise, and we will be better able to devote an intelligent and productive effort to the task.
If we know exactly what we have to do and how, the task becomes simpler , and our state of focus is better suited to tackling each sub-task successfully.

Do these strategies work for children and seniors?

Children, adults and the elderly: are tricks worth the same to everyone?Generically, these strategies and tips for improving concentration can be applied to anyone of any age. While this is true
, it is also true that each stage of life brings with it certain elements to be taken into account .

Concentration in childhood

During childhood, our attention is more dispersed , so instead of emphasizing the above-mentioned advice, it will be necessary to get the children used to acquiring the habit (worth the redundancy) of attending, listening and thinking. This means that, as children, they maintain a higher activation than adults, so it may be difficult for them to sit in front of a book or perform a cognitively demanding task for a considerable period of time.

Little by little, we must stimulate them with suggestive tasks so that their mind can adapt to these demands, without this leading to bad feelings (it can be very counterproductive if the child feels “forced” or “obliged” to concentrate on a task). To promote this capacity of attention in childhood, professionals such as educational psychologists, psychopedagogues or similar can design intervention programs, group or individual, to address these needs.

Elders: several specific tips to improve your care

As far as the elderly are concerned, in that case it should be noted that,
sometimes, there can be pictures of senile dementia or cognitive impairment associated with some problems of concentration , especially with regard to the ability to retain data. At these ages, memory is a faculty that is beginning to show weaknesses, so it is advisable to stimulate the elderly with games and recreational activities that involve, in turn, exercising their attention and memory.

In this respect, the well-known game of dominoes, card games and the like are a highly recommended option . There are also specific programs designed for these people, with the specific aim of reinforcing their cognitive abilities. In this case it will be necessary for a psycho-gerontology professional or similar to design and accompany the grandparents in the therapeutic sessions.

Extra tips and conclusions

Our ability to focus on a single task is limited . However, there are people who are able to stay focused for several hours without feeling tired, while others, due to lack of training or other reasons, cannot stay more than a few minutes while maintaining a good level of attention. This capacity is known as Attention Interval , and each person has his or her own threshold.

Several studies show that when we are working on a task or studying, we need to take regular breaks, about 10 minutes, to clear our minds and “recharge” our batteries. There is no single threshold, each person has their own skills and it is up to them to set exactly what is their maximum amount of time they can be focused on a task.

As for the organization of the task,
it is important that we select few and well-defined tasks , so that our brain is able to respond adequately to the demand. Avoiding multi-tasking and exercising our muscles every half hour can also keep us in an optimal state of activation for longer.

Do you have any other tricks to increase the concentration? You can send them to us through the comments section or on our social networks.