The internet is full of advice on how to focus when faced with a multitude of distractions.But many of them are either impractical at all, exclude you from the office environment, or even cause you to get distracted worrying about missing something.
How many of us "always find what we do inspiring and fun" and how many of us are willing to turn off social networks, or wear headphones all day, or even work offline?
Perhaps more importantly, however, many of these suggestions have little to do with what psychologists have discovered about how the human mind works.
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In fact, many of the things you think are helpful for concentration actually go against the natural way your brain works. That being the case, how can you use the science of attention to accomplish more? Is any of the advice you hear so often really helpful?
The five dimensions of focus
1. Continuity
Usually your attention span is highest when you are doing something that interests you. The higher your attention span, the longer you can stay focused on that activity.
2. Optional
In the face of the interference and stimulation of multiple things at the same time, you can maintain focus on a single item, which is selective attention.
3. Concentration
Attentiveness means that when you are concentrating on something, you can also respond to stimuli from external objects.
4. Alternate
Sometimes it is inevitable that some emergencies will require you to prioritize and temporarily interrupt what you are doing at the time, and your focus will be shifted to other places.
Depending on how dominant your attention is, you may need to take a while to get back into focus after that. The higher the alternation, the faster the return to focus.
5. Distributive
Distributive also means the breadth of your attention, which represents your ability to multitask. The higher the distribution, the more things you can do at the same time.
When you improve your concentration, you can even enter a state called "flow".
1. Do things in a comfortable environment
Before you start working, find yourself a place that is moderately warm, quiet and suitable for work, otherwise too much noise or too much heat may prevent you from concentrating.
2. Reduce the use of electronic products
Minimize the use of products such as computers, phones, and televisions if it is not necessary for work, because the sound and light stimulation produced by these electronic products can greatly reduce your concentration.
3. Resist external interference
The two methods mentioned above are to try to avoid distractions that may cause you to be distracted. Resisting distractions is different, but allows you to be in the distraction and not be harmed by it.
4. Master your senses
Have you noticed that it's hard to get distracted when you're watching a movie, and even more focused when you're playing a game.
That's because when you watch a movie, you use the two senses of "vision" and "hearing", and when playing a game, you use both sight, hearing and "touch".
White noise refers to sounds that are meaningless but very fixed in frequency, such as wind, rain, or waves lapping, so that you can avoid any distraction from thinking.