9 tips to improve concentration (backed by science)

Are you able to concentrate 100% to perform your tasks?

According to the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language, the concentration is "the action and effect of focusing one's attention intensely on something".

For our daily life, it is important to learn to concentrate. Having a good ability to concentrate helps us enormously to be more effective when performing any task. The benefits of having a good concentration are many: they increase our memory, our effectiveness in decision making, our accuracy 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 distractions and, on the other hand, having a mental state with an adequate level of activation to be able to maintain focus on the task for a certain period of time. to be able to maintain focus on the task for a certain period of 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 useful skills for daily life.

1. Get enough rest

A basic point: in order to concentrate well we need to be rested. Sleeping enough hours gives us the brain and cognitive recovery we need to be able to perform perfectly the next day. Sleeping well gives us a state of wakeful lucidity.

This is common advice for students: the day before an exam, get a good night's sleep.. Because if you do not get enough rest, at the time of the exam we will be scattered and we will have less memory. During the hours we sleep, the brain performs a "reset" of certain functions, preparing us so that the next day we can 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 the necessary hours, so that our mental state is sufficiently lucid to maintain our attention. When we are tired or have slept poorly, the brain suffers and the mental processes associated with memory and focus cannot perform at 100%. In addition, lack of sleep can cause eye discomfort and transient blurred vision, which is a serious inconvenience. Therefore, as a basis for everything, a good rest..

2. Chew gum

It may seem a little strange, but chewing gum is good for our concentration. This is what several scientific studies indicate: chewing gum helps us to 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 are very used to writing things on the computer keyboard. It is an automatic writing method that allows us many positive things, but it is not the best for our concentration and memory.

If we write by hand, our brain will make a greater effort to concentrate. and will more easily remember 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, which will be able to retrieve those data days or even weeks later.

4. Manage stress

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

For our mind to be able to perform a cognitively demanding activity for a while, we need to be in a state of mind that is neither excessively relaxed (which would induce 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 to manage stress are as simple as clenching a fist or an anti-stress ball for a minute. This act will release our tensions for a while. But, if you suffer a more permanent stress, the best thing to do is to get down to work to solve the problem. It is also important to have a good physical health: stay well hydrated, play sports often...

5. Play chess

If we are talking about increasing our concentration, chess is the king of sports.. This game requires us a great capacity of concentration to analyze each situation that occurs on the board, make the right decisions and anticipate the opponent's moves. 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 location.

It's a bit obvious, isn't it? When we try to concentrate on a task, it's a very good idea to try to avoid being distracted by external and unwanted stimuli, 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 it in silence, with adequate light, and of course without the TV 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., an exam). 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 with no 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 all of us feel comfortable. As for noise, some people can maintain their concentration when exposed to it, provided it is not too loud and monotonous, but this is not the norm.

7. Draw while you are in class

This advice is quite counter-intuitive. When we are attending a master class or a lecture, it is a good idea to draw small doodles on a notepad or notebook. So says a study published in Time magazine.

It is not necessary to draw concrete figures, anything goes. This will help us to fight boredom and we will retain better what the professor 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 starting to study, we listen to some music to stimulate the brain and start to get it going. However, during the course of the task, it is better to be quiet, since music can distort the quality with which we retain information. This negative effect of music on our attention span and concentration has been reported in several scientific studies.

9. Plan your routine

There is nothing that affects concentration as negatively as a disorganized and chaotic routine.. It is the ninth item on the list, but surely the most important.

It is necessary to plan and order the priorities of the day to day. If we have the necessary time to dedicate to each task, we will avoid stress, haste and inconveniences 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 to do it, the task becomes easierIf we know exactly what we have to do and how, the task becomes easier, and our state of focus is better suited to tackle each subtask successfully.

Do these strategies work for children and seniors?

Children, adults and seniors: do the tricks work for 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 it is also true that each stage of life has certain elements to take into account..

Concentration in childhood

During childhood, our attention is more dispersed.Therefore, instead of emphasizing the aforementioned tips, it will be necessary to get children used to acquiring the habit (redundancy aside) of paying attention, listening and thinking. This means that, as children, they maintain a higher activation than adults, so it can 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 for the child to feel "obliged" or "forced" to concentrate on a task). To promote this attention span in childhood, professionals such as educational psychologists, psychopedagogues or similar can design intervention programs, group or individual, to address these needs.

Elderly people: several specific tips to improve their care

With regard to the elderly, in this case it should be noted that, sometimes, there may be signs of senile dementia or cognitive impairment associated with some concentration problems, especially with regard to the ability to retain data.This is especially true with regard to the ability to retain data. At this age, memory is a faculty that begins to show weaknesses, so it is advisable to stimulate the elderly with games and recreational activities that involve, in turn, exercise their attention and memory.

In this sense, the well-known game of dominoes, card games and the like are highly recommended.. There are also specific programs designed for these people, with the specific objective of strengthening their cognitive abilities. In this case it will be necessary for a professional in psychogerontology 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 concentrate for several hours without feeling tired, while others, due to lack of training or other reasons, cannot stay more than a few minutes maintaining a good level of attention. This capacity is known as Attention Spanand 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 periodic breaks of about 10 minutes to clear our minds and "recharge" the batteries of our concentration. There is no single threshold; each person has his or her own abilities and it is up to him or her to determine exactly how long he or she can concentrate on a task.

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

Do you have other tricks to increase concentration? You can let us know in the comments section or on our social networks.