15 Sep These 5 Habits Will Help You Stay Focused All Day
Whether you want to be focusing on happiness or health, success or productivity – a psychologist explains how to get back on track if you’re finding it hard to concentrate
via Inc.com by Minda Zetlin
Are you having a hard time staying focused on work, especially in these high-stress days? Some simple techniques can make a big difference, psychologist Traci Stein explains in a recent Psychology Today post. Give her techniques a try and see how your own focus improves, and build them into daily habits to keep that benefit going into the future. You can find the full list here. These are some of her best tips.
1. Take care of your physical needs.
“Of course, the most basic foundation for focusing is to take good care of yourself,” Stein writes. This means getting regular exercise, which has been shown to help you increase focus later on, as well as other cognitive benefits. A few minutes a day of meditation — which Bill Gates does — will also enhance your ability to stay focused.
Beyond that, make sure you’re getting good nutrition which also supports brain function. Most important of all, get plenty of sleep. Sleep has fantastic benefits for both your brain health and your overall health. And when you’re tired, it’s much harder to focus on anything.
2. Plan for your “escape behaviors.”
What are escape behaviors? Stein defines them as “those things you do to alleviate the stress or boredom that crops up whenever you have to work on a specific task or assignment.” They vary from person to person but can include things like mindless snacking (I do that), getting sleepy, checking your email (guilty!), checking social media, or suddenly getting very sleepy.
The key to dealing with escape behaviors is to anticipate them because you know yourself well enough to know which are likely to crop up during any given workday, Stein writes. If you’re liable to get sleepy, try switching to a standing desk for a while (I find upbeat music helps too). And have tea or water on hand because sleepiness is often dehydration in disguise. If you’re liable to snack, prepare a reasonable portion of a healthy snack to keep by your desk for that day. If you’re tempted to read email or check social media, anticipate that by turning off notifications. Consider signing out of your email program while you’re focused on other work, and/or putting your smartphone someplace out of reach…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE
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