Are you learning something new?And finding it difficult to concentrate?
You are not alone!
This is a very common issue that drives over-loaded (and aging) brains crazy!
Quick tips to help you focus
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Keep food on your desk. Glucose helps your brain focus.
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Turn off the phone. Most phone calls are not urgent.
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Get a good chair. There is a reason that bosses don’t sit on cheap chairs.
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Time yourself and see how much you did in 1 hour.
- Complete ‘must-do’s’ first. Make that call, feed the cat ….
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Shut off everything that you are not really using.
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Clear your desk completely.
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Put on headphones. Classical music or no music is best for focusing.
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Make a list of To Do’s. Make it short.
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Reward yourself. If you get focused, be proud of yourself.
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Frame a picture of your goal. And look at it every morning before work.
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Bring your pet with you. They help you focus
Developing the skill of concentration will improve your memory.
This happens because you are encoding information more effectively and creating stronger memory traces.
Find more concentration tips on this 2-minute video: Help! I Can’t Concentrate!
Develop the skill of concentration. Memory Tune is your step-by-step guide to how your brain works along with strategies for new brain habits to sharpen your brain and memory performance.
Based on the research of Dr Allison Lamont, PhD.
Do you have a story to share? Do tell us below.
After surgery, I found it difficult to resume my former lifestyle. Maybe it was the residue of anaesthetics, or the long layoff from physical labours, or maybe a depressed mental state (“Where was all the support team I thought I had?”).
After a short, sharp self-imposed kick in the rear end, I decided to use my Positive Psychology techniques gained from Proff. Seligman and his team; I’d completed all 5 of the University of Pennsylvania’s MOOC free online programme.
Put simply: 1. the past is gone, the present is now. 2. Dwell on the plus factors in the now. 3. Eliminate the negative, accentuate the positive, as the old song says.
Following this stop-feeling-sorry-for-myself routine saw the return of memory skills as I began to focus on what I have to be grateful for. The sharper mind and keener focus banished ‘Black Dog’ depression, and the few close friends and family responded as well. No-one really wants to hear any of my sad stories; they have enough of their own!
Thank you for sharing your experience, Michael. There are so many pathways to memory improvement and I am sure your tips will resonate with others. We appreciate your story very much.
My brain was like putty after hip surgery that turned out to be more extensive than the x-ray indicated. I am sure it would be all the medication and being 86 too. I have used some of your great tips for my memory and found them very helpful. I am waiting for a knee fix, really both but I don’t know if time will beat me!! Every day is hard work physically but I do forget what I went into the bedroom for, but if I stop and think what I have just done, then I often remember. Otherwise go back to where I was when the thought came to mind.
Medication has a lot to answer for in regards to brain processing! The good news, though, is that the negative effects of medication do eventually wear off and the brain recovers its normal activity. Best wishes for those operations!
Medication has a lot to answer for in regards to brain processing! The good news, though, is that the negative effects of medication do eventually wear off and the brain recovers its normal activity. Best wishes for those operations!