ver feel like you have the attention span of a fruit fly? These distraction-fighting techniques by Camille Noe Pagán for the Huffington Post will help you snap to.
Read the full original article from the Huffington Post.
Only about 4.5% of adults have ADHD, but you wouldn’t think so if you heard the amount of adults asking their doctors for prescriptions to help them concentrate. And for good reason – “There’s never been another time in history when there was so much to be distracted by, and all our technology reinforces the feeling that you’re missing out on something if you’re not able to pay attention to a bunch of things at once,” says Charles Folk, PhD, director of the cognitive science program at Villanova University. However, before turning to medication, try developing better habits for concentration.
- Swap caffeine for cardio – Too much caffeine will train your brain to only operate properly when you’re buzzing.
- Drink more water – Being even 2% dehydrated, so little that you don’t even feel thirsty, can lead to inattention.
- Get serious about sleep – Inability to concentrate can often be attributed to a lack of delta sleep (the sleep stage before REM).
- Wiggle your toes – We always have so much going on that when we only have one thing to focus on, we can’t pay attention! Wiggle your toes to “multi-task” and help you pay attention.
Those who change their habits to help them focus can achieve more and push through when things get tough, and focus is a key ingredient to grit – an essential quality of any great leader.
