Learn How to Concentrate: It’s A Skill You Can Master

Better concentration and focus makes your life easier and more productive, and anyone can master them. Use these simple but practical tips and techniques.

A clear-cut goal like this makes it easier to start, stick with it, and finish.

Breaking any large project into small bite-size chunks can help keep you motivated.

Each time you complete a task, even a small one, you get a nice surge of dopamine, a brain chemical that helps keep attention, productivity, and motivation high.

Optimize Your Work Environment

Optimize your environment for maximum concentration as much as possible.

When you are too hot or cold, or your surroundings are too noisy or quiet, your ability to concentrate will suffer.

Declutter

Clear your work area of clutter.

Brain scans show conclusively that clutter affects your ability to concentrate and process information. (1)

Working in an organized environment can make you more focused and productive.

Silence or sound?

Few things can affect your concentration as much as unwelcome sound.

You may need complete silence or find you concentrate better in the buzz of your favorite coffee shop.

If you concentrate best in total silence, get a pair of noise-canceling headphones.

If you like to listen to music to help you concentrate, there are a few rules for getting the most benefits.

It should be music that you enjoy, have personally chosen, and should be instrumental to avoid distracting lyrics. (2, 3)

You can find music curated or created to specifically help you concentrate.

The music streaming service Spotify has a category of playlists called “Focus,” compiled specifically for improving concentration and focus.

Another music service, Focus@Will, offers scientifically engineered music channels for enhancing concentration and focus based on your personality type.

Focus@Will is used by employees at forward-thinking companies such as Amazon, Apple, and Google.

Scientists have found that there is a best time to do everything and that includes concentrating.

While everyone is different, most adults do their best thinking in the late morning as their concentration and alertness reach their peak.

Then from noon to about 4 pm, most people become more easily distracted once again. (4)

Banish Distractions

Paying attention to one thing at a time may seem like blindly obvious advice, yet few people actually do this!

It’s not easy to concentrate when social media, emails, texts, and 5,000 ads per day compete for your attention. (5)

Put your electronics away

If your electronic devices are ruining your ability to concentrate, take back control.

When you want to concentrate, put your phone out of sight.

Stop multitasking

One of the greatest distractions is one you inflict on yourself — multitasking.

You may think that multitasking makes you more efficient and productive, but it doesn’t.

When you multitask, your brain must quickly toggle back and forth between tasks wasting up to 40% of your productive time. (7)

And alarmingly, it takes 23 minutes to fully regain your focus after you’ve switched tasks. (8)

Overcome Boredom

Let’s face it, some tasks are just boring.

When you’re bored, your ability to concentrate flies out the window.

Here are some tips to help boost your concentration when you’re just not that into the task at hand.

Chew gum, pop a mint

Yes, chewing gum actually increases your ability to concentrate.

Gum augments the flow of oxygen to regions of the brain responsible for attention. (9)

Eating mints has a similar effect as chewing gum. Why?

Do things with your hands

Take pen to paper and doodle.

It will help you concentrate, grasp new concepts, and retain information. (13)

You can also try playing with a fidget toy or stress ball.

They really can help you stay mentally alert. (14)

Breathe Deeply As You Work

Your brain needs oxygen.

Brain cells can live only a few minutes without it.

Yet, counterproductively, many people hold their breath while concentrating.

It’s estimated that 80% of us forget to breathe when reading our emails or using our electronics. (15)

The “Pomodoro Technique” was developed by an Italian graduate student as a study aid.

It works like this.

You’ll be surprised at how effectively this improves concentration and how much you’ll get done.

You can use a real kitchen timer or a virtual one.

TomatoTimer.com has a desktop version that’s easy to use.

Take a walk

You can recharge by taking a walk.

Walking is not only one of the best all-around exercises, it clears your mind and helps you think better. (16)

Do some yoga

Perform a yoga pose.

Even one session of yoga can significantly improve concentration. (17)

The top yoga poses for better concentration include the plow, the camel, the cobra, the tree, and the corpse pose.

Drink water, coffee, or tea

Get a drink of water.

Even mild dehydration results in shrinkage of brain tissue and temporary loss of concentration and memory. (18)

Have a cup of coffee or tea.

A little caffeine can improve concentration, alertness, and productivity. (19)

But respect caffeine for what it is, a psychoactive drug, and use it judiciously.

Caffeine can ruin your sleep and is surprisingly detrimental for anyone with anxiety.

Take a nap

Sleep expert Dr. Sara Mednick is well aware that motivation and productivity dwindle as the day progresses.

But even she was surprised to find that the best technique for staying productive all afternoon and into the early evening is to take a 20-minute power nap.

It works even better than caffeine!

Know when to stop

An important part of recharging is knowing when to say “no” to more hours and more work.

Technology allows us to easily work around the clock, and so most of us do.

Yet most of us are capable of only four hours of intense concentration per day. (20)

If you can work fewer hours, do it.

And finally, don’t worry when you can’t find a 5 or 20-minute break.

Even a mini-break as short as 30 seconds can help you regain your focus. (21)

Optimize Brain Health and Fitness for Better Concentration

If you want laser-beam focus, it’s essential that you treat your brain like the incredible thinking machine that it is.

Too much work and stress, too little sleep and exercise, and poor nutrition sabotage your brain’s ability to concentrate and think clearly.

You can’t concentrate with a tired, stressed, and frazzled brain.

We cover these topics in-depth elsewhere on our site, but here’s a quick summary of how a healthy lifestyle can enhance your ability to concentrate.

Nourish Your Brain with Real Food

Your brain needs a disproportionate amount of energy and nutrients.

What you eat significantly changes how well your brain performs its many functions, including focus.

For optimal focus, you can’t go wrong trading in the standard American diet (SAD) for a Mediterranean diet, one based on unprocessed foods.

The Mediterranean diet is widely agreed to be the healthiest way of eating.

Optimize Dopamine

Do you have low energy, focus, motivation, and libido?

Do you rely on pick-me-ups like caffeine, sugar, chocolate, or other stimulants to get through the day?

If so, you may be low in the neurotransmitter dopamine.

A protein-rich diet is an excellent source of tyrosine, the amino acid precursor needed to create dopamine.

Besides all animal products, foods that promote dopamine formation include avocados, apples, bananas, beets, sea vegetables, green leafy vegetables, oatmeal, chocolate, green tea, and coffee. (22)

Physical exercise, meditation, and setting and achieving small goals also increase dopamine.

Increase Concentration with Meditation

If you’ve ever been under the gun to get an assignment done on time, you may have found that stress, leading to a burst of adrenaline, can help you concentrate for short periods of time. (23)

But relying on this rush to get work done is damaging to your brain over the long haul.

A proven technique to reduce stress and improve concentration is meditation.

Over 1,000 studies have been published demonstrating the health benefits of meditation. (24)

Regular meditators experience better focus, memory, creativity, and sleep.

Over 20 million Americans meditate regularly, including corporate executives at Google, Apple, Nike, HBO, Procter & Gamble, General Mills, Target, and Aetna Insurance who use it to maximize their brain power.

Get High-Quality Sleep

If you don’t get enough high-quality sleep, you’ll have a hard time concentrating (or even staying awake!)

Lack of sleep is as bad for mental performance as being drunk. (25)

This is because there’s a lot going on in your brain while you sleep besides dreaming.

During sleep, your brain is busy repairing itself and consolidating memories. (26, 27)

Extensive research confirms that 7 to 9 hours is still the ideal amount of sleep. (28)

How Your Health Affects Your Ability to Concentrate

Mood disorders, dementia, and, of course, attention disorders can affect your ability to concentrate.

Health conditions known to impair focus include fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, lupus, substance abuse, cancer, and epilepsy. (29)

Also, numerous widely-used prescription drugs negatively impact your ability to concentrate.

Hearing problems and vision problems can affect concentration, especially in older folks.

If you suspect that an undiagnosed condition or a medication you take is affecting your concentration, talk to your doctor.

Sometimes the answer can be as simple as switching medications or getting a new pair of glasses.