How to Improve Your Focus For Critical Success: 6 Tips for Boosting Your Concentration

Great job.

 

You did it.

 

You’ve read Arc Focus’ guide to identifying the signs when your ability to focus has been compromised or impaired (link to previous story). Which was a vital first step on the path to improving the situation.

 

So what do you do now, exactly?

 

Fortunately, identifying glitches in your concentration can be even tougher than solving them, so you’re already well on the road to progress.

 

Making positive life-changes, or merely building short breaks into your day, can do wonders for your ability to concentrate on assignments, studies, or tasks at hand. So we’ve taken all the best advice there is and boiled it down to the easy essentials to make the process as painless as possible.

 

Here’s everything you need to know to easily boost your concentration and strengthen your focus.

 

Attempt meditation: You naturally have a million things to worry about in the world today, generating a cacophony of thoughts, concerns, and responsibilities in your head as you try to focus on any single thing. Throw in a blaring T.V., a stuffed Inbox, and that friend who’s always doing cool things on Instagram and there’s only one loser: Your ability to concentrate on anything else.

 

No one’s saying you have to be a Buddhist monk here. In fact, just attempting a regular meditation practice can yield great benefits. The safe, millennia-old practice of meditation is legendary for clearing one’s mind of cerebral junk mail; the flotsam and jetsam of thoughts, half-thoughts, worries, and random musings that run through the mind every minute.

 

At its simplest, meditation means finding a quiet, comfortable place to mellow out and focus on your breath while attempting to observe and detach from these thoughts. Over time, its prowess for bolstering your concentration becomes evident as your find your mind becoming stronger, more relaxed, and laser-focused. Just five minutes of a daily practice can provide these benefits.

 

When beginning, don’t even think of results so much as finding the right audio, video instruction, or Zoom class that you connect with, that can guide you through a simple, relaxing, and enjoyable practice. Like going to the gym, consistency will be the key that turns your mind as sharp as obsidian shears.

 

Indulge in fun and games: Or... you could always break out the Hungry, Hungry Hippos. Turning your attention away from stress and towards a fun but engaging diversion, even for a few short minutes, can help clear the mind and enable the way to greater concentration. Particularly mind games such as crossword, Sudoku, jigsaw puzzles, and chess.

 

Virtual versions work in a pinch, but consider this the perfect opportunity to escape the blue light of whatever screen you’ve been sucked into and turn off your devices.

 

Although, sure, go ahead and mash the buttons on your XBox controller if that’s what you’re more inclined towards. Even video games are shown to wick away stress and clear the mind, enabling you to return to tasks at hand with greater focus, perspective, and clarity.

 

Raise your heart rate: This is the physical equivalent of playing those aforementioned games. Kicking a ball, going for a jog, striking a yoga pose, getting in some squats or pushups, and shadowboxing not only give you ample opportunity to wipe your mental slate, but there’s a physiological benefit, increasing the endorphins that make your body and brain feel strong and clear, and giving you one less thing to worry about when it comes to your health.

 

If you don’t have the luxury of sweating it out, simply taking a walk to smell the proverbial flowers can also be a tremendous help, connecting you with nature and your own five senses again, all of which is proven to improve memory, mood, energy, attention, and mindfulness by boosting levels of dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine in the brain. Whatever form of exercise you take, you’ll also get the added benefit of better sleep at night, which means a clearer mind by morning.

 

Eat well and drink less well: This might not sound like the easiest correlation to make at first. But think of the flipside. If you are what you eat—and you are— imagine a diet full of sodas, Scotch, salami, Snickers, and other unhealthy things that may or may not start with the letter “S” and think about what kind of a brain an overload of sugar and blood-constricting preservatives may create, as opposed to one full of naturally beneficial oils, organic compounds like amino acids, and other favorable nutrients.

 

And though we’re certainly no prudes, there are no lasting benefits to one’s focus from ingesting dangerous or illegal drugs or unsafe supplements. Scientifically speaking.

 

Build in a break. Maybe you’re grinding at the office or cramming for a final. Either way, squashing your nose against the grindstone can and will eventually break your brain. You not only desire, but actually really do need, regular breaks built into your day in order for your mind to be at its most efficient. And no, this doesn’t just mean hanging your head on your desk and muffling your screams with a mouse pad for 30 seconds.

 

Instead, get up from your desk and walk anywhere. Close your eyes and listen to a soothing piece of music that really moves you. Break out an adult coloring book for a quick scribbling session. Leave your laptop charging to cook a quick quesadilla. Go trim your eyebrows. The point is to do anything that will take the focus off your stressful thoughts about yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

 

Sometimes you simply need separation from your mental sphere to focus on a hands-on task or physical challenge that requires you to forget what’s happening on CNN or in the stock market or with that Amazon package that was supposed to be here three days ago. Seriously, where did it go?

 

Depend on ARC Clarity Elixir: Maintaining good health with a strong mind and body to help you achieve success is something we believe in deeply. Which is why we’ve dedicated our lives to creating our ground-breaking blend of safe CBD, unroasted green coffee, and highly pure Suntheanine-L-Theanine, which together reduce anxiety and promote relaxation, while simultaneously putting you into a zone of calm focus to crush your work and workouts with sustained attention. So anytime you need a helping hand with energy and concentration at work or school, we’ll be right there with you.