Author: Steven Aitchison (382 Articles)
The owner of this blog. Proud father, doting husband, blogger, hire me as freelance writer, and addiction worker
I have been thinking about ways to help my son with his concentration levels, as he gets distracted easily. I used some techniques, which I had tried when I was younger, and made some new ones up, more fun ones.
This gave me the inspiration for this article.
Concentration can be taught and learned and can aid us in so many ways. A few benefits of developing your powers of concentration are:
- It benefits short and long term memory
- Helps us to focus better
- Gives us inner strength
- Choose your own thoughts (instead of drifting)
- The ability to decide quickly
- Greater will power
10 concentration exercises
- A candle flame – sitting in front of a candle and concentrating on nothing but the flame for 5 – 10 minutes will enhance your powers of concentration considerably.
- Stumbleupon – Stumbleupon 100 sites without stopping for a break. Great for traffic to your blog as well.
- Have a freezing cold shower – One of my favourites. Have a freezing cold shower. To take your mind off the cold think of all the things you are grateful for in life and your mind will be taken off the fact that your bits are almost frozen solid.
- Do one thing at a time – I have a huge problem with too much stuff going on in my head at once. I have so many ideas about different things it’s hard to concentrate. When I focus on one task at a time, it helps my concentration enormously.
- Get rid of worrying thoughts – Sometimes as you are trying to concentrate on a task other worrying thoughts will pop into your head; like you remember you’ve got to pick up some work from the office, you’ve got a meeting at the school, etc. To get rid of these distractions write them down on a piece of paper. This way you do not dismiss the thought altogether and you are telling yourself it is important enough to write down.
- Count from 100 backwards down to 1 – This may sound simple enough, and it is, however it takes a bit of concentration to do it.
- Recall a photograph – Study a photograph, which is unfamiliar to you. Do this for 5 minutes and then try to recall as much as you can about the picture.
- Spell words backwards – This is great for kids as well and has the added bonus of helping them to spell.
- “I went to the shops and bought…..” – This is a great car game and is a great one for concentration.
- Do mathematical calculations – When I am driving, I like to do some mathematical calculations in my head e.g. I have 20 miles to travel, I am travelling at an average speed of 50 miles per hour, how long will it take to get to my destination. Nothing huge but things like this are great for your concentration skills.
I hope this has helped you. If you would like to add more concentration exercises why not leave a comment.
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One concentration exercise. Try listening to your heart beat and nothing else. Feel your sense of awareness in your heart, rather than mind
Good points, but, I’ll give the cold shower a miss
One question: How does stumbling 100 sites improve traffic to your blog?
I’ve done a lot of work on myself to practically eliminate worrying thoughts. What a great help it’s been for my happiness.
I tried the photograph exercise and I liked that everytime I tried looking at the same picture I could always find something that I missed, even after 5 tries.
Thanks!
Karl
Tejvan, thanks for the exercise. I practiced this when meditating and it does work.
Karl, Thanks for your comments. How did you eliminate worrying thoughts?
thanks for another wise posting! try spelling motivate backwards, then add a .com to it.
haha..i find it quite amusing at some of the ways although it seems rather akward .
Where did you learn these from Steven?:P
Hey Steve,
I liked that you asked me how I eliminated worry. It’s nice that you care about your reader’s ideas. I should have been using that technique with my readers all along.
I haven’t fully eliminated worry, but it doesn’t intrude in on my life as I used to let it. I wrote a piece on it – Freedom Comes From the Mind
check it out when you are browsing the internet.
Thanks,
Karl
I like the StumbleUpon suggestion because it not only helps you concentrate (doing one thing for a long period of time), it benefits bloggers as well. I haven’t really tried the flame trick but I’ve heard that eating chocolate does wonders for memorization. How has your son fared since the exercises?
hey my concentration and memory is very very weak.my memory is weak n so it affects my concentration as well.it has gone worst!!
I’ll definitely try doing these exercises.
Please if you could post me some tips to have a memory boost.
I have exams next week [what a shame.] and i think some of these timps could help, so thanks.
Oh, and BTW, Vitamin B boosts your concentration, especially B-12. Also, brainteasers like Countdown [personally, i hate the program] and Sodoku are supposed to help. Never tried any of them but they sound half decent.
Thanks for the tips. although, I dont get the ‘Stumbleupon’ one. How do the webistes help?
X
For additional knowledge and concentration skills, DO NOT SKIP MEALS, it is important,if you eat three meals a day you will have a healthier body. A simpler way to maintain well-balanced blood sugar levels and keep your mood, energy and concentration high. This will also increase your tolerance to stress.
these things may be helpful. but i ve a better option. and quite advance one. it is muslims way of prayer. it is a regular 5 times pray. one has to imagen that he is sitting in front of God and looking at him. although he cant see the God but HE is looking at him. and all other thoughts are baned.for a little time you are at peak of concentration. it is a good mood moderator and helps to calm the mind.