10 Ways to boost your concentration

November 17th, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

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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Pingback by University Update - Yahoo - 10 Ways to boost your concentration on 17 November 2007:

[...] YouTube 10 Ways to boost your concentration » This Summary is from an article posted at Change your thoughts to change your life on Saturday, November 17, 2007 I have been thinking about way 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 Summary Provided by Technorati.comView Original Article at Change your thoughts to change your life » Recent Discussion Topics [...]

Comment by Tejvan Pettinger on 17 November 2007:

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?

Comment by Karl Staib on 17 November 2007:

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

Comment by Steven Aitchison on 17 November 2007:

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?

Comment by etavitom on 18 November 2007:

thanks for another wise posting! try spelling motivate backwards, then add a .com to it.

Comment by Glenn Tan on 18 November 2007:

haha..i find it quite amusing at some of the ways although it seems rather akward .

Where did you learn these from Steven?:P

Pingback by FlashLinks: Nov 18th, 2007 | Better Living Today on 18 November 2007:

[...] Concentration skills are evermore a requirement for success. Unfortunately, not all of us have exceptional high levels of concentration. Although changing and improving can take a long time, it is possible as usually happens with mind skills, and Steven at Change your thoughts comes up with 10 ways to improve concentration. Now, if I can only manage to include them on my to-do list… [...]

Comment by Karl Staib on 19 November 2007:

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

Comment by jen_chan, writer MemberSpeed.com on 20 November 2007:

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?

Pingback by Memory Games | Photographic Memory on 26 December 2007:

[...] http://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/blog/2007/11/17/10-ways-to-boost-your-concentration/ [...]

Comment by priyanka on 1 May 2008:

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.

Pingback by Study Matrix Blog - 5 Keys to Improving Your Memory | Mind Map on 15 June 2008:

[...] 10 Ways to Boost Your Concentration @ Change Your Thoughts [...]