The 10 Best Ways to Teach Your Brain to Stay Focused

Attention is the most important tool that we can use to really get stuff done. The ability to concentrate on one task and for a longer period of time is undeniably important for any individual who wishes to attract abundance and results. Nowadays, ergonomic workspaces are giving workers better conditions to better their attentiveness and productivity during the working day. But despite this, there are always ways that we can become distracted.

Our brain is a very complex mechanism which often works intricately without us even acknowledging it. Our best friend or our greatest enemy may be our subconscious mind, the deep place where all our memories, emotions and neuro-associations are kept.

A disciplined mind is crucial to your success, no matter what ambitions, career, or job you are currently doing. Here are 10 efficient ways to train the brain to remain concentrated and effective for that purpose!

1. Plan a few important tasks every day and imagine them

Everything that we think forms our reality. Why is that?  Since our thoughts create emotions, these then lead to action, and action leads to outcomes.

Whether you're working remotely or at the office, it's important to have a plan for the day ahead. Create one to three essential tasks, which must be completed during the day, as part of your morning routine. Don't ever superficially think about them. Visualize them and simulate the feelings you would get after each assignment is done. If you really think about the success of your day, your subconscious will do whatever it can to help you transform ideas into reality.

2. Find the hours you work best

During the day, some people do better, and others do well during the night. You should deliberately calculate your productivity at different hours of the day in order to identify the most productive hours; the 'peak hours'.

When experimenting with different working hours, pay attention to your energy, thinking habits, distractions, inspiration and moods. Make sure to take in to account the working conditions you're in, and whether they contribute to your productivity.

Make sure you allow these peak hours to be defined over the course of at least a week. So, if you're trying to get the most important assignments completed from 8 AM to 10 AM, try it out for a week. Next week, starting from 10 AM and finishing at 12 PM, concentrate your attention on vital tasks.

3. Try not to multitask

Owing to the fact that the brain can only completely concentrate on one task at a time, multitasking has been shown to decrease our cognitive ability. While multitasking can be helpful in different circumstances, if you deal with significant tasks, you should avoid it as much as you can. To enhance the quality and pace of work, give your full attention to the task at hand!

4. See your mind like it’s a muscle

When you want to develop muscles, what do you do? You build those muscles through exercising.  Not only once, but often. It's a matter of practice to train the brain to remain concentrated. You have to accept unwanted thoughts for what they are - time and energy killers.

You should force it a little more if you feel like you "must stop working". Right now, if you have major difficulty concentrating, you shouldn't try to work straight for 60 minutes. Gradually construct your levels of emphasis. Try to concentrate for 20 minutes for the first two weeks, take a 5-minute break, then go again. You should be able to stay focused for 60 minutes within two months and get a lot of stuff done!

5. Develop discipline and willpower

There are only a few of us who make real decisions. A decision is a contract in your mind that no matter what happens, your decision sticks. Therefore, when you say, "I should exercise," you should substitute "should" with "must" immediately. Otherwise, the brain will not take your intent seriously and will not "care" to assist.

Two related attributes that should be established at the same time are willpower and self-discipline. The fuel of your actions is your willpower. The desire to go beyond distracting thoughts, a comfort zone, and laziness is your discipline.

Here's what few people tell you: regular practice is needed for these skills, building them is not easy, and giving up is not an option.

6. Recognize the need to avoid pain and obtain pleasure

We do it when we do something, it's usually because we are looking for satisfaction or because we want pain to be avoided. When learners have to do their homework, they procrastinate because their subconscious minds signal incoming pain. Think about it. They will take action when the deadline is close, to stop the discomfort of getting a bad score.

Take this example and synchronize your life with it. Acknowledge your immediate response any time you want to concentrate on a mission. Do you try to stop pain? Or are you seeking pleasure? You'll be able to be in charge when you become an observer.

7. Combat distractions with ergonomics

Unless you make sure your external environment is one without any distractions, you can't train your brain to remain concentrated. 

Implementing an ergonomic workspace will allow you to stay focused and less distracted throughout the day. There are many benefits to using standing desks, which keep your body active as you complete tasks, or ergonomic chairs that can prevent you from falling into an unproductive state. Ergonomic working environments are known to increase worker productivity and are less cluttered; meaning there are less distractions in the workers’ immediate surroundings. 

8. Create good habits 

You will no longer have to use your inspiration and willpower to become centered if you develop empowering habits. The pattern will be known by your mind and will make your job easier. For example, you do it automatically when you clean your teeth and face in the morning without using any significant amount of concentration, energy, and encouragement. It is like training the brain how to act at various but specific times to develop productive habits.

9. Implement mindfulness 

Mindfulness means knowledge of oneself.  It is nothing more than concentrating the whole attention on the present moment, something that can be helped by practicing meditation. Whether it is your current thoughts and emotions, the natural environment, your pulse, your heartbeat... it's up to you. It doesn't matter what you concentrate on—your mind is present as long as you're "here" and "now”.

In different circumstances, you should practice mindfulness: when reading, working, learning, washing dishes, walking in the park, and so forth. When your mind is focused on what's happening now, in most cases, you can perform better.

10. Be a sovereign

The art of aligning your feelings, emotions, and actions is sovereignty. Many individuals lack autonomy, which suggests that their feelings are not in accordance with their thoughts or their actions.

If you want to read a book today, for instance, but you automatically feel like it's going to be boring, you'll never really read that book. If you think about something, though, and you get positive feelings as a response, taking action is not going to be that hard.

You can quickly execute it if you're aware of this. As a consequence, it will become a piece of cake to remain focused on your obligations and jobs.