You can train your brain to increase your attention span, and here's how

From endless social media navigation, to the temptation of a great sunny day, there are plenty of distractions that prevent us from focusing on your work. It turns out that human brains live the moment for just over half of our waking hours, and the other half of the time we spend outside of the moment we live thinking about something else. Unfortunately, mindfulness can occur at inopportune moments, such as when your boss gives a presentation and asks you a question, or in a lecture. Fortunately, there are habits you can adopt if you want to increase your attention span and concentration for more than half of your day.

What do we mean by "attention" and "attention span"?

We use the word "attention" as if it refers to a specific aspect of psychological or brain function. But in psychology, it's an umbrella term that refers to a variety of processes and mechanisms that influence the information you receive from the outside world, processed, and affect your thinking. It refers to the ability to consciously choose certain things in the environment to address. For example, as I sit here reading the article, I focus on the text in front of me, ignoring the second computer screen on my left, the things on my desk, my cell phone, the clock hanging on the wall, the shouting of the children... Our "attention span" is the amount of time we can maintain that attention on a particular task before we get distracted or turn to something else we think about, which can make us less productive.

What are some of the factors that affect our attention span?

Increasing your ability to concentrate requires dealing with internal and external factors.

Internal factors that affect attention span: Your brain can lead you to shift from one task to another. These factors include:

Lack of sleep: We are a chronically hyponomic society. Most people experience a lack of sleep during the week and hope to make up for it over the weekend. Try reading something difficult in the early afternoon. If you start falling asleep within five minutes of trying to read, you really need more sleep. You may be tempted to treat this with caffeine, but caffeine won't help your brain process and store information more effectively.

Frustration and boredom: After you've been working on a task for a while, especially if it's going slowly, you start to feel like you have to do something else. Boredom and frustration are the brain's way of alerting you that you may be wasting precious energy on something unproductive. However, there are many tasks at work that are really difficult or boring and you need to stick to them despite any frustration or boredom you may feel. If you give in to these feelings, you'll learn to associate these negative emotions with stopping the task.

External factors that affect attention span: Of course, the modern world is full of things that catch your eye. External factors include:

Crowded office environments: There are conversations going on around you, not to mention the random noise from the people passing by.

Email, social media and more: We trained ourselves to check our email, social media and phone several times an hour, because we were rewarded with new information. Your brain recognizes what actions you normally perform and how often you do them. As a result, if you check your phone or email several times an hour, every 20 minutes or so your brain will interrupt everything you do to remind you that it's time to check again.

16 tips to increase your attention span:

1- Create a strategic daily schedule: The more detailed the schedule, the better.

2- Train your brain to check email etc. less at first, and note how long you can usually focus on one task and what tempts you to do something else. Then start trying to do these things less often and at longer intervals.

3- Keep distractions out of reach: If your phone is at arm's distance from you, your hand is likely to reach out to it, so put it out of your reach when you're working on something important, and close browser tabs that contain your email and social media profiles.

4. Pay attention to your feelings before switching from one thing to another: For example, you may find that you check your email when you're a little frustrated with the task at hand. Train yourself to associate this feeling with a more desirable action, such as working on the task for another five minutes first. Over time, you'll stay focused without even having to think about it clearly.

5- Get enough sleep: This will help you improve both your memory and your concentration, because a relaxed brain is a stronger brain.

6- Discover the most productive time of day: Invest these hours (early morning, bedtime...) to accomplish as much as possible.

7- Meditation: Meditation is one of the best ways to improve your concentration, because it is basically a mental training for attention.

8- Sports: Even brisk walking will do the trick, as physical activity increases cognitive control.

9- Stay hydrated: Dehydration is not only bad for your body, but also for your attention span. Drink plenty of water.

10- Sit at the front of the room: this will force you to participate in the discussion.

11- Ask questions: Be vigilant by planning to ask at least one good question.

12- Listen to music: Classical music helps attention.

13- Drinking tea: Coffee may make you alert, but tea can help you pay attention because it contains an amino acid that has been shown to directly affect the areas of the brain that control attention.

14- Take notes by hand: If you are trying to pay attention at a meeting or conference, take notes with pen and paper.

15- Take breaks: Taking breaks to receive mail, have a snack, or just stretch your legs can stimulate your energy.

16- Practice gradually: and treat yourself gently.