Executive Unlock business impact from the top with executive coaching. Government Accelerate the performance and potential of your agencies and employees.

Customers Case Studies See how innovative organizations use BetterUp to build a thriving workforce. Why BetterUp? Events View on-demand BetterUp events and learn about upcoming live discussions. Blog BetterUp Blog The latest insights and ideas for building a high-performing workplace.

BetterUp Briefing BetterUp Briefing The online magazine that helps you understand tomorrow's workforce trends, today. Research BetterUp Labs Innovative research featured in peer-reviewed journals, press, and more. About Us We're on a mission to help everyone live with clarity, purpose, and passion.

Careers Join us and create impactful change. Leadership Team Meet the leadership that's passionate about empowering your workforce. EN - US EN - US English US Deutsch English GB Français. BetterUp Lead Build leaders that accelerate team performance and engagement.

Sales Performance Transform your business, starting with your sales leaders. Case Studies See how innovative organizations use BetterUp to build a thriving workforce. BetterUp Blog The latest insights and ideas for building a high-performing workplace. BetterUp Briefing The online magazine that helps you understand tomorrow's workforce trends, today.

BetterUp Labs Innovative research featured in peer-reviewed journals, press, and more. About About Us We're on a mission to help everyone live with clarity, purpose, and passion. Blog Productivity. By Maggie Wooll. August 30, - 12 min read.

Share this article. Understand Yourself Better: Big 5 Personality Test Learn how to leverage your natural strengths to determine your next steps and meet your goals faster. Take quiz. Invest in yourself today. Jump to section What are concentration exercises?

Why are concentration exercises important? Maggie Wooll Thought Leader. Read Next. Stay connected with BetterUp. Get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research. All rights reserved. If you identify more with the second set of statements, then you probably need to work on your mental focus quite a bit.

It might take some time, but practicing some good habits and being mindful of your distractibility can help. While it may sound obvious, people often underestimate just how many distractions prevent them from concentrating on the task at hand.

Such intrusions might come in the form of a radio blaring in the background or perhaps an obnoxious co-worker who constantly drops by your cubicle to chat. Minimizing these sources of distraction isn't always as easy as it sounds.

While it might be as simple as turning off the television or radio, you might find it much more challenging to deal with an interrupting co-worker, spouse, child, or roommate. One way to deal with this is to set aside a specific time and place and request to be left alone for that period of time.

Another alternative is to seek out a calm location where you know you will be able to work undisturbed. The library, a private room in your house, or even a quiet coffee shop might all be good spots to try. Not all distractions come from outside sources.

Exhaustion, worry , anxiety, poor motivation, and other internal disturbances can be particularly difficult to avoid.

A few strategies you might want to try to minimize or eliminate such internal distractions are to make sure you are well-rested prior to the task and to use positive thoughts and imagery to fight off anxiety and worry.

If you find your mind wandering toward distracting thoughts, consciously bring your focus back to the task at hand. While multitasking may seem like a great way to get a lot done quickly, it turns out that people are actually rather bad at it. Juggling multiple tasks at once can dramatically cut down on productivity and makes it much harder to hone in on the details that are truly important.

Think of your attention as a spotlight. If you shine that spotlight on one particular area, you can see things very clearly. If you were to try to spread that same amount of light across a large dark room, you might instead only glimpse the shadowy outlines.

Part of knowing how to focus is making the most of the resources you have available. Stop multitasking and instead give your full attention to one thing at a time. It's tough to stay mentally focused when you are ruminating about the past, worrying about the future, or tuned out of the present moment for some other reason.

You have probably heard people talk about the importance of " being present. This notion of being present is also essential for recapturing your mental focus. Staying engaged in the here and now keeps your attention sharp and your mental resources honed in on the details that really matter at a specific point in time.

It may take some time but work on learning to truly live in the moment. You cannot change the past and the future has not happened yet, but what you do today can help you avoid repeating past mistakes and pave a path for a more successful future.

Mindfulness is a hot topic right now, and for good reason. Despite the fact that people have practiced forms of mindfulness meditation for thousands of years, its many health benefits are only recently starting to be understood. In one study, researchers had human resources professionals engage in simulations of the sort of complex multitasking they engaged in each day at work.

These tasks had to be completed in 20 minutes and included answering phones, scheduling meetings, and writing memos with sources of information pouring in from multiple sources including by phone calls, emails, and text messages.

Some of the participants received 8 weeks of training in the use of mindfulness meditation , and the results found that only those who had received this training showed improvement in concentration and focus. Members of the meditation group were able to stay on task longer, switched between tasks less frequently, and performed the work more efficiently than the other groups of participants.

Practicing mindfulness can involve learning how to meditate, but it can also be as simple as trying a quick and easy deep breathing exercise. Start by taking several deep breaths while really focusing on each and every breath.

When you feel your mind naturally begin to wander, gently and uncritically guide your focus back to your deep breathing. While this might seem like a deceptively simple task, you may find that it is actually much more difficult than it appears. Fortunately, this breathing activity is something you can do anywhere and anytime.

Eventually, you will probably find that it becomes easier to disengage from intrusive thoughts and return your focus to where it belongs. Have you ever tried to stay mentally focused on the same thing for a long period of time?

After a while, your focus starts to break down and it becomes more and more difficult to devote your mental resources to the task. Not only that, but your performance ultimately suffers as a result. Traditional explanations in psychology have suggested that this is due to attentional resources being depleted, but some researchers believe that it has more to do with the brain's tendency to ignore sources of constant stimulation.

Researchers have found that even taking very brief breaks by shifting your attention elsewhere can dramatically improve mental focus. So the next time you are working on a prolonged task, such as preparing your taxes or studying for an exam, be sure to give yourself an occasional mental break.

Shift your attention to something unrelated to the task at hand, even if it is only for a few moments. These short moments of respite might mean that you are able to keep your mental focus sharp and your performance high when you really need it.

This is a great way to keep all your tasks organized and when you need to do a task you can focus on it. Meditation has proven to help many with mental clarity and acuity. You can listen to a quick guided meditation or practice different breathing techniques to relax your heartrate and calm your mind.

I find this to be most effective when I am overwhelmed with information. In the heat of it, I close my eyes and do a quick minute meditation and then I am able refocus and prioritize what needs to go first.

Exercise, like meditation is a great way to gain clarity while focusing on the body. Of course, if you are in a meeting or in the middle of the workday it can be difficult to get up and move around.

However, consider taking a five-minute walk when you notice yourself having difficulty to focus. Exercise, boosts endorphins and give you a boost of energy that can help you regain your focus.

Allot time to take a break to get some movement. Active listening is a difficult skill and even more difficult to do when your mind is wandering.

It can be easy to be in a conversation and not provide your full attention. However, you save yourself future conversations or meetings if you actively listen and get all the information you need.

Before a meeting or conversation, take a deep breath and focus in on the conversation at hand to get the most information out of it.

When your mind wanders, bring it back to the clock. Is it boring? Of course. Suggestion: focus on the tip of the moving second hand. Count backward from Count backward by ones. Then try counting backward by seven or any other number that appeals to you.

How far can you get before your mind drifts away? You might strengthen your math skills, too. I personally do this one for sleep relaxation sometimes. Focus on your breathing. Put your focus on your breath and keep it there. See how many breaths or minutes you can maintain your awareness on your breathing before you catch yourself thinking about something else.

This is one of the most common meditation practices. Listen to instrumental music and try to keep your attention on the music. Without lyrics to help keep your brain engaged, your mind will start daydreaming very quickly.

Focus on the notes, the flow, the tempo, or the feeling. Few people can truly concentrate well. You have a huge advantage if you can develop this important skill. There are many reasons why spider dreams may occur, like unresolved feelings or chronic stress.

Learning how to interpret your dream may help you cope. Tornado dreams are manifestations of the subconscious mind that may indicate various interpretations, such as personal fears or major life changes. Work burnout occurs due to chronic stress and other factors, such as long work hours or toxic workplace culture.

But help is available for you to cope. If you dream about someone dying this may occur for various reasons, such as life changes or dealing with grief. But support is available to help you….

Domestic Violence Screening Quiz Emotional Type Quiz Loneliness Quiz Parenting Style Quiz Personality Test Relationship Quiz Stress Test What's Your Sleep Like? Psych Central. Conditions Discover Quizzes Resources. Medically reviewed by Tiffany Taft, PsyD — By Traci Pedersen on November 27, New language Active reading Mindfulness Chess Dual n-back Crosswords Sudoku Go Bridge Recap Engaging in brain exercises, such as completing a sudoku puzzle, enhances cognitive abilities, boosts memory, and promotes overall mental well-being.

Learning a new language. Active reading and note-taking. Mindful breathing meditation. Strategic online chess. Dual n-back training. Crossword puzzles. Anderson J AE, et al. Effects of bilingualism on white matter integrity in older adults.

Role of prefrontal cortex during Sudoku task: fNIRS study. Computerized games versus Crosswords training in mild cognitive impairment. Mind sports: Exploring motivation and use of cognitive strategies in bridge. Does mindfulness-based intervention improve cognitive function?

Impact of note-taking mediums on memory recognition. Cognitive reflection and theory of mind of Go players. Do the benefits of chess instruction transfer to academic and cognitive skills?

A meta-analysis. Dual n-back training improves functional connectivity of the right inferior frontal gyrus at rest. Mindful breath awareness meditation facilitates efficiency gains in brain networks: A steady-state visually evoked potentials study. The game of bridge as an exercise in working memory and reasoning.

The effect of mindfulness-based programs on cognitive function in adults: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Read this next. What Is Neuroplasticity? Medically reviewed by Heidi Moawad, MD. Write it down. You can pick the best avenue for you, whether it is a paper and pen or keeping it in your phone.

Additionally, once you have it written down, remember to refer back to your journal, or phone to check what is on the list. Moreover, organize your list based on the content. This way I keep organized with everything going on and can check each section for exactly what needs to be done.

This is a great way to keep all your tasks organized and when you need to do a task you can focus on it. Meditation has proven to help many with mental clarity and acuity. You can listen to a quick guided meditation or practice different breathing techniques to relax your heartrate and calm your mind.

I find this to be most effective when I am overwhelmed with information. In the heat of it, I close my eyes and do a quick minute meditation and then I am able refocus and prioritize what needs to go first. Exercise, like meditation is a great way to gain clarity while focusing on the body.

Of course, if you are in a meeting or in the middle of the workday it can be difficult to get up and move around. However, consider taking a five-minute walk when you notice yourself having difficulty to focus. Exercise, boosts endorphins and give you a boost of energy that can help you regain your focus.