We will often distract ourselves, as we lose focus on what we need to do, which is usually some type of urgent work. It’s the human condition to avoid focusing on the things we need to get done right now, usually immediately, as procrastination overrules.
Productivity then begins to slide, the task doesn’t get completed, the report isn’t written, the household chores not done. Blame this on loafing.
You’re wanting to read that book, but your mind constantly wanders back and forth while getting distracted, thinking about a comment someone made on Facebook.
You desperately need to write something, but that tiny ever persistent voice in the back of your head, interferes and convinces you to check your phone.
The Task At Hand
Think of how much more productive you can become, once you dedicate complete focus on whatever you’re doing, rather than your mind wandering.
There has to be an effective method, a better structure of training yourself to focus better when you need to.
Learning this would then make you a lot more effective and efficient, allowing you to control your thinking a lot better.
Tricks To Training Your Mind To Perform Better
There is a method, a way of influencing your motivation, which improves performance when it comes to thinking of doing and completing certain tasks.
This training behaviour adopts elements of meditation, which helps you become a lot more aware of what your thought patterns are.
You can do so by doing certain mental exercises such as concentrating on an isolated taste or smell, for instance.
You are then able to recognize how other thoughts are able to intrude on your own current experiences.
The training helps you to learn how you can avoid suppressing thoughts actively, which can make it less likely to have those unwanted thoughts filtering in.
A Controlled Study On Training The Mind
A study involved two groups of University students, which were randomly assigned to perform a task.
The first group was placed in a 2 week mind training program for better focus. The other group was placed in a better nutrition and healthier eating program.
These students were given the same analysis test, before each of their respective programs, and another test after the program.
The pre-test was a standard reading comprehension test, along with what’s known as a working memory test.
Using Working Memory
What working memory refers to is the amount of information you use, which is local in short term memory, at the present moment while still in the process of thinking.
The more your mind begins to wander randomly, the less this “working memory” you have, to focus on the immediate task you need to do.
During the testing, the participants were asked questions such as if their mind was wandering, while during the testing period. Some were also interrupted at random.
They were asked if they were thinking and concentrating on the test, or if they were having other thoughts which were completely unrelated to what they were working on.
Two Different Tests Two Different Results
The participants who were given the nutrition testing, displayed no actual or reliable difference when it came to their performance on either test.
There wasn’t any measurable difference, from the beginning to the end of the entire testing period during the study.
The frequency of mind-wandering thoughts appeared to not change at all.
The participants who did the mind training program showed improvement, on both the reading comprehension as well as the working memory tests. The mind wandering also decreased.
The tests which were based on statistics demonstrated the improvement in the actual scores, were related to the decrease in the mind actually wandering.
Is It All In The Mind
So what this testing and research suggested and solved, was when it comes to thinking more efficiently, you yourself may be your own worst enemy.
The difficulties which you may have when it comes to concentrating, can have a direct impact on your ability to be able to learn information along with solving new problems.
The ability for you to focus properly, is usually affected by a few factors. It begins with the busy information environment which you find yourself in.
These interruptions can be continuous and repeated from interference’s such as: email, smartphones, texting, and the Internet.
All of these influences can draw attention from what you’re attempting to accomplish.
Also, when your mind does begin to wander, it also affects your thinking process.
Mindfulness Training Methods
Any direct training on mindfulness, similar to the one in the controlled classroom setting, is just one component in an entire set of programs, which will help you concentrate better.
What this training does is it helps you in learning more about your own thinking patterns, which will ultimately help you to sustain and control your attention.
In addition, what you also need to do is spend more time controlling your immediate environment.
When you have difficult work you need to do, just shut off your email and place your smartphone out of sight and mind.
Begin by removing all of the mental distractions from your immediate environment, which will help you focus better.
The less your mind wanders randomly, the more effective you’ll be able to think and focus in the direct moment, to complete your tasks at hand more efficiently.