It's so easy to get distracted these days – everything from feeling hungry to worrying about a problem to background noise can cause us to stop paying attention. These five  tips can help you to improve your focus. Try them!

  1. Meditate. Meditation seeks to train attention and to do so without judgment.
  2. Go Outside. When your attention becomes fuzzy, stop what you are doing and go outside. Take five minutes to simply notice. What do you observe? What draws your attention? Take some full, quiet breaths.
  3. Be still. Be steadfast and immovable, like a mountain. The focus required to maintain a posture and ignore messages to move from your body will improve your concentration and bring about calmness over time.
  4. Put Your Phone Down. Leave the phone alone. Multitasking interferes with the ability to concentrate. Constantly checking your phone for an update on the news or to see if you have new messages is disruptive. Can you put your phone in another location for a period of time?
  5. Practice attentive listening. Being focused is not just for cognitive endeavors—it is an essential interpersonal skill. Let yourself be fully present with a friend or a loved one. Not only does this develop the relationship and build rapport and intimacy but completely focusing on someone else further develops the ability to concentrate.

Guest post by studio BE Facilitator Barbaranne Branca, Ph.D.

Barbaranne Branca PhD ABN CMT CZT is a board-certified neuropsychologist, certified mindfulness meditation teacher, certified Zentangle (meditative drawing) teacher, an artist, and a poet..