How to Calm Nervousness Quickly

Almost every individual has found themselves wondering how to calm their nervousness in a certain situation. That’s because everybody experiences nervousness, and feeling nervous is a normal bodily response. While the reasons behind our feelings may be different, the sensations are usually similar: sweaty palms, elevated heart rate, and “butterflies” in the stomach. Although they are responsible for unsolicited changes in the body, stress hormones such as adrenaline are actually designed to help us perform at our best. It is only when these symptoms become disproportionate to the relevant situation or affect our ability to function well that nerves may hinder rather than help.

If you are feeling nervous in a time-sensitive situation and want to keep symptoms of stress at bay, learn how to calm nervousness quickly with these tried and tested suggestions.

Accept Feeling Nervous

If you find yourself wishing you knew how to calm your nervousness, try simply accepting it. Letting the feeling run its course when it arrives can help it to pass more quickly. Ironically, resisting feeling nervous can increase its persistence, and is often what triggers a panic attack. Resistance also stops you addressing the sensation front on, preventing you from exploring new ways to process it. As a result, you may continue to fear its onset.

Breathe

When we are feeling nervous, anxious or stressed, we tend to take quick, shallow breaths. This reinforces the message to the nervous system that the body is under stress and should remain in a fight-or-flight state. If you are exploring how to calm nervousness quickly, focus on your breath.

Long, deep breaths can disrupt the fight-or-flight response and help your system calm down. Once your breathing is more regular, aim for longer exhales than inhales: inhales speed up the heart rate while exhales slow it down. You can also close your eyes and visualize a calm version of yourself as you breathe – the imagery alone can help stop you feeling nervous.

Change Your Position

You can also try switching up what you’re doing if you’re stuck on how to calm your nervousness. If your arms are tightly folded, spread them wide and gently stretch your chest skywards. If you’re sitting still, stand up and move around. Try splashing your face with cold water or, if possible, heading outside for some fresh air. Changing your sensory experience can help your brain and body switch out of the anxiety state.

Redirect Nervous Energy

Those considering how to calm nervousness quickly often try to repress the sensation. However, feeling nervous generates energy that needs to be processed, not supressed. If possible, kick into a short burst of activity, whether that’s washing dishes, jogging on the spot, or shaking out your wrists and hands.

Put a Positive Spin on It

It may sound difficult, but if you’re running out of ideas on how to calm your nervousness, shoot for positivity. In reality, feeling nervous has similar sensations to feeling motivated and excited e.g. an elevated heart rate. Just as football coaches rev up their team before they hit the pitch, try giving your nervous energy a positive slant in the form of an affirming pep talk, with phrases such as “You’ve got this”, “I’m prepared and ready” or “I bet this will be fun”. If you’re struggling to believe it, remind yourself that you’ve likely felt nervous before and no one realized or – even better – you were still praised for doing a great job.

Arrive Early

If applicable to the situation, such as convening for a meeting or a presentation, arrive early. When exploring how to calm nervousness in live time, it helps to take the stress of being late off the table. Familiarizing yourself with your surroundings can help you relax and feel more in control. Have a glass of water on hand too: it will help to both encourage normal breathing and prevent your mouth getting dry.

Practice and Prepare

While this isn’t always possible in time-sensitive circumstances, being well-prepared can help you identify weak spots in your train of thought and give you a mental rehearsal of the actual event ahead of time.

Have Someone You Trust on Hand

A few supportive and non-judgmental words from someone who cares can be a lifeline when you’re feeling nervous. Asking a friend or significant other to be on standby, even if just to shoot you a quick text is an effective addition to your “how to calm nervousness fast” playbook.

While we don’t usually enjoy feeling nervous, remember that it can signify positive things, such as you caring about your job or taking your responsibilities seriously. If you often worry about how to calm nervousness quickly, it may be time to address your overwhelm with a healthcare provider.

by Himanshu Reddy

How to Calm Anxiety

Feeling anxious from time to time is a part of life. Occasional anxiety is a normal response to uncertainty about the future, whether that is in the next few minutes, days, or even months. You could be dreading a serious conversation with someone, feeling stressed about a pending career change, or worrying about finances.

Whatever the source of your stress, if you want to learn how to calm anxiety, there are a number of effective strategies you can try.

Ride Out an Anxiety Attack

Anxiety can lead to panic attacks: sudden episodes of intense fear that cause strong physical reactions despite there being no threat. As frightening as these attacks can be, it’s important not to let them control you. Panic or anxiety attacks always pass, and the goal is to try ride out unpleasant feelings rather than distract from or avoid them. Doing your best to remain in the situation and address the sensation head on teaches you how to calm your anxiety – by discovering that nothing bad is going to happen. As the anxiety passes, focus on your surroundings and get back to what you were doing before.

Remember You Can Still Function Well with Anxiety

When anxious feelings arise, put self-criticism aside and tell yourself that it is okay to feel that way: your nervous system is simply activating in response to your circumstances. Remind yourself that you can perform very well with anxiety, and probably have in the past. When trying to figure out how to calm your anxiety, think back to a previous experience when you were overtly anxious and yet managed to do what you needed to anyway.

Make an Anxiety Appointment

General anxiety can take over your day, getting in the way of work performance and routine tasks. If you don’t know how to calm your anxiety and stressful thoughts are threatening to derail your plans, set aside a 15-minute time slot to address them. This will help keep anxiety from spilling over into the rest of your day while training your brain to put aside negative thoughts until you are ready to handle them.

Get Up if You Can’t Sleep

If you are wide awake in bed wondering how to calm your anxiety, get up. Any time you find yourself battling to sleep for more than 10 minutes, move into another room and write down your worries. Go back to bed when you feel tired, but repeat the process of getting up if your mind is still restless. It may take a few disruptive nights to train your brain, but this move can be an effective strategy for anxiety relief, helping your mind associate your bed with rest not stress.

Take a Social Media Break

If you’re in need of some anxiety relief, put down your phone. Scrolling through social media is not only addictive, it has been regularly shown to increase one’s negative feelings about themselves. It can also be viewed as an unrewarding or unproductive use of time, doubling its undesirable effects. Switch the time you spend viewing other’s lives online to something that brings you more joy, whether that’s reading, dedicating 10 minutes to a skill you’d like to improve, or using your internet browsing more fruitfully, such as watching YouTube cooking tutorials or following educational or inspirational role models.

Avoid Stimulants

Culturally popular stimulants like caffeine and alcohol aren’t for everybody, and they can be particularly harmful for those who don’t know how to calm their anxiety. While alcohol may initially appear to provide some anxiety relief, it has been shown to aggravate symptoms over time.

Take a Cold Shower

Although you may consider the idea unpleasant, many people wanting to know how to calm anxiety are turning to cold therapy. While access to a cold plunge or ice bath may be difficult, you can get the same anxiety relief benefits at home with a cold shower. Research shows this can boost dopamine levels and release endorphins – two chemicals renowned for their mood-boosting abilities.

Burn it Off

Sometimes the question you need to be asking is not how to calm anxiety, but how to burn it off.  Feelings of stress sometimes require a more energetic output. If you’re too wound up for activities like deep breathing, try something high energy such as dancing to loud music, any aerobic exercise, or walking briskly outside in the fresh air.

Share Your Feelings with Someone You Trust

Avoiding unpleasant thoughts can make your symptoms worse. If you’re trying to address how to calm anxiety, talk it over with someone you trust. Also consider psychotherapy, which has a high success rate for those with anxiety disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy has been found to be particularly helpful, and although the benefits require multiple sessions to take effect, individuals often report feeling better after just one.

Almost a fifth of the American population is living with an anxiety disorder. Knowing that your symptoms are both common and normal can help you feel less alone. If your anxiety is long-lasting and affects your day-to-day life, you could have an anxiety disorder. Chat to your healthcare provider about treatment options.

by Himanshu Reddy

8 Strategies for Quick Stress Relief

Society’s stress levels are on the rise, which can keep us from feeling and performing at our best. Not only that: chronic stress also puts us at a higher risk of both mental and physical health problems. There are many tried and tested ways to manage stress, including yoga and meditation, exercise, medication and therapy, to name a few.

However, we aren’t always afforded time to address our stress and need solutions that offer some instant relief. The quick stress relief tips outlined below can help you to stay calm, focused and constructive when you need to take immediate action against stress.

Addressing stress is not a one-size-fits-all solution; you may need to experiment with different techniques and ways to relieve stress to find what works best for you.

Recognize that You’re Stressed

It may seem obvious, but sometimes our stress levels have us running on autopilot and we don’t pause to notice that we’re in a stressed state. Taking a moment to observe ourselves is the first step towards quick stress relief. Look out for tense muscles, a tight stomach, clenched hands or jaw and shallow breathing.

Take 10

Taking regular breaks throughout the day is one of the simpler ways to relieve stress quickly – temporarily resting the mind, shifting our focus and giving the central nervous system a chance to calm down. Breaks as short as 10 minutes have been shown to both provide quick stress relief as well as improve mental health.

Recruit Your Senses

One of the most effective ways to relieve stress in live time is to engage the senses: sight, sound, touch, taste or smell. The senses that have the most beneficial effects will differ person-to-person, so take some time to explore which sensory experiences work best for you. Recruiting sight could include using plants or flowers to brighten up your work space, surrounding yourself with colors that positively stimulate you, or keeping photos of loved ones or happy memories close at hand. Glancing at these in stressful times can have an instantly soothing effect.

Garnering quick stress relief from smell could include lighting a scented candle, using essential oil diffusers or roll-ons, or spritzing your favorite perfume or cologne. Cuddling a pet, massaging your hands or neck, or rolling your feet over a golf ball are different ways to incorporate touch into your quick stress relief strategy. Recruiting sound could include listening to your favorite music or playlists specifically designed to help relax you (such as whale or ocean sounds or binaural beats), or enhancing your work space with wind chimes or a water fountain. When it comes to taste, dark chocolate has been shown to regulate levels of cortisol (our stress hormone), while eating crunchy raw vegetables has a calming effect by creating sensations that draw you out of the mind and into the present.

Chew Gum

Ironically associated with a more casual attitude, chewing gum may help to lower your anxiety or ease stress. Some schools of thought believe the benefits of this quick stress relief strategy come from enhanced blood flow to the brain, while others think it’s engaging the senses with smell, taste and movement that helps you to relax.

Keep Smiling

It turns out the old adage that suggests we “grin and bear it” may in fact be a helpful strategy for quick stress relief. A genuine smile that recruits the muscles around your eyes and mouth has been shown to help reduce the body’s stress responses, regardless of whether or not the smiler feels happy. Once a short-term stressful situation has ended, smiling can also help return your heart rate to normal quicker.

Reboot Your Breathing

The breath is closely linked to our state of wellbeing or stress. Slowing, deepening and regulating the breath during periods of stress can curb the body’s “fight or flight” response, helping you to relax. Try taking deep inhales followed by slow exhales of equal or longer length while mentally or verbally repeating a word or mantra that calms you, such as “relax” or “I am safe”. You could also try yogic pranayama breathing which involves inhaling through one nostril then exhaling out the other.

Write it Down

Jotting down thoughts and feelings can be a powerful emotional outlet and one of the more accessible ways to relieve stress quickly. Regardless of whether you prefer paper and pen or typing on your phone or laptop, channeling your thoughts this way may serve not only as a form of quick stress relief, but as a gatekeeper of your reactions to others as well.

Drip Cold Water on Your Wrists

There are major arteries right underneath the skin of both the wrists and the earlobes. Dropping cold water onto these areas can serve as an effective strategy for quick stress relief.

Hopefully a few of the quick stress relief strategies listed above help you to keep calm in challenging situations. It is important to reach out to a healthcare provider if stress is affecting your daily functioning, impacting your physical or mental health or generating new or unusual symptoms.

by Himanshu Reddy

How to Manage Stress with The 4 A’s

While stress is a part of being human, it’s arguable that today’s fast paced and complex work and home environments have peaked society’s stress levels higher than ever. Learning how to manage stress can help you balance your life better – finding time for work, relationships, leisure and fun and building resilience to hold up better under pressure.

If you are wanting to learn how to manage stress, one of the common ways to reduce stress is to practice the four A’s of stress management: avoid, alter, adapt or accept.

Avoiding Unnecessary Stress

While avoidance is not always a healthy strategy when exploring how to manage stress, there are many unnecessary stressors that can be eliminated simply through avoidance. This could include saying “no” to commitments in your professional or personal life that are going to push you beyond your limits, or reducing the time you spend with individuals who add stress to your life.

Learning how to manage stress through avoidance could also include taking control of your environment: avoiding traveling in peak traffic, switching off the news, or opting for shopping online rather than facing busy and time-consuming stores. This strategy also extends to certain subject matter that upsets you. If you find yourself constantly arguing with a relative over religion or politics, cross those subjects off the conversation list, stick to your game plan when you’re tempted to reengage, and leave the conversation if the topic arises.

Avoidance also extends to extra items on your to-do list. One of the simpler ways to reduce stress includes taking an in-depth look at your list of responsibilities and daily tasks, and getting honest about which items you could put off or eliminate entirely.

Altering Certain Situations

Since we aren’t always able to avoid the things that stress us out, learning how to manage stress may involve making changes in certain situations rather than avoiding them entirely. This could include altering how you respond in specific circumstances i.e. choosing to communicate your concerns with someone who is bothering you versus bottling them up and building resentment. On the contrary, altering a situation could include you choosing to compromise e.g. ceding a third point in an argument if your first two have been accepted. Taking control of your behavior – perhaps by being more assertive or prioritizing work/life balance is another way to alter situations to help reduce stress.

Adapting in the Face of Stress

It is difficult to know how to manage stress if there is no way to change any element of a stressor you are faced with. In these instances, you could try changing your perspective instead. Adapting to circumstances you can’t control might serve you better in the long run. Reframing problems may find you tuning into your favorite podcast during a traffic jam, or realizing that that argument with a stranger will be meaningless in a week’s time. Practicing gratitude is another one of the healthy ways to reduce stress helping you put certain issues into perspective and bring those things you appreciate most into the foreground of your focus.

Adapting to certain stressors may require adjusting your standards as well. If you are a natural perfectionist, being okay with “good enough” may be an important part of learning how to manage your stress better.

Accepting Unchangeable Circumstances

Sometimes, stress is unavoidable, as is the case with a serious illness, a natural disaster or the death of a loved one. While it can be more difficult than it sounds, accepting a tough situation is one of the most powerful ways to reduce stress. Acceptance also requires relinquishing control over the uncontrollable. Relationships and human interactions are primary sources of stress, probably because the behavior of other people is beyond our control. While we aren’t in the driver’s seat when it comes to what others might say or do, we do get to choose how we react.

As hard as it may seem to do in the moment, choosing to look at challenges as opportunities for growth is a powerful strategy for learning how to manage stress. Expressing what you’re going through can also be one of the more helpful ways to reduce stress when there is nothing else within your control. Regularly talking to a trusted friend or therapist may become a helpful habit to build when learning how to manage stress.

It can be difficult to know how to manage stress. If you are feeling overwhelmed, using alcohol or drugs to cope, or having thoughts about hurting yourself, it’s time to seek the help of a healthcare provider. There are a number of different strategies to help you learn how to manage your stress, including medication and natural remedies, such as meditation.

by Himanshu Reddy

Focus at Work: Essential Tips for Staying on Task

Modern life means we are surrounded by distractions: from smartphone notifications and multiple social media streams, to a surplus of unnecessary commitments and a never-ending to-do list. There is always something we should be busy with, and so many distractions pulling our focus from the task in front of us.

This conundrum is made even more challenging when we face it in an open office setting. Spontaneous interactions with colleagues, ringing phones, loud conversations, people moving about, or doors constantly opening and closing can all contribute to more distractions and less productivity.

Here are a handful of strategies to consider if you are exploring how to stay focused in an office without coming off as rude or antisocial to your colleagues.

Benefits of Learning How to Stay Focused in an Office

As with anything that requires effort, the benefits of exploring how to focus better at work serve as an excellent incentive. Some reasons to put a little more energy into your concentration levels in the office include:

Getting More Done in Less Time

Distracted workers are less productive, sometimes losing over two hours a day to interruptions. That could mean more than 10 unproductive hours per week. Simply reducing work hours can be motivating when considering how to focus better at work.

Building Momentum

Uninterrupted time spent on projects is the key to completing them efficiently – or at all. 45 minutes of undisturbed focus is likely to produce more work than 45 minutes of total work time broken up by indulging distractions whenever they crop up. Uninterrupted work could also mean putting smaller, less important daily tasks aside to pursue a higher priority one with more important outcomes.

Reducing Stress and Promoting Better Work/Life Balance

Working less productively means more hours spent on work than is necessary. This may result in work bleeding into your private life, with you taking work home or staying up late to complete tasks. When you finish the work you aimed to complete in the day, you are less likely to feel guilty about clocking off and reduce stress by promoting better work/life balance.

Tips for How to Stay Focused in an Office

Put Aside Time for Your Colleagues

While fellow workers may be one of your biggest distractors, there is also merit to having company in the office. Getting to know your colleagues and interacting regularly provides opportunities for connection, collaboration, humor and support. Mentally block out time each day to catch up and interact with other staff members. This will help you set more realistic deadlines and feel less stressed or rushed for time if a colleague wants to catch up.

Go With the Flow

If you are establishing how to stay focused in an office, dedicate time to observing your circadian rhythms. They dictate the times of day we are most likely to be energetic, focused or drowsy. Pay attention to peaks and dips in your concentration, assigning more important tasks to those hours where you feel the most productive. Digital time trackers can help you observe time spent on the same activity during the morning versus afternoon, helping you deduce when you are at your most efficient.

Align Expectations

Sharing an understanding of office dos and don’ts can help colleagues in a communal space to work more effectively together. Perhaps all team members agree to speak in whispers when a colleague is on the phone, or there is an earbud protocol in place where wearing two earbuds means “do not disturb”, wearing one earbud means “ask before disturbing” and no earbuds in means “I’m free to talk”.

Wear Noise-Cancelling Headphones

When you are in “do not disturb” mode, noise-cancelling headphones can help to drown out distractions – whether you choose to play classical music, white noise, or whatever helps you concentrate best. As discussed above, these can also serve as a visual cue that you don’t want to be interrupted – although you should use them sparingly so as to still promote healthy social dynamics.

Move Around the Office

Even the most open-plan offices are likely to have a few secluded areas for more concentration-heavy work. If you are exploring how to stay focused in an office, ask your boss if you can keep an eye out for an open conference room, semi-private cubicles or even desks that may be free due to absenteeism. If you work in a large company, it can be helpful to move to a different floor of the building, where you presumably know fewer people and are thus less likely to be distracted. You may even request permission to leave the office temporarily to a nearby coffee shop when you are busy with particularly focus-demanding tasks. This is a smaller ask than requesting to work remotely.

Use Your Commute Wisely

Having energy to focus requires taking full advantage of your “off” time. If you have a commute to the office each day, make use of the precious alone time with a consistent “pre-work routine”. Whether it is listening to a podcast, reading a book, planning a holiday or even napping on the train, targeted, routine downtime can help to not only provide you with extra rest, but also condition you to slip into work mode once your commute is complete.

Keep an Organized Work Space

A cluttered space can create a restless mind. When exploring how to stay focused in an office, try freeing your work space from old post, unnecessary office supplies or non-urgent filing. Even if your desk is tidy, remove extra items and create a simple, even slightly boring environment. Too much visual stimulation – even if it is organized and appealing – can contribute to brain fog and lower productivity.

Adjust Your Environment

Learning how to focus better at work requires you to adapt the ergonomics of your chair and desk. Raise or lower your seat so your feet sit flat on the floor or on a foot rest. Ensure your computer screen is slightly below your eye level – computer risers can help if this isn’t the case. Adjust the back support of your chair to sit flush against your lower back (there are portable back supports that can help with this). Reducing stress is an important part of considering how to focus better at work. Plants have been shown to relieve stress in the workplace – so invest in a small houseplant to place on your desk. Try to bring in as much natural light as possible, opening shutters near you if available, or bringing your own overhead LED lamp to work to emulate natural lighting.

Just Start Working and the Brain will Catch Up

You don’t always have to start strong to get stuck into a project. Even if your mind is blank, get started on the task at hand. If, for example, you are writing an article, sit at your desk and begin writing, even if the quality is poor. Simply starting the process can be enough to kick start the brain into focus-mode, regardless of getting off to a bumpy start.

Write Down Other Thoughts and Ideas

Often, a plethora of thoughts, to-dos and ideas crop up while you’re busy with something else. Rather than allowing your brain to follow each thought, simply write all of them down on a nearby notepad. This way, you won’t worry about forgetting them later, but you’ll resist disturbing your concentration to address ideas in live time. If you’re writing up something, the same goes for editing. Rather than disrupting your focus by checking your grammar and spelling as you go, return to editing once the whole body of work is complete.

Improve Your Bedtime Routine

While this obviously doesn’t refer to in-office practices, the standard of other routines in your everyday life can influence your productivity at work. Focus and performance are dependent on sleep quality, and if your office hours are fairly rigid, you will benefit from consistent sleep patterns. If you are considering how to focus better at work, aim for more than seven hours of sleep each night, following the same pre-routine daily to queue the body for sleep.

Stay Active at the Office

If you are office-bound for the majority of the day, chances are you are stationary for hours on end. This can result in energy slumps and poor focus. Incorporate activity into an otherwise sedentary environment: consider sitting on an exercise ball for a few hours at a time; stand up and stretch every 45 minutes; take the stairs where possible; keep a mini-rebounder in your office if space allows, jumping on it between tasks (which proves more effective than a power nap); or keep a pair of dumbbells under your desk to practice bicep curls, weighted lunges or shoulder presses a few times in the day for a surge of blood circulation and concentration reboot.

Have a Focus Mantra

There are certain practices we can instill to bring the mind back to the present each time it wanders. A personal mantra designed to remind you of the task at hand can serve as a useful reset. Each time you find your focus straying, try repeating a statement in your mind, such as “It’s time to keep working on this task” or “Do what you are doing right now”. This can quickly become an effective tool to resume your concentration when working on how to stay focused in an office.

Do the Hardest Task First

Leaving the most challenging task on your to-do list for last encourages procrastination and casts a negative lens over the time leading up to it. Often the hardest part of a project is getting started, so commit to simply beginning the work, even if you don’t complete it. Getting used to knuckling down on unattractive activities is a powerful tool to teach your mind discipline and train it to push through procrastination.

Physically Remove Distractions

It takes willpower to ignore distractions such as smartphone notifications and social media. Rather than using energy to resist temptations, put them out of sight. A smartphone should be placed in a drawer or another room rather than simply set to silent, put your emails into “do not disturb” mode for chunks of time, and try app-blockers to keep you off of distracting platforms for predetermined time periods.

Plan Your Week

Having a game plan of tasks you want to complete will rope the brain’s reward system into your work day, triggering a satisfying release of dopamine after completing work. Take some time at the beginning of the week to realistically map out your responsibilities – there are apps that can help you plan your week, manage your time and knock important items off your to-do list.

If you are exploring how to stay focused in an office, there is also a range of other tools you can recruit, including food, medicine and supplements, that aren’t necessarily specific to working in a communal space. Whether you find yourself zoning out on Zoom call meetings, or working through your email inbox instead of addressing an important deadline, remember that focus is like a muscle: the more you work on exercising it, the more your focus can improve. Give the above tips a try and see if you can train your brain to stick to the task in front of you when you are office-bound.

by Himanshu Reddy

How to Stay Focused on Your Goals

Mental focus is the ability to direct sufficient mental effort to relevant information when needed. It is important for our wellbeing as it allows us to complete relevant tasks, acquire new information, come out on top during competition, and achieve important goals.

Staying focused is often a challenge, but it can be especially difficult when there are perpetual distractions on offer. Today’s world of constant connection means diversions are never more than a few clicks away, and modern society is finding it trickier than ever to stay on task. While this may seem like little more than a nuisance with everyday tasks, how much we are able to stay focused can have larger consequences when it comes to setting and following through on our life goals.

Luckily, focus can be thought of as a mental muscle: the more effort you put in, the more it will improve. If you are wanting to explore how to stay focused on your goals, here are a few strategies that may help.

Assess Your General Focus Levels

Taking time to assess your mental focus can help you to identify whether or not your concentration levels need some improvement. If you find it easy to stay alert, you set goals and break then up into manageable chunks of work, and you take short breaks between tasks, your focus is likely to be good. If you often find yourself daydreaming, you battle to tune out distractions and you regularly lose track of your progress, your focus levels may need work.

Some contributing factors to poor focus could include being hungry, not having enough quality sleep, feeling stressed, worried or anxious, or having too many distractions in your immediate environment. If you find that you are regularly battling to stay engaged in important tasks, there may be an underlying condition contributing to your lack of focus.

Get Into the No-Distraction Zone

No matter the scale of your goals, you need to create an environment and implement daily habits that support you staying focused. Here are a few simple yet effective strategies to support your concentration efforts:

  • Plan your day in advance. Many people start their morning by working through a back log of emails and figuring out which tasks are most important for the day ahead. This is a wasted opportunity to dive into important tasks with a fresh and focused mind. Make a plan for your work day the night before, and enjoy putting your brain to better use right away when you sit down to work in the morning.
  • Create a morning routine that you repeat daily to prime your focus. This could include simple tasks such as making the bed, stretching and preparing coffee, or following a 10-minute meditation and working out.
  • Start the day off with a healthy breakfast of “brain foods”, including a balance of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and healthy fats. Fresh fruit, veggies, nuts and seeds make great snacks between meals. Don’t forget to stay hydrated as well.
  • Ensure you have a quiet area to conduct your work undisturbed. Keep the door to this area closed if possible, and ask loved ones not to disturb you for a certain period of time. If you are in an office environment, try wearing noise-cancelling headphones that not only reduce sound, but also let colleagues know you would not like to be disturbed.
  • Keep your work space and immediate environment uncluttered and as plain as possible.
  • Play calm or ambient instrumental music or white noise that you don’t notice much as you work.
  • Close out of programs or apps on your computer that aren’t essential, and turn off push notifications on your phone. You can block-check emails and important notifications at dedicated times throughout the day between completing tasks.
  • Consider putting a lock on social media. These apps are designed to pull our focus and encourage perpetual browsing. There are a handful of social media blocking apps that keep you locked out for certain lengths of time, helping you stick to the task at hand without the promise of distraction at your fingertips.

Find Out What Motivates You

When considering how to stay focused on your goals, it is helpful to understand the motivators that are most effective for your personality.

Incentive-based motivation involves assigning yourself rewards after reaching certain milestones. E.g. treating yourself to a weekend away after a good month of sales.

Motivation based on achievement would include the possibility of achieving something as a result of your work. E.g. choosing work roles that offer promotions and the opportunity to climb a career ladder.

While fear-based motivation has negative connotations, it can prove effective in helping you to stay on task. E.g. double checking your work due to fear of failure in a new job role. It should not, however, be used as a long-term strategy, as it can lead to unhealthy levels of stress.

Experimenting with different types of motivators can help you to develop an internal drive that keeps you on track towards your goals.

Determine Your “Why”

Learning how to stay focused on your goals involves determining your “why” – why certain projects, tasks, hobbies or habits are important to you – and help to fulfil a bigger picture of what you want for your life.

Aligning your life goals with your core values allows you to experience greater feelings of happiness and fulfilment when you achieve them. Ensuring that your daily responsibilities are connected to your greater purpose therefore provides a powerful internal motivation that is stronger than simply working for a pay check: it is easier to keep working on a project when you are regularly reminded of how it will benefit you in the bigger picture.

Write Down Your Goals

When considering how to stay focused on your goals, it is helpful to have them written down. Not only does this supply you with a visual reminder of your goals that you can regularly revert back to, but it also allows you to formulate a written action plan of how to achieve them.

Setting SMART goals is widely renowned as an effective game plan when exploring how to stay focused on your goals.

SMART goals are:

Specific: Considering your goal in quantifiable or targeted ways will help shine a spotlight on exactly what you want to accomplish. E.g. “I want to get better at running” could be improved to “I’d like to complete a half marathon”.

Measurable: Applying methods that allow you to measure your progress helps to motivate you and keep you accountable.

Achievable: It is important to set realistic goals that you have the resources and time to work towards. E.g. perhaps “I’d like to earn six figures” is not likely in your career trajectory, but “I want to double my salary in two years” is within reach.

Relevant: While you don’t necessarily have to rule out left-field goals (e.g. learning how to play an instrument if you don’t think of yourself as musical), it helps to keep goals aligned with your values, dreams and ambitions to guarantee motivation and fulfilment.

Time-based: Goals that are time-based have specific deadlines. These can be short-term or long-term, and should have realistic milestones that you can adjust as needed.

The next point outlines this in more detail, explaining how to stay focused on your goals by managing your time.

Create a Time-Specific Plan

Creating a to-do list is only the first step in keeping you on track. Time management is a valuable skill that can bolster efficiency. Here are a number of time-relevant strategies to help get you closer to your goals:

  • Do a time audit. Identifying how many hours you spend working, commuting, doing housework or enjoying leisure activities will help you realistically map out how much time you have available to focus on your goals, as well as pinpoint areas you could improve upon. E.g. reducing time spent scrolling through social media while working on a deadline, or pushing dinner back by 30 minutes each evening if you find yourself unproductive after eating.
  • Scheduling your time is one way of guaranteeing that you put appropriate effort into working towards your goal. Blocking out patches of time daily, weekly or monthly to dedicate to specific tasks could help you to better prioritize working on specific goals.
  • Then, consider setting milestones to identify smaller goals that set you on a trajectory towards a larger achievement. These help you stay focused by giving you bite-sized, realistic targets to work on, and provide regular opportunities for feelings of accomplishment that keep you motivated to continue moving forward.
  • Identify the tasks on your to-do list each day that are the most important to make progress towards your goal. Making it a priority to get these tasks out of the way will help you keep your focus and ensure you make daily progress towards your chosen outcome.

Evaluate Your Progress

Periodically reviewing progress made towards your goals offers benefits that are two-fold: it supplies you with a sense of achievement for the tasks you’ve completed so far, reinforcing productive behavior; plus, taking the time to check for weak spots or identify successful strategies helps you to modify your game plan as needed.

Stick With Tasks to Completion

It may sound obvious, but finishing tasks is crucial for working towards your goals. Having a clear idea on what the objective of each task is and what it entails will ensure you keep working towards it. Celebrating every task completion with a reward of some sort, however small, will also provide positive reinforcement to continue working. It also assists with time management, by drawing to your attention the length of time each task takes to complete.

Try a Goal-Tracking App

Technology can help you stay on top of your goals by organizing and automating your workload. Goal-tracking apps can break down ambitious goals into reasonably sized tasks, helping you to methodically work through your to-do list. These types of apps also serve as excellent motivators, reminding you daily about the goals you want to achieve.

Review Your Goals Daily

Perhaps most important of all when exploring how to stay focused on your goals is to ensure you are still passionate about the targets you have set. Regular check-ins will keep you committed to progress, as well as create a habit of putting your goals at the forefront of your mind each day. This helps you prioritize tasks that are aligned with your goals, resist distractions, and keep you alert to relevant opportunities that may further your progress.

Share Your Commitment to Your Goals

Sharing your goals and intentions with others can have a positive effect on your productivity. Telling others what you hope to achieve helps keep you accountable, plus it helps you find and align with others who are chasing similar outcomes. Surrounding yourself with those who motivate or positively influence you can have a supportive effect when considering how to stay focused on your goals.

Get a Mentor (or Many)

With the above in mind, it is important to remember that a support system is essential for bringing your dreams to life. And as much as family, friends and like-minded individuals can bolster your progress and keep you accountable, you will also benefit from the input of mentors or those with advanced skills. Seek out individuals, companies or coaches that offer superior insight or resources to contribute towards your progress.

Visualize the Results

Another key motivator for how to stay focused on your goals is to visualize the outcome. Actively imagining how it will feel to reach your goal – such as how it will benefit you, the level of pride and accomplishment you’ll experience, and the reinforcement of confidence it will give you in your own abilities. Thinking about this outcome serves as ongoing encouragement to keep working, particularly in the face of obstacles or setbacks.

Make it a Mantra

Putting words to your desires serves as a powerful way to hone your focus and prioritize goal-relevant tasks. It will help to add meaning to your actions – giving the task at hand more philosophical clout. It can also help make your goal sound more real and attainable. e.g. “I am going to complete this task and get one day closer to the life of my dreams”. Speaking your goals or mantras aloud is also thought to positively impact your physiology, taking the idea of a goal and bringing it closer to reality. It also acts as a powerful reset if you find your focus waning.

Distractions can range from irritating to dangerous when it comes to following through on important tasks. Taking control of how to stay focused on your goals can have a profound impact on your productivity, happiness and long-term progress. Start small by choosing just a few of the tips discussed above to try out. Making consistent, incremental changes to hone in on your concentration will help you build healthier daily habits that become second-nature over time. In this way, you can start to take more control over your focus and therefore your output, giving more attention to the things that matter and getting closer towards realizing your goals.

by Himanshu Reddy

What is Stress? A Closer Look

Thanks to its emerging presence in daily life, stress has become a modern day buzzword with mostly negative connotations. With its prevalence on the rise, you may find yourself thinking, “What is stress, exactly?” In short bursts, stress can be useful, helping you avoid danger or concentrate on an important deadline. But ongoing stress may be harmful to your health and wellbeing, causing physical ailments such as high blood pressure or heart disease, as well as emotional issues, such as anxiety or unhappiness.

Understanding what causes stress and how it affects you can help with managing it better.

What is Stress?

Stress is the body’s reaction to a challenge or demand. It refers to feelings of emotional or physical tension, and sources of stress could include any thoughts or events that generate feelings of frustration, anger, apprehension or nervousness.

How Long Does Stress Last?

When asking a healthcare practitioner “What is stress?” they may refer to both acute and chronic forms of stress.

Acute: This type of stress occurs within a few minutes or hours of a certain event. It is usually intense and lasts for a short period of time.

Chronic: This type of stress lasts for longer periods of time or may keep recurring. If you are regularly under a lot of pressure or find daily life difficult, this is what stress type you may be experiencing.

Is Stress Normal?

When considering the question, “What is stress?” you may be wondering what stress experiences constitute as normal. Stress is fundamentally a normal human reaction that everyone has from time to time. The human body has been designed to tolerate stress and react to it accordingly. Small amounts of stress can be positive, helping us to complete tasks or feel more energized. However, stress can become problematic when it is very intense or symptoms are ongoing.

There are two commonly acknowledged categories of stress: eustress and distress. Eustress refers to stress that has a positive effect on you, helping energize and motivate you towards making a change. Certain stress responses can help your body to adjust to new situations, or alert you to danger to help you stay safe. Distress, on the other hand, refers to stress that has a negative impact on your wellbeing. This type of stress is usually intense or persistent with no relief.

What Causes Stress?

A natural follow-up question to “What is stress?” is “What causes stress?” There are many circumstances that may contribute to stress, whether it is one larger event or a build-up of smaller issues. Pinpointing what stressors are troubling you may therefore be difficult.

Some contributors may include:

  • Feeling under a lot of pressure
  • Facing big changes in your life e.g. divorce or bereavement
  • Not feeling as if you have control over certain situations
  • Having overwhelming responsibilities
  • Worrying about things/something
  • Experiencing periods of uncertainty
  • Not having enough activities, work or change in your life

What Stress Responses Does the Body Have?

When taking a closer look at what stress is, we need to observe the autonomic nervous system. This is responsible for controlling functions such as your breathing, heart rate and changes in vision. It has a built-in “fight or flight” response that helps the body handle stressful situations. This response is helpful when activated appropriately for short periods of time. However, prolonged activation can lead to wear and tear on the body. And the hormones that the body produces to react to stress may result in negative emotional, behavioral and physical stress symptoms.

Physical stress symptoms include:

  • Chest pain
  • Racing heart
  • Trouble breathing
  • Aches and pains
  • Exhaustion or difficulty sleeping
  • Blurred vision or sore eyes
  • Shaking or trembling
  • Headaches
  • Dizziness
  • Sexual issues
  • Indigestion or heart burn
  • Digestive problems
  • Jaw clenching or muscle tension
  • High blood pressure
  • Feeling sick or nauseous
  • Changes to your menstrual cycle
  • Sweating
  • Rashes or itchy skin
  • Sudden weight loss or gain
  • A weakened immune system
  • Exacerbation of existing physical conditions
  • Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (“broken heart” syndrome)

Emotional stress responses may include:

  • Irritability or impatience
  • Anxiety or depression
  • Panic attacks
  • Feelings of overwhelm
  • Nervousness and fear
  • Racing thoughts
  • Indecision
  • Lack of concentration or brain fog
  • Nail biting
  • General disinterest in life
  • Low sex drive
  • Restlessness
  • Crying or feeling tearful
  • A lack of humor
  • Worry and tension
  • A sense of dread
  • Exacerbation of existing mental conditions
  • Suicidal thoughts

And behavioral symptoms of stress may include:

  • Alcohol abuse
  • Gambling
  • Overeating or developing an eating disorder
  • Compulsive sex, shopping or internet browsing
  • Smoking or drug abuse
  • Lack of exercise or over-exercising
  • Withdrawing from social interactions

When seeking to gain a better understanding of what stress is, it’s important to understand that short patches of stress are normal, but long-term stressors can lead to the emotional, behavioral and physical stress symptoms described above. There are different strategies to help you manage your stress better, including medication, certain products or lifestyle changes, but you should reach out to your doctor if you are feeling overwhelmed by your symptoms.

by Himanshu Reddy

Nerve Pain in Different Parts of the Body

Nerve pain in the body is a characteristic sensation that feels different from other forms of pain. It might feel like a burning, needle-like, or electric pain, often accompanied by symptoms like tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness.

Nerve pain can manifest anywhere in the body, from head to toe. In some cases, it might even affect multiple body parts simultaneously. Below, we will learn how nerve pain can affect different areas and what specific nerve conditions might cause these topical pains.

Understanding nerve pain in the body

Before we dive into nerve pains specific to each body part, let's talk about nerve pain in general.

Our nerves are like a complex network of cables threading through our entire body. Their role is to transfer information like commands, various signals, sensations, and feelings.

Nerves are very sensitive tissues, and even the smallest irritations can lead to nerve problems. The cause of nerve pain might be swollen tissue, a misaligned joint or bone, some growth pressing on or irritating the nerve, or other forms of impingement or pitching. Nerve damage due to a medical condition or physical trauma might also lead to nerve problems.

Nerve pain can manifest in different forms, and doctors use various terms to describe nerve dysfunctions.

Neuralgia is an intense and sharp pain that affects the body alongside the path of a nerve. Radiculopathy refers to nerve damage and radial nerve pain related to the pinching of the nerve roots. Neuropathy is a general term that encompasses various nerve disorders and dysfunctions.

Symptoms of nerve pain

Nerve pain is a characteristic sensation that feels different from other forms of pain. It might feel like an electric shock, a burning sensation, or a pins-and-needles-like, stabbing, or shooting pain.

Other accompanying symptoms might be tingling, numbness, sensitivity to touch, muscle weakness, or loss of balance. In severe cases, paralysis or dysfunction of body parts or organs might also occur.

Nerve pain in the head and neck

Two common conditions that lead to nerve pain in the head and face are occipital neuralgia and trigeminal neuralgia.

Occipital neuralgia causes severe, electric shock-like pain radiating from the base of the skull. Trigeminal neuralgia, on the other hand, affects the trigeminal nerve and results in intense, stabbing pain along the pathways of the face.

Dental issues, like cavities or infections, can also cause nerve pain in the jaw and teeth. Addressing the underlying dental problem is crucial to stopping tooth nerve pain and restoring oral health.

Nerve pain in the neck and shoulders

The most common cause of nerve pain in the neck area is cervical radiculopathy, a condition originating from nerve compression in the neck.

It often leads to radiating pain and discomfort down the shoulders and arms. Symptoms of a pinched nerve in the neck may include tingling, numbness, and weakness in the affected arm. Similarly, a pinched nerve in the shoulder can cause sharp, shooting pain and hinder arm mobility.

Nerve pain in the arms, and hands

Nerve pain in the arm is often the result of nerve compression either in the shoulders, elbows, or wrist. In rare cases, pain can radiate into the arms, resulting from conditions like cervical radiculopathy or spinal stenosis in the neck area.

The symptoms can be nerve pain in the arms or hands, tingling, and even muscle weakness. Damage to the nerves in the hands or fingers can lead to neuropathy, causing symptoms like burning sensations and difficulty with fine motor skills.

A common nerve problem in the wrist is carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), occurring from irritation to the median nerve, causing nerve pain in the hand and forearm.

Nerve pain in the torso and back

Nerve pain in the back or torso may stem from a number of various conditions. The spinal cord is the main pathway for the nervous system running throughout the entire spine. Nerve compression, irritation, or damage to it or the nerve paths stemming from it can cause several issues, including nerve pain.

Spinal stenosis, brachial neuritis, radiculopathies, various neuropathic conditions, and sciatica might all lead to nerve pain in the back.

Nerve pain in the hips, buttocks and pelvis

Nerve pain in and around the hip area is a common experience, especially among the older population. It might stem from conditions like sciatica, spinal stenosis in the lower back, or tailbone problems.

A pinched nerve in the hip or the surrounding areas can lead to nerve pain, tingling, numbness, and, in severe cases, bladder problems or even paralysis.

Nerve pain in the legs and feet

Nerve pain in the leg might not always be a local problem, as it can radiate down from the hip area. Spinal stenosis in the lower back and sciatica can both affect nerve pathways running down the legs.

Morton's neuroma and tarsal tunnel syndrome are two conditions that affect the feet locally. The former causes tissues to thicken in the feet, leading to nerve irritation. The latter means compression of the posterior tibial nerve that runs through the tarsal tunnel.

The symptoms of leg nerve pain might be burning, stabbing, or shooting sensations in the area, accompanied by tingling, numbness, loss of feeling, or muscle weakness.

Nerve pain affecting multiple parts or the entirety of the body

Some nerve conditions go beyond localized discomfort, causing widespread dysfunction across various body parts.

Peripheral neuropathy, a result of nerve damage outside the brain and spinal cord, might cause nerve pain, numbness, and muscle weakness in multiple body parts.

Fibromyalgia, characterized by chronic muscle and joint pain, often triggers migrating nerve discomfort, fatigue, and cognitive challenges. In conditions like multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune disorder affecting the central nervous system, nerve pain can manifest in different body areas due to communication disruptions between the brain and body.

by Himanshu Reddy

Different Types of Pain Management

Pain is the most commonly experienced symptom of thousands of issues within the body, from injuries and diseases to conditions, medications or treatments. In some instances, pain may have no known cause.

A pain management plan is designed by medical professionals to help those seeking pain relief from various types of pain. While pain treatment typically addresses symptoms that are acute, temporary or short-term, pain management usually supports individuals living with chronic, ongoing pain symptoms. The purpose of pain management is to help individuals feel better and improve their quality of life on a daily basis.

Types of Pain

Acute: This refers to sharp, intense pain that is usually the result of injury, such as bone fractures, muscle strains or tears, burns or other accidents. Certain medical conditions or illnesses can induce acute pain, such as appendicitis or kidney stones.

Chronic: Pain that lasts longer than six months is labelled as chronic. This may be caused by disease, untreated injuries, medical conditions such as arthritis, or neuropathy (nerve damage).

Neuropathic: Nervous system issues may cause nerve – or neuropathic – pain, where nerves send pain signals to the brain despite being undamaged. Conditions such as diabetes or HIV may induce this type of pain.

Common Conditions that Cause Pain

  • Back issues and injuries, including sciatica, osteoporosis and herniated disks
  • Muscle and joint injuries such as sprains, tears and frozen shoulder
  • Arthritis, including osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis
  • Headaches and migraines resulting in pain in the head and neck
  • Face and dental issues, including TMD (temporomandibular disorder) or abscessed teeth
  • Chronic pain disorders such as fibromyalgia
  • Organ issues such as kidney stones or urinary tract infections
  • Nerve damage such as carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Reproductive issues, including endometriosis or polycystic ovaries

Pain Management Techniques

Individuals seeking pain relief and needing ongoing pain management must first undergo medical investigation to rule out options for possible treatments or surgical procedures. Medical professionals may recommend a single approach or a combination of several to address your unique pain symptoms.

Medications

Different medications are needed to treat different types of pain, and are usually a vital part of the pain management plan. Acute pain relief can usually be achieved with short-term intake of paracetamol and ibuprofen. More severe or chronic pain may require a doctor’s prescription for higher strength versions of these tablets, anti-inflammatory drugs such as celecoxib or colchin, or even opiate-based options, which provide more pain relief than most other medications.

Due to the side-effects of certain medications, individuals should start on the lowest effective dose of pain relief as possible.

Most medication for pain management is taken in tablet form, although liquid form, suppositories may be recommended as well. A patch for back pain or other types of pain is also often used. Less common are pain injections, such as steroidal injections, which are usually administered in hospital and are rarely prescribed for chronic pain.

Counselling and Therapy

Changing how your mind reacts to physical discomfort can help you manage chronic pain. This can be achieved through cognitive behavioural therapy and biofeedback. Chronic pain may also contribute to feelings of depression or anxiety, which may be supported by counselling, meditation or other types of mind-based therapy. A pain diary may help you identify when pain is better or worse, informing your treatment plan.

Exercise

Movement and exercise in general is important for whole body health, including ongoing mobility and pain management. Specific activities such as Pilates, yoga, swimming or walking may be recommended to help reduce different types of pain, improve posture and enhance general body function. Exercise is also an important component of mental health.

Hands-On Therapy

Treatments such as massage, physical therapy, chiropractic adjustments or acupuncture may serve as helpful forms of pain management, depending on your symptoms.

Lifestyle Adjustments

Looking at health holistically may help individuals to reduce pain symptoms. Staying at a healthy weight, eating a balanced, nutritious diet, staying hydrated, getting enough quality sleep and managing stress levels can all contribute to a helpful chronic pain management plan. It may not always be possible to find total relief from ongoing pain, or it may take a while for pain symptoms to improve. Your medical professional will work together with you to adjust your pain management plan over time to give you the most relief possible.

by Himanshu Reddy

Increase Attention Span: Tips and Strategies for Better Focus

The length of time you manage to stay focused on an activity or object is considered your attention span.

While short attention spans are typically associated with children, the reality is that many adults struggle with attention deficits too. On average, individuals are thought to hold an attention span of just 14 minutes. Individuals check their phones as often as 150 times a day, which is every six to seven minutes of their waking lives. University students have been found to give in to distractions such as social media or texting a mere five minutes into studying. While it’s not unusual to have your mind wander when you should be concentrating on something else, attention spans are at an all-time low.

Just how low they sink depends on the task at hand. A neighbor complaining about a stranger, for example, may not hold your attention as long as a circle of friends talking about their latest news or a gripping action movie.

There are, however, a few measures that can be taken to help improve diminishing concentration.

Why Do We Lose Attention?

In the same way, it is necessary to seek out food and water, the brain is designed to be on the lookout for new information. And just as the body is satisfied with the primitive rewards of eating and drinking, the mind is rewarded by the dopamine system for information-seeking behavior.

This positive reinforcement of discovering novel information means humans are far better at giving in to distractions than they are at completing tasks. From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense: it was more important to realize there was a wild animal nearby than it was to continue with the activity at hand.

Why Are Attention Levels at an All-Time Low?

In today’s fast-paced society, we are overwhelmed with offers of convenience and instant gratification that hinder our ability to stay focused. Constant distractions and the temptation to seek out immediate satisfaction through online shopping or social media constantly bombard us, with attention spans shortening as a result.

Studies of grey matter show that tuning out things that may distract you is also taxing on the brain – it is not a passive process. So not only do you have the challenge of giving enough attention to the task in front of you, but the brain has to extend resources to cancel out the many annoying or tempting distractions around you too.

Chronic stress levels are also soaring, putting us on high alert for threats. Our tendency to seek out new information therefore increases, resulting in loss of focus and decreased attention spans.

Other Causes of Short Attention Spans

A short attention span may sometimes be the result of an underlying physical or mental health condition.

ADHD is a common disorder that is most often recognized in childhood and lasts into adulthood. Those with ADHD typically have difficulty paying attention and controlling their impulses.

Individuals suffering from depression experience persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest in activities previously enjoyed. Along with these, struggling to concentrate and hold attention is a common symptom of depression.

Attention issues are also amongst the most common symptoms in individuals after sustaining a brain injury, from mild bumps and concussions to traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Children and adults with learning disabilities such as dyslexia may have difficulty paying attention alongside their issues with basic learning skills, such as reading or spelling.

Poor diet, lack of exercise, autism spectrum disorder and head injuries can also impact an individual’s ability to concentrate.

Skills Needed to Increase Attention

The ability to lengthen one’s attention span is often correlated with specific skills. The first is your ability to handle boredom, restlessness and other uncomfortable emotions that give you the urgent need to switch tasks. This is closely connected to the second aspect of longer attention spans- patience. Practicing more patience can help prevent boredom, and allows you to sit with a slower pace or more subtlety without craving a quicker or more elevated experience. The ability to take an interest in anything is the third aspect of a longer attention span. The more interest you can show in particular tasks, the longer it will be able to hold your attention.

Benefits to Improving Attention Span

Many people think of their attention span concerning their work or study performance. In reality, the ability to hold your attention affects many areas of your life, from work/life balance and achieving goals to improving friendships and romantic relationships, as well as having more control over your mental and emotional well-being.

When you increase your attention span, you work more effectively in less time, as well as generally support your memory and problem-solving skills which impact all areas of your life. Holding your attention for longer allows you to stay engaged in interactions with friends or romantic partners, contributing to better relationships. When you increase your attention span, you are also able to dedicate more time to your hobbies, boosting proficiency and feelings of satisfaction. The inability to hold attention has also been correlated with anxiety disorders, where more attentional control may assist in the limiting of certain thoughts that contribute to anxiety, helping you to feel better overall.

Instant Strategies to Increase Attention Span

Drink Water

Drinking enough water is critical for your mind and body. Dehydration can worsen your ability to think, including mild dehydration that you may not notice. Dehydration for as little as two hours can negatively affect your ability to focus, so ensure you are drinking plenty of water throughout the day if you are exploring how to increase your attention span.

Chew Gum

Chewing gum appears to improve attention and performance, increase alertness and lower stress – at least in the short term. Rather than the gum itself, the act of chewing produces “mastication-induced arousal”, sending more oxygen to the brain that wakes us up and ensures we are fully focused on the task at hand.

Stay Actively Engaged

If you are struggling to pay attention during lectures or meetings, stay actively engaged by asking questions or taking notes. This helps you keep your mind on the present activity versus allowing it to drift. Jotting down notes during an enjoyable podcast could also keep you more present than simply listening. Taking notes by hand is more effective at increasing attention span than using a laptop or other device, which can provide additional distractions.

Remove Distractions

Our brains use precious resources to resist distractions when trying to stay focused. If you are working on how to increase your attention span, an easy strategy is to remove any possible distractions that may serve as obstacles between you and your concentration. Smartphones are an obvious distraction and can interfere with concentration simply by being in the room, even if on silent.

Batch Check Notifications

Keeping your phone and laptop notifications on silent or disabling them together allows you to check them on your terms. If possible, try batch-checking your emails, texts or social media notifications in allotted slots. Even if you need many slots in one day, it is likely to beat the on-demand checking we usually do every few minutes and buy you more uninterrupted time to increase your attention span.

Strategies to Increase Attention Span Over Time

Extend Time Between Breaks

Many breaks are good for refreshing your concentration between tasks. But if you are exploring how to increase your attention span, you can work to extend the time taken between breaks to slowly lengthen your focus in one sitting.

Do More of What You Do Best

Most individuals naturally have a few activities that fully absorb their concentration e.g. drawing, putting together a piece of furniture, finishing a crossword or building a puzzle. These instances where you feel productive, focused and “in the zone” are known as flow states. Practicing those tasks wherever you can and naturally staying focused for extended periods helps increase attention span overall. When considering how to increase your attention span, you can try working on one of these tasks for 30 minutes and then switching to the activity that requires your attention. This will help you stay in a flow state as you work.

Seek Out Flow State Activities

If you’re not sure what naturally absorbs your attention, there are a few characteristics of activities that may induce a flow state. One of those is high consequences that pose a physical, mental or social risk (e.g. surfing, karaoke or engaging in sensational or vulnerable topics of conversation). Another is engaging in multiple sensory streams at once (e.g. playing a team sport or a dance class with a partner). Activities characterized by a stimulating environment offering complexity, novelty or unpredictability could also induce a flow state (e.g. an immersive art exhibition or live concert), as could particularly creative exercises that require out-the-box thinking, such as brainstorming or problem-solving. Seek out activities that offer one or more of these characteristics if you are exploring how to increase your attention span and want to spend more time in a flow state.

Practice Active Listening

While listening requires us to be silent, it is not a passive act. Failing to listen properly is often a sign of a short attention span. We can improve our listening skills and therefore our focus by practicing active listening.

Rather than thinking about what you’re going to say next, focus intently on what the speaker is saying. This leads to more pauses as you contemplate your answer and more thoughtful responses. Building your empathy in conversation also helps hone your focus and keep your mind in the present. This involves constantly imagining yourself in the person’s position to better understand how they would be feeling, using phrases such as, “If I were you, I imagine I’d be feeling…” You could also try reflective listening, where you reflect sentiments that are shared with you in your own words. This requires you to listen attentively to ensure you have understood, encouraging the brain to focus a little harder than it normally would.

Get Moving

The benefits of exercise extend to all areas of our wellbeing, including our cognitive function and therefore attention span. Exercise has been shown to help improve attention and focus particularly in those with attention deficits, such as people with ADHD. This could include activities as simple as a brisk 30-minute walk taken four or five times a week.

Build Your Meditation Practice

Mindfulness and meditation are highly regarded as a method to improve mental health and function. If you are considering how to improve your attention span, evidence suggests meditation can increase focus, with continued meditation potentially improving sustained attention over time. Building upon a meditation practice by starting with two minutes each day at a time and leading up to 10 minutes or more can similarly help increase attention span incrementally.

Try Extreme Temperatures

Recent trends are giving more attention to age-old practices such as cold plunges and saunas. Part of increasing attention span has to do with improving one’s ability to stay with unpleasant feelings. Cold exposure is thought to stimulate the vagus nerve, which can help to both increase attention span and combat depression. If you don’t have access to a cold pool or plunge, try running a cold bath – even adding ice to it – and see if you can sit in it for two minutes while taking deep breaths. Increase this length over time.

Saunas can help increase levels of two hormones: norepinephrine, which increases focus and helps increase attention span, and prolactin, which helps repair nerve cell damage and improve brain function. Endorphins in the body get a significant boost as well, due to heat stress induced by the sauna. Beginners should start with 5-10 minutes, while more seasoned sauna goers should aim for 15-20 minutes in one sitting.

Listen to Music with Your Eyes Closed

Music is a stimulus that may help or hinder when it comes to concentration. Ambient music is discussed more here, but music can also be used front and centre as a tool to increase attention span. Try listening to music with your eyes closed, starting with one song and focusing on the lyrics and tune rather than letting your mind wander. Increase to more songs daily over a week or more. This will help to improve the length of time you can give your uninterrupted focus on the task at hand.

Work Hard, Play Hard

Concentration can be thought of as a muscle when considering how to increase attention span. Strengthening it requires full exertion followed by total rest. Too much exertion results in burnout, while too little rest equals inadequate recovery. If you are exploring how to improve your attention span, breaking up your time into periods of complete focus followed by dedicated rest can help: knowing there is an upcoming break can help incentivize you to sustain concentration and resist distractions. If preoccupying thoughts or ideas arise during the work block that you don’t want to forget, try jotting them down in a notebook to address later. Periods of full rest could include a 15-minute nap, gazing out the window or engaging in casual conversation.

An inability to concentrate despite the motivation to complete tasks is a common occurrence in modern life. Recognizing the influence poor concentration has on your day-to-day can determine the effort you need to give to improve your attention span. This is an ongoing practice that can be cumulatively built upon over time, allowing you to accomplish more of what’s important to you and simultaneously feel better and more efficient while doing it.

by Himanshu Reddy