Multi-tasking has become the need of the ongoing century.
Due to the increasing number of tasks & expectations to complete everything quickly has hammered the faculties of focus.
Human beings are unable to concentrate on one thing & have formed a habit of mess. Lack of focus on one thing & flickering focus, not only disturbs the output but also have an impact on health.
In this blog, we will explore the methods & insights to strengthen the focus. Focus can be developed like a muscle & it can be mastered by practice, forming a habit to focus naturally.
Here are the best ways to develop focus to succeed in everything :-
Contents
- One thing at a time
- Choosing your focus list
- Listening to sounds
- Alternate Breathing exercise
- Think on one topic for 10 minutes
- Meditation – Focus on third eye
- Counting Breaths
- Play brain games
- Conclusion
One thing at a time
Mind with a default behavior wants to jump from one thought to another.
It is like a money mind jumping from one tree to another. When we don’t pay attention it is free to wander in any possible direction.
Out of 100% thoughts that we think in a day, around 90% to 95% are useless thoughts & are not needed at all.
Mind can be programmed to focus on one thing at a time. As we can train animals like elephants or dogs to act them in a certain way giving them commands similarly we can also train our mind to focus on a certain thing.
Focusing on one thing has many benefits & it is the one thing that is common in every successful person.
Benefits of focusing
- Stop’s the leakage of energy.
- Gives a feeling of satisfaction.
- Increases awareness of the thing that is being done.
- The task becomes more qualitative.
- One can see many aspects & different perspectives.
- Keep’s mind centered & balanced.
- More knowledge of the thing that is being done.
Choosing your focus list
When there is preparation prior to doing then the doing undergoes a perfection & there is no confusion in the mind.
Clarity is necessary & it acts as a manual to the mind.
Mind follows the instructions but if there are no instructions given to him, it gets hung up & remains confused. The most common reason for not focusing is that things are not planned & organized. Focus requires a determined destination so that the journey can begin.
Focus list is the list of items that you will focus on in your day. It is a list of your goals, dreams or work tasks. Dividing the time for every area gives a direction to the mind. When you are at work doing a job, it will be best that you focus on your work task list.
When you are going home after work, you can use the time to focus on your dreams. When you are alone in a room, you can choose to focus on spiritual advancement.
Focus can also be fun & we can also develop the focus by :-
- Playing brain games on mobile. These are available freely on playstore.
- Solving puzzles.
- Making a list of Positive points on any given topic.
- Making a list of solutions for a problem.
- Concentrate your eyes on an object that is in front of you like a door, painting on a wall, or a statue of god.
- Listening to the sound around you.
- Watching the breath.
- Thinking about one thing for 5 to 10 minutes.
Listening to sounds
Our eyes are mostly active & ears are sleeping most of the time.
We use more of our eyes & listen very less. We listen only when it is important or needed, then we close the doors of our ears.
The power of listening remains unexplored because we are not using this power that is available all the time. At any time we can activate the ears & start listening to the sounds.
When ears are active then we can notice that the mind is disappearing.
Alertness of the listening ears brings the focus as a by-product. It also changes the body rhythm because when one is alert his body is unmoving, it is stable, still & focused.
When one is attentive & listening, breathing also changes & a new pattern of breathing can be seen.
Listening to the sounds can be done in many ways :-
- Listen to the sounds around you
- Listen to the audiobooks
- Listen to the music
- Listen to the ticking clock
- Listen to musical instrument
- Listen to the subtle breathing sound
- Listen to mantra
Alternate Breathing exercise
Breathing is an automatic process & we don’t have to do anything to take the breath. Eating, walking, reading, playing, talking or sleeping the breathing process continues with no halts.
Breathing has been going on since we took birth & it will continue till the last moment of our lives. But not everyone breathes the same way, there are different patterns of breathing.
Every emotion in the mind has a pattern of breath connected to it. When one is unfocused & in hurry his breathing will be fast & shallow.
Alternate breathing exercise is a way to change the pattern of breath & take long & deep breaths. We forcefully change the behavior of the breath by practicing this breathing exercise.
In this exercise, one nose is closed & we take deep breaths from another nose. Starting from the left nostril & closing the right nostril, breath has to be taken then the left nostril is closed & to breathe out from the right nostril & then to again take in from right nostril. Breathing has to be done slowly, steadily & in a balanced way.
This creates a rhythmic pattern in the breath & if it is practiced for longer periods then it has an overall impact on the mind.
Alternate breathing exercise will help in following :-
- Increases the focus as an effect of deep breaths.
- Boost the memory.
- Enhances the oxygen supply to the body causing the diseases to dissolve.
- Calms the mind.
- Immune system is strengthened.
- Changes the mindset from lazy to active.
- Feels energized & refreshed.
- Performance improves in physical & mental activities.
Think on one topic for 10 minutes
It is important to understand the reason for un-focusing so that working to improve focus can have a lens of clarity.
Un-focus means one is not able to concentrate on a single thought & random thoughts are going on in the head one after another.
Thoughts are running in all directions with no single destination. Un-focus is related to multiple, focus is related to one.
Training our mind to stay focused on one thought for a prolonged period changes the perspective.
It makes us see the things that were there already but we didn’t see them. Keeping the focus on one topic or thought erases & restricts the useless thoughts.
It is like a security guard that doesn’t allow unwanted people to enter within. If any unwanted people come, he sends them back.
When we focus on one thought the energy patterns in our mind & body are aligned & energy flows in one direction make it powerful.
So to practice this method, one can choose any thought,
- It might be a problem that needs to be solved.
- It might be a fun list to make like your favorite places for a picnic.
- It might be a situation that happened to you today.
- It might be taking out positive things about a person or object.
- It might be your dream.
- It might be planning your day.
Meditation – Focus on third eye
The practice of meditation is an ancient practice & meditation has been used by the spiritual masters to bring awakening.
Meditation is a process of closing the eyes & entering the inner world.
In the inner world, the mind is full of thoughts & more the thoughts, more the un-focus. Meditation is a direct way to enter & watch the thought world.
By watching the thoughts the momentum of the thoughts is disturbed & due to the awareness, thoughts start to disappear.
There are so many meditations available to be done & the result of the meditation is a focused mind.
Focusing on third eye meditation is done by closing the eyes, sitting in a comfortable posture, spine straight & with eyes closed focusing on the third eye.
Third eye is between the two eyes a little bit up & it is vertical. In this meditation, eyes are locked in the third eye, the movement of the eyes is stopped & fixed on one point. This causes the focus to sharpen & flow in one direction.
Thoughts can be seen running in the forehead screen of the mind, they will come & go & your focus on the third eye will remain constant.
Our mind has an energy, it is getting a consistent flow of energy from invisible sources. Mind consumes this energy to think thoughts, the thoughts can be anything good or bad.
When there are more thoughts then there is an energy leakage, disturbed patterns of energy are formed.
Meditation restores all the energy & the consumption of energy is less so the energy is accumulated & the person feels refreshed & focused.
There is a newness in the mind, there is a new enthusiasm & feeling of being born new again.
Counting Breaths
Breathing is a continuous process & there are no breaks for it. It is not like that someone forgets to breathe for 10 minutes & then starts again.
Breathing in & Breathing out is something we have been doing from the first moment of our birth.
It is a beautiful phenomenon that happens automatically without doing any effort consciously. It is available all the time sitting, sleeping, waking, eating, walking, reading, talking, working or playing.
Breaths can be used to enhance the focus, it is the simplest tool to increase the awareness in the present moment.
Enlightened masters also teach the meditation of breathing awareness to their disciples. Just an act of watching the breath resulted in enlightenment for the disciples.
Breathing is something that is real & happening in this moment, on the other hand the mind is unreal & it is always away from the present moment.
Focusing on breath breaks the sleep of mind & brings the attention back into the present moment.
There are 2 ways to do this technique & one can do it as per his own choice.
The first method is to watch the breath coming in & going out. Nothing else remains to be done, just watching the flow of breath is enough to expand the focus. It can be done with eyes closed or with eyes open.
The second method is to count the breaths from 1 to 10. Breath in & Breath out will be 1 circle of breath. After the 10th breath is completed, counting begins from 1 again.
Following the loop for as many times as possible will grow alertness & awareness.
Play brain games
Playing games is always a fun thing & it can be used to increase focus.
Games make it easy to develop the focus because the player gets completely involved in the game. While playing a game, a little distraction & the game over. Games are designed in such a way that will force you to focus completely on the game.
Not all the games are that useful so we have to carefully select the games that will enhance the focus & not just drain our time & energy.
Brain games are good for the brain & there are different types of brain games that improve memory, attention, calculation logic & analysis.
Selecting the appropriate brain game is vital because we need to invest our time in something that will produce results in our daily life.
Apps have lots of brain games mostly available free to use. You can do your research on the games & find out the best one for you.
If you have a weak memory then you can choose memory games, if you lack calculation then you can choose mathematical games, if you have a short span of attention then you can choose to play attention games in the brain category.
After selecting a single or couple of games, the progress has to be tracked on a weekly basis. Playing the game for 2 to 3 sections in a day is enough for daily practice.
Repeating the same game & playing it in loops will develop the brain muscle.
We need to observe in our daily routine if the game is helping your focus or not. For instance, if you are weak at memory & you begin playing memory games for a couple of weeks, did you observe any change in your memory?
A little change can also act as a sign that it is working or not. If it does work then increase the time of playing the game. If it doesn’t help, find another game in the same category.
Some of the Games you will find on Google Play –
- Lumosity: Brain Training
- Brain Training
- Neurobic: 60 Brain Games (My personal favorite game)
- Quick Brain
- NeuroNation
- Memory Training
- Memory Games
Conclusion
You have the tools now to develop the skill of focus & tools will only help when they are used consistently. With every new day of practice helps sharpen the focus to new heights.
Only through practice is the possibility for the outcome. Plan your day & set aside some time in a day to sharpen the focus.
As the mountain peak is only one & there are so many ways to reach it, it will be better to find the best route that suits you.
Choose a method that works best for you & the one you are comfortable with. Trying to do everything may lead to doing nothing. You can only find what is best for you. Choose wisely & take action to reap the benefits.