Have you ever wondered how to increase focus and concentration? Your ability to focus is actually a skill that needs to be practiced. And to make matters worse, the modern world is extremely adept at distracting us! That means if you’re not trying to improve your concentration, then your ability to concentrate is probably getting worse…
How To Practice Focus And Concentration
One of the best ways to practice focus and concentration is with meditation. Wait! Before you get scared away by the idea of meditation, understand that meditation doesn’t have to be fancy. There’s no need for fancy poses or exotic locations to benefit. In fact, the exercise I’m going to share today can be done almost anywhere in almost any position!
All that’s involved in this exercise is counting from 1 to 100. Pretty simple right! There is a catch, however. The goal is to count all the way from 1 to 100 without losing track of the count. So count from start to finish without your mind wandering off to something else.
While this is a very simple exercise, it’s very likely you’ll have a lot of difficulty with it when you first start. There are two things you need to remember. The first is that this is normal. Don’t beat yourself up about it and remember that this is an exercise that requires practice and you will improve over time. The second is that you have to start counting from one again every time you lose count.
Starting over is on the honor system of course. No one’s going to enforce that you start counting again from one when you lose count. You’re in charge here. But also know that by cheating the exercise, you’re only cheating yourself. Patting yourself on the back for reaching 100 when you lost count along the way a dozen times won’t help improve your ability to concentrate.
The Concentration Exercise
Here’s the exercise step-by-step. First off, find a comfortable position. No need to make things more difficult than they need to be. Being comfortable will make it easier for you focus on counting.
Next, I recommend getting a timer and setting it for 5-10 minutes. Some people may not be ready for even 5 minutes. It’s ok if you need to reduce the time and build up to five minutes. In this case, more is not better. Once you can comfortably count from 1 to 100 without interruption you can end the meditation. The timer is there so you don’t have to worry about how long you’ve been meditating and can just focus on counting until the timer goes off.
Now for a really important one… Eliminate potential distractions. Don’t do this with the TV, music, or anything else going on in the background. This can be done later when you’re more advanced, but for now keep it as simple as possible. This goes for your phone too. Put it on airplane mode or in another room, or whatever you need to do to make sure it doesn’t bother you for a few minutes.
Since all that’s out of the way, it’s time to start meditating! Remember, if you lose track start over at 1 and continue until you make it to one hundred uninterrupted or the timer goes off. You can only improve your concentration with regular practice so make sure to do this meditation every day!