EntranceHow to train memory and attention. Mindfulness exercises - or how not to miss the most important things
Concentration is one of the most important characteristics of human attention. Keep your attention on an object long time- the task, at first glance, is quite simple, but how often do people face the fact that they cannot concentrate on business, conversation, or performing duties. That is why it is very important to develop concentration, including as an adult.
Concentration of attention is a characteristic of human memory and it should be developed together with stability and switching of attention, that is, an integrated approach to the issue of self-improvement. However, we should not forget that concentration of attention greatly depends on the person’s condition. Distracted attention is often observed in people who have not had enough sleep, want to eat, or are under stress.
There are 2 main areas of concentration training.
- Firstly, you should adhere to the principles of a healthy lifestyle. This means proper rest, physical activity, and balanced nutrition.
- Secondly, with the help of special exercises and regular exercises, concentration, stability and switching of attention should be developed.
3 simple test-exercises for concentration
Reflective exercises to develop concentration
Reflection is the conscious management of your attention. Realizing what you need train concentration, you can start the exercises right away.
- Try to ask yourself more often, where is your attention directed? Are there attention scatterers, those objects that “steal” concentration?
- Reflective reading. While reading, try not to be distracted, and as soon as you feel distracted, re-read the passage on which you lost concentration again.
- Reflexive breathing - that is, deep breathing with concentration only on the process of air intake itself. This helps not only to concentrate attention, but also to saturate the brain cells with oxygen.
- Exercise “The surface of the lake” implies that you will imagine an absolutely serene lake with mirror surface. Consider it in your imagination, concentrating on the smallest details.
- Exercise with rosary. The rosary puts thoughts in order, so many people use this item during negotiations, as well as at times when it is necessary to make an important decision.
Of course, these exercises give results, but do not forget that you need to do them every day, devoting about 10-20 minutes to self-development. And then the concentration of attention will increase in about 2 months.
Physical training of attention
Absent-mindedness is very clearly visible to the naked eye. Remember the image of the “absent-minded man from Basseynaya Street”, the hero was constantly unlucky, and all because he could not concentrate. Now imagine the conductor of a symphony orchestra. His movements are refined and unfussy, he is focused on his activity.
Pay attention to your behavior - do you have unnecessary habits that negatively affect the properties of attention? It could be a slouched back, tense muscles, even the habit of scratching your head or other parts of the body can become a distraction that interferes with concentration. To improve concentration, remove distractions, set yourself comfortable conditions and start working only when you are completely relaxed and not distracted by other factors.
Emotional concentration training
Very often, the lack of necessary concentration is explained by the lack of stimulus. It is impossible to force yourself to concentrate on what is not interesting. What if you try to cheat and negotiate with your attention? For example, set yourself the condition that if you concentrate on work on Friday evening, you can go to the cinema on the weekend.
Try to mix interest even in those things that seem boring. Pay attention to curious details, be inspired by even simple everyday tasks, do them with enthusiasm and your concentration will increase, you will find new features of your usual actions that you had not paid attention to before.
Techniques for quickly capturing attention
It often happens that it is difficult for a person to concentrate, but it must be done. If so, try these exercises.
- Divide the action into cycles. For example, you need to sort documents according to a certain criterion. Tell yourself mentally “start”, pick up the document, look at it carefully and decide which pile to send it to. Next, say “stop.” This focus will help you avoid mistakes, and you will quickly concentrate on the task at hand.
- Reception of photographer Sasaki. Creative people tend to have your head in the clouds. Photographer Chris Sasaki decided that every time he noticed that he was distracted, he would mentally say “Attention!”, look around and be clearly aware of what was happening around him and what he was doing.
- Do you feel like your attention is slipping away? This happens during long lectures or tedious seminars. Quickly change your facial expression or posture, so that distraction and drowsiness will disappear.
- Clearly state the purpose for which you need concentration. It's impossible to find something unless you know what you're looking for. Thus, if you need to concentrate on searching for information on the Internet, formulate your request as clearly as possible. You can also break the question into several subtasks.
Why is it difficult to concentrate?
Most often, a person has difficulty concentrating on several objects. That is, concentrating on one event, there are usually no problems; if you complicate the task and add several more objects, the person will have difficulties. It's all about the capacity of short-term memory. Typically it can hold 5 to 7 items at a time.
Psychologist William James concluded that attention is not voluntarily held on any object for more than a couple of seconds. That is, everything that we mean by concentration is an attempt to return thoughts to a specific topic. From this we can conclude that the established rhythm of thinking helps to better concentrate on any objects, and concentration training will not be complete without exercises to develop thinking.
Attention, like memory, can be trained. And if you do this regularly, the results will not slow down. The most important parameters of attention in the process of mastering the art of concentration are concentration and stability, although their identification when performing the most common types of mental work associated with memorization (such as reading, listening, etc.) is rather arbitrary.
Stability of attention cannot be considered in isolation from the degree of expression of a person’s volitional qualities. Only a disciplined person can be the most attentive, who, even in small things, always completes the work he has begun. The need to focus on the material or on any task must be supported by a strong-willed decision. The words “want” and “need” should occupy equal places in the lexicon, and a bias towards “need” is only welcome. Start any work with the most difficult and uninteresting, and leave the easy and interesting for later. The development of attention is greatly facilitated by playing sports, outdoor games, solving crosswords and all kinds of puzzles, chess is especially useful. However, such activities will only be beneficial if they coincide with your interests, desires, abilities and goals. When there is none of this, passive contemplation remains, which will not affect the development of attention in any way. The emotional component plays a large role in the performance of any type of activity, so it is easy to concentrate on work that arouses positive emotions in advance.
Attention training
From time to time, we all have to engage in uninteresting, seemingly tedious and unnecessary mental activity: learning the conjugation of Latin verbs, understanding confusing diagrams drawn up by careless specialists, solving equations with three unknowns, etc. A lot of effort and energy is spent on this work, but the same amount of strength and energy is required to maintain attention. That is why any work that is performed in conditions of voluntary attention is ineffective. Maximum concentration and deep concentration on the material are possible only with post-voluntary attention. In order to move from voluntary attention to post-voluntary attention, you can intensify the work itself or force one of the laws of memory to work - the law of comprehension and interest. However, even in this case, distractions are inevitable. Are they really that harmful?
As it turns out, not all distractions are detrimental to effective and fruitful work. The fact is that deep concentration of attention is necessarily accompanied by stimulation of certain areas of the cerebral cortex. And if you maintain it for a long period of time, fatigue will inevitably occur. Therefore, make it a rule to arrange a short rest for yourself for 5-10 minutes every hour, which will not only not distract you from work, but will also help you concentrate even better. It’s very good if during this break you do a few physical exercise, gymnastics for the eyes, get up from your workplace and walk, in a word, perform some physical actions. However, most of all, unintentional distractions that are not related to this type of activity interfere with the effective work of the mind: extraneous thoughts, experiences, bright objects that attract the eye, loud music, etc. So, an appropriate environment will help to avoid all this. It’s different for everyone: absolute silence, order on the table once and for all, a sharpened pencil for notes, comfortable armchair etc. But besides these external factors, great importance has the mental ability to work in such conditions. This is why some people prefer to work in the library or at home at their desk.
You shouldn’t discount a certain attitude towards work. If you have well-developed imaginative thinking, a technique that Napoleon often used will help you tune in. And he, as you know, was distinguished by his great capacity for work. So imagine what's in your head huge closet with many drawers. Boxes are the types of work that you do in the course of your professional or creative activity: write a report, create a lesson plan, practice scales, prepare for a report, etc. Focus and mentally pull out the box that corresponds to what you are going to do. Then check that all other drawers are well closed and proceed. This simple technique will help you concentrate as much as possible on the work ahead and complete it in the shortest possible time. When creating a working environment, remember that small side stimuli also help to concentrate on the material, so you should not close windows and doors tightly, achieving absolute silence. On the contrary, turn on soft music, open the window to the garden so that you can hear the birds singing, open the window slightly: moderate city noise is an excellent background for intense mental work. Proof of this is the experience of one of the London libraries. To create an ideal environment for working with books, soundproofed areas for readers were equipped. But it soon became clear that the sound vacuum was completely incompatible with work that required deep concentration on the material.
When planning your workday, you must also take into account fluctuations in mental activity.
It has been scientifically established that it reaches its peak at 5, 11, 16, 20 and 24 hours. Consequently, at the same time the maximum concentration of attention is noted.
For efficient work Along with the degree of concentration, the duration of its maintenance is also important. To train it, there are a number of exercises, based, as a rule, on maintaining long-term concentration on one object, the purpose of which is to distract from all extraneous thoughts that are not related to this object.
Exercise 1.
Focus your gaze on the tip of your finger, concentrate completely on it and maintain your attention for 3-4 minutes. At first glance, it seems simple, but in fact, getting rid of extraneous thoughts from your head is not an easy task. For the exercise to be beneficial, it must be performed several times every day.
Exercise 2.
This exercise is a variation of the previous one. However, you should not focus on any part of the body, but, for example, on slow breathing or pauses between its cycles.
Exercise 3.
Good results in concentration are obtained by exercises on consciously transferring attention to some natural objects: a carved maple leaf, pebbles polished by sea water flowing down glass raindrop. Anything will do, as long as it is there small size and to begin with it was located directly in front of the eyes.
Exercise 4.
Instead of natural objects, you can use internal images. The good thing about this exercise is that it does not require a special environment and can be performed anywhere. Imagine, for example, a chessboard on which some insect (small animal) moves. Watch carefully as it slowly crawls from a white square to a black one and so on across the board. At the same time, remember that it is advisable to see the entire board, because the larger the field of view, the more effective the exercise.
Exercise 5.
Psychologists call this exercise “contemplation of a green dot.” Take a page with printed text and place a green dot with a diameter of 1-2 mm in the center. Every evening, before you go to bed, sit at the table, put a page in front of you, a clock next to it and look at the dot for 10 minutes. At the same time, as in the previous exercise, try not to think about anything extraneous, achieving complete concentration on the object. After completing the exercise, go to bed immediately so that the green dot remains the final visual image of your day. It is recommended to perform the exercise for at least 2-3 months.
Exercise 6.
To relieve fatigue after hard work or to rest your eyes, you can practice shifting your concentration from one object to another. Select a certain point in your environment (a small detail of the landscape or interior) and concentrate your attention on it. Then gradually expand your view, taking in the entire the world. After a few minutes, repeat in reverse order to return to the original object.
Exercise 7.
This exercise is aimed at training auditory attention. For 10 minutes, try to listen as carefully as possible to the sounds around you: the speech of a radio announcer, the singing of an artist on TV, the sound of rain outside the window, etc. This training helps us develop the skill of concentrating on sound information, because when we listen to someone -or, then, as a rule, we do something else.
By doing these exercises, you will definitely see how difficult it is to concentrate on stationary, even very simple, objects. And this is not accidental, since the main condition for long-term sustainable concentration is variability, mobility, complexity of the object of attention, which are impossible without active perception, and monotony is tiring. Try another exercise to train sustained attention. Take a book that you know is not interesting to you and start reading it. At the same time, set a goal for yourself - to find something interesting in this book that will expand your horizons, be useful, or simply entertain you.
Training for sustained attention
We have already said that stability is the ability to concentrate attention on the same object for a certain time.
Science has established that attention is subject to involuntary periodic fluctuations, which are observed even with a high degree of stability and concentration. This can be clearly demonstrated using the visual perceptions of dual images. For example, a drawing of a vase on a black background or two profiles on white. After a person begins to perceive both images, attention begins to fluctuate and the person sees alternately the vase and the profiles.
However, these hesitations can be eliminated if, instead of simply looking at an object, you give yourself more difficult task. Let's imagine, for example, an empty room that needs to be furnished: place a large dinner table, place chairs with carved backs around it, hang a chandelier above it, and decorate the walls with beautiful and expensive paintings, etc. So, while you are engaged in design research, your attention will be steady and there will be no hesitation.
Consequently, to maintain stability, external and internal activity of the individual is necessary, that is, after solving one problem, one should set oneself a new one.
Stability of attention is very important for obtaining results in any field of human activity. It is a clear indicator of the depth, duration and strength of a person’s mental activity and characterizes, first of all, people who are passionate, completely dedicated to their work, and able to ignore many distractions.
The level of this stability depends on a number of reasons: the complexity of the material, the difficulty of its perception, the subjective attitude towards it and, finally, also on the individual characteristics of the individual. Below are several exercises that will help you develop stable attention and minimize its fluctuations.
Exercise 1.
Place in front of you a small text taken from a newspaper or magazine, and, looking at each line, cross out one letter in it, for example “o”. Then test yourself and record the number of errors. Repeat this exercise several times with other letters and analyze the results. You can limit its execution to a time frame depending on the size of the text.
Exercise 2.
Write a random column of numbers and add them up in a certain amount of time. Check the result by doing the same exercise again.
Attention distribution training
We talk about the need to distribute attention when we are forced to simultaneously engage in several activities in which it manifests itself in one form or another. For example, we need to type text on a computer while listening to music, or drive a car while talking on mobile phone. Combining several tasks is possible only if one of them does not require special concentration, and the other is a familiar process, brought to the point of automatism.
However, when it comes to mental activity, especially if it is associated with intense memory work, it requires almost 100% concentration. Einstein also drew attention to the fact that a person who is deep in thought usually has a blank expression on his face. And this happens because when the mind is working hard, a person simply does not have enough “strength” to maintain a facial expression appropriate to his type of activity. This is why it is almost impossible to read and write, translate, and have a serious conversation at the same time. In other types of work, attention is involved to a lesser extent. So, for example, when washing floors its concentration is only 9%, when hammering nails - 40%, while driving a car - 60%, and when counting money - 80%. This means that these activities can be combined with other activities that also do not require much concentration.
Exercise 1.
Place 2 sheets of paper in front of you, take a pencil in both hands and write at the same time different words, for example, with your left hand - your name, and with your right hand - your surname.
Exercise 2.
At the same time, count out loud from 1 to 20 and write the same numbers only in reverse order - from 20 to 1. Then repeat the same exercise, but write the numbers in ascending order, and pronounce them in descending order.
Exercise 3.
With both hands at the same time describe different geometric figures: square and circle, triangle and ellipse, etc.
These simple exercises, if performed several times daily for 2-3 months, will help you respond faster to changes in work rhythm and cope with emotional overload; even waking up in the morning will become easier, since the transition from sleep to wakefulness will obey a well-oiled mechanism .
Training to switch attention
Switching attention depends on the nature of the upcoming and previous activities. The more concentration the previous work required, the more complex and interesting it was, the more difficult it is to transfer attention to the upcoming one, the stronger the inhibition effect. The mobility of nervous processes is different for each person, so all people switch from one type of activity to another in different ways.
The rate of change of the object of attention can serve as a kind of test of its state in a specific period of time. To do this, you first need to determine its norm. For several days in the morning, do the following exercise: from any icons (this could be, for example, letters of the Latin alphabet: ZZZZ, WWWW, YYYYY, etc.) quickly draw a row until the first error. The average number of these signs will be considered the norm. Let's assume there are 14 of them. If you perform the same exercise at the end of a busy working day, this figure will be approximately 2 times lower, that is, 7-8 digits. To check whether you and your attention are ready to carry out complex and responsible work, quickly draw a series that is familiar to you, and everything will become clear. Training for switching attention is aimed at 3 main components of this parameter: transferring it from one object to another, highlighting the most important objects, choosing the optimal route of perception.
In order to learn how to quickly switch from one type of activity to another, it is recommended to alternately read two or three different books (close in content), switching from one to another every 15 seconds. Finally, you need to make plans for what you read: one for each book. A sign of the transition from one book to another can be not only a certain period of time, but also the amount of text read, for example, half a page or 1 page.
Increased attention span
Attention span is a very important component of short-term memory. It is known that with a one-time presentation a person can perceive and remember from 5 to 9 objects. This amount was experimentally established by the American psychologist Miller in 1945. The rule he formulated on the basis of this states that the volume of human attention depends not on the amount of perceived data, but on the number of blocks, or pieces of information, the number of which is constant and equal to 7 ± 2. Following this rule, it can be argued that with simultaneous perception, they are equally remembered and 7 letters, and 7 numbers, and 7 words, and 7 ideas. And this means that the most effective method remembering is their encoding.
To increase your attention span, the following exercise is very useful, which is recommended to be performed in 2 stages. First, for literally 1 second, hold your gaze on any object: a person’s face, the facade of a building, a flower, an animal, etc. Then close your eyes and try to reproduce it in your imagination, remembering as much as possible more details. Open your eyes and compare the real object with the imaginary one. When they completely coincide, you can move on to the next stage: during the same period of time, try to remember the objects around you and mentally reproduce them. To have more of them, learn to rationally group them according to some characteristics.
Alternative techniques for developing attention
It is known that lack of attention negatively affects memory performance. There is no attention - there is nothing to record in the brain, therefore, there is nothing to remember. There are many reasons for inattention, but the most common is preoccupation. It is this that gives rise to the fear of forgetting something or not remembering something important and necessary at the right moment. As a result, a person overwhelmed by anxiety cannot concentrate properly and wastes energy and time.
Fear of forgetting is the main reason that causes memory problems. Gradually, under the pressure of repeated failures, a person begins to dramatize the situation, predict (in other words, program) memory lapses. Eventually, the process of remembering becomes painful and often fruitless.
To avoid setbacks caused by unnecessary worry, treat temporary memory lapses as normal, inevitable and passing. Stay calm and don't panic and you will see that after a while it will work again. normal mode like a well-oiled machine.
An attentive person perceives well not only what is happening inside him, but also everything that is happening around him. Inner turmoil, anxiety and concern interfere with the process of perception and many things, sometimes very important, slip away from view. Memory has one very interesting feature: The more effort is made to remember, the less successful it is. This happens because the efforts made are unauthorized interference in the work of attention. For example, a guest, looking at the flowers on your windowsill, suddenly asks the name of one of them. And if you don’t immediately remember it and don’t give an immediate answer, you will most likely be overcome with anxiety, tension will arise in your brain, and the name of the ill-fated flower will completely fly out of your head. And if, instead of straining, you relaxed, the memory, having a slight glitch, would unblock itself and give the correct answer.
Professor Etken, known for his phenomenal memory, said very well about the need to relax in order to activate the memory: “I discovered that the more I try to remember something, the more I need relaxation, and not at all concentration, as everyone usually thinks. At first, of course, it is necessary to concentrate, but as soon as this becomes possible, you need to relax. Very few people do this. Unfortunately, this is not taught in school, where knowledge is acquired only through repetition.”
Below we offer you relaxation exercises that will help you concentrate. The only note: it should not be confused with voltage. Concentration is complete relaxation and receptivity to observation.
Muscle relaxation
Below we will talk about the technique of consistent muscle relaxation. The techniques described are absolutely reliable, do not cause stress and do not require much physical effort. The exercises are aimed only at the muscles of the hands, forearms, legs and face. They should be performed regularly, in combination, in a given sequence, preferably in a closed room, warning your family not to disturb you, that is, you must create an environment of complete privacy around you. The purpose of the exercises is to consistently remove the tone of individual muscle groups until complete relaxation and a feeling of inner freedom.
Starting position: sit on a chair so that you are comfortable, your feet should be completely on the floor, relax. Clothing for classes should be loose, not tight or restrict movement.
Exercise 1.
Extend your legs forward so that your toes are in a straight line with your shins, and tighten the muscles in your feet and calves. Maintain this position for 10 seconds, then suddenly release the tension from the muscles. If the exercise is performed correctly, after this you will notice passive movement a relaxed part of the body, a rush of blood to the muscles and warmth. For 10 seconds, listen to your sensations, maintaining a state of complete relaxation and normal breathing.
Exercise 2.
Press your heels into the floor, lift your foot and try to reach your shin with your fingers without lifting your heel from the floor. Tighten the muscles in your feet and lower legs. Hold this position for 10 seconds, then relax. After 10 seconds, repeat the exercise, remembering to focus your attention on the change between tension and relaxation.
Exercise 3.
Stretch your legs forward and try to reach your shins with your fingers. Tighten your thigh muscles and hold this position for 10 seconds. Then relax and drop your feet to the floor. Feel a rush of warmth to your relaxed muscles.
Exercise 4.
Stretch your legs forward parallel to the floor, try to reach your shins with your fingers, tense the muscles of your feet, legs and thighs. Stay in this position for 10 seconds and relax.
Exercise 5.
Stretch your arms forward parallel to the floor, clench your fists and tense all the arm muscles as much as possible. After 10 seconds, relax and repeat the exercise.
Exercise 6.
Do the same exercise with open palms and splayed fingers.
Exercise 7.
Pull your lips forward and round them, as if you were pronouncing the letter “o”, open your eyes wide, feigning surprise. At the same time, tense the muscles of your face and neck as much as possible. Maintain tension for 10 seconds, then relax and repeat the exercise again after 10 seconds.
Exercise 8.
Smile your widest, while tensing the muscles of your face and neck. Freeze in this position for 10 seconds, then relax and listen to your sensations for 10 seconds.
Muscle relaxation with visualization
Yogis used this exercise to achieve complete relaxation of body and soul. In addition, it can be used to control the degree of relaxation that you achieve during training.
Starting position: lying on your back on the floor or bed, sitting in a chair or on a sofa, the main thing: the position should be comfortable.
Close your eyes and mentally imagine yourself on the seashore or river. Detail the landscape around you: feel the sound of the sea surf or the splash of a river wave, feel the breeze, the gentle warmth of the sun, the smell of exotic flowers, paint the world with the brightest colors without missing out on the smallest details. In other words, paint a picture in your imagination that would bring you into a state of complete peace and tranquility.
When the required state is achieved, relieve the remaining tension in the muscles, following a certain sequence. To do this, silently and rhythmically say the following to yourself: “Relaxing my feet... Relaxing my toes... Relaxing my shins... Relaxing my knees... Relaxing my hips... Relaxing my stomach... Relaxing my chest... Relaxing my arms. .. Relaxing my hands... Relaxing my fingers... Relaxing my neck... Relaxing my face... Relaxing my jaws... Relaxing my mouth... Relaxing my tongue... Relaxing my eyes... Relaxing my eyelids... Relaxing my eyebrows ... I relax my cheeks. I am completely relaxed...”
As a result, tension should be replaced by complete relaxation, and breathing will become smooth and shallow. This exercise does not require special conditions, you can do it both at home and at work. With its help, you can not only activate attention, but also relieve physical discomfort.
Breathing exercises
You can also relax and relieve tension with the help of breathing; to do this, you just need to concentrate and focus all your thoughts on the air you inhale and exhale. It should be slow and rhythmic.
Exercise 1. “Waves”.
Sit on a chair, lower your arms along your body, relax. Take a deep breath through your nose until your lungs are completely filled with air. It should be slow and long. Then exhale just as slowly through your nose until your lungs are completely empty. Try not to tense up and maintain a relaxed state.
Repeat the exercise several times, carefully listening to your lungs and breathing. It should be smooth and rhythmic, like the movement of waves that gently roll over Sandy shore(exhale), then slowly roll back (inhale).
Without losing your rhythm, try to imagine these waves, a sandy beach, the smell of sea water, the cries of seagulls, the cool morning breeze. Attention should be fully concentrated on the details of the landscape drawn in thoughts. If the exercise is performed correctly, after a while you will feel so comfortable that you will hardly force yourself to leave this state.
At first glance, the described exercise is very simple, but it is very effective. Thanks to the gradual adjustment to a measured breathing rhythm, it allows you to very quickly achieve inner peace and complete relaxation. I would especially like to emphasize that it must be done with closed mouth. According to the teachings of yogis, “the mouth is created for kissing and eating.”
And from practice it follows that we breathe through our mouth most often during heavy physical activity, so when relaxing it is more natural to breathe through our nose. Therefore, if you have a stuffy nose, then it is better to refrain from performing this exercise.
Exercise 2. “Balloon”.
It can be considered as a variation of the previous one. By changing the imaginary picture, you move from a soft rhythm to a feeling of floating whenever you want, as if balloon, hold inhaled air as long as possible.
Accept initial position, as in the previous exercise, close your eyes - this will help you concentrate better.
Take a slow, deep breath (through your nose!), counting to 4. Then hold your breath, making sure that your abdominal muscles and larynx are completely relaxed.
Since this action is usually accompanied by tension, to get rid of it, mentally say: “I am gliding softly, in free flight.” Also, try to give yourself the feeling of floating in a vacuum by imagining your lungs balloon bright beautiful color, which you liked so much as a child.
After breathing is restored (not earlier!), repeat the exercise. Try to adhere to a calm, measured rhythm that does not disturb the harmony of free flight. In order for the effect of the exercise to be maximum, it should be performed 5 times 3 times a day. In addition, it is recommended to do it before work that requires great concentration and concentration.
Do you want to quickly develop the ability to concentrate and improve attention? Complex of simple exercises and games will help develop attention and increase concentration.
Attributes of attention that can be improved
1. Preparation.
Before you start the exercises:
1. Relax, take a deep breath and exhale a couple of times.
2. Forget everything. Immerse yourself in the here and now.
When we clear our consciousness, the chaos of thoughts disappears, the mind becomes clearer and more reasonable. Now we are collected and able to quickly respond to any unexpected obstacles that stand in our way. This will help enhance focus and concentration.
2. Exercises to train attention.
- Tell me what color
- Attention table
- Find 5 differences
- find 10 differences
- Cipher
- Track the numbers
- Read the entry
- Other exercises
The methods for developing attention given above are suitable for training concentration for both adults and children.
3. Training concentration in everyday life.
The exercises we offer will allow you increase concentration. The recommendations below are the most in a natural way to strengthen sustainability attention. In order to consolidate the effect of the exercise, we have provided an article attention games that will help you develop your abilities. You can find the games at the bottom of the page.
1. Always be aware. What is happening around you, what you are doing, where you are, what those around you are doing.
2. Simple steps. Try to train yourself to do some actions with the best possible concentration of attention. For example, tying shoelaces, washing dishes, or even moving your feet when walking not as usual - automatically, but as if you were doing something difficult, or as if this was a very important moment in your life.
3. Shifting gaze. Try to run your gaze over objects and their parts, people, parts of the face, clothes - everything you see. Hold for a time from one tenth of a second (approximately) to 1-2 seconds, no more. It is very important that at the moment your gaze stops on an object, you have time to see and realize what you see. You can also do brief analysis things, and then immediately look away. An excellent exercise to use in everyday life. Helps you notice more things, see many details.
4. Installation. Set yourself to look at the object and wait for your attention to increase. When this happens, switch to another item.
5. Notice the hidden. When looking at any objects in life, try to notice what you didn’t notice before: New shapes, squares, circles. New facets, properties.
6. Meditation. The ability to meditate correctly helps in focusing your attention. Read more.
Often in childhood we hear the following phrases: “How inattentive you are!”, “You always ignore everything!”, “You don’t remember anything like old people” and something like that. And due to their young age, for many these phrases sound like a sentence. A person forever remembers that he is incapable of concentrating on anything, that such professions as a machinist, pilot, intelligence officer, surgeon or even programmer do not shine in his life. Because of this, such a teenager’s subconscious choice may fall on the humanities, even if he has good abilities in natural science, technical and mathematical disciplines. This is how one categorical remark from a parent or teacher can affect the fate of a child or student as a whole. After all, a child does not understand that attentiveness is something that can be developed in oneself, and a situation, often momentary, can be turned in one’s favor. A negative assessment from an adult can only concern a specific moment, but the unquestioned authority of an elder can elevate it to an absolute. To the little man there is nothing to oppose, he does not yet have the opportunity to refute comments with reason, and sometimes he is not allowed. But something needs to be done about this, and before you give up on your crankcase because you have “since childhood - sclerosis,” you can turn the situation in the right direction. But first you need to understand whether the concept of mindfulness is static when applied to a specific person and whether it will really be possible to develop it?
What is mindfulness and can it be developed?
Mindfulness is the ability to concentrate thoughts and consciousness on one thing or task. But the task itself may be such that it will not be possible to concentrate on just one thing. For example, a driver concentrates on driving a car, but at the same time he is obliged to monitor the road, the signs placed on it, the markings, other cars and pedestrians. At the same time, he is obliged to remember and follow the traffic rules so as not to act rashly. The driver has to listen to the sound of the engine and monitor the instruments in order to understand the state of his car at the moment. He also has to pay attention to weather conditions that affect the grip of the wheels and the road and the visibility of objects. There is so much that needs to be taken into account at the same time, and a person learns all of this, usually as an adult. Attention needs to be trained, and this can be done not only in childhood, but also as an adult. There are many types of “mental gymnastics” that also force us to be attentive. And such exercises work wonders even with those about whom in childhood they said that they “count crows” or “take information from the ceiling.” A good parent will always find ways to game form teach your child to concentrate on the task at hand. Often even computer games contribute to this, so they should not be prohibited in the house, but choose ones that are useful for training attention. The gameplay will help an adult train attentiveness in the same way as a child. Perhaps children will need less time for this, since they are more open to perception than an already accomplished person. An adult will most likely still have to overcome a psychological barrier if it was once set by parents or school.Top ways to develop your mindfulness
To start developing your attentiveness, it is better to first take a test that will show whether you are actually unable to concentrate, or whether it is just an attitude you received from childhood. It is quite possible that everything is fine with you, but your parents, “out of good intentions,” constantly reminded you that you “messed up something, as always,” or that you are as absent-minded as the hero of Marshak’s poem . By the way, absent-mindedness may just indicate that a person is completely absorbed in some difficult mental task on which he is currently concentrated. It is enough just to remember such a stamp as socks or boots different color on the feet of... a scientist! It turns out that mindfulness is also a relative concept. A student who looks out the window can count all the birds on the tree there or say exactly how many television antennas are on the roof of the opposite house, how many cats usually walk on it, and what color they are. At the same time, he is absolutely not concentrated on what the teacher is explaining. However, this is a reason to check how interesting the teacher is giving the lesson, rather than attributing inattention to the student. If you are still skeptical about your ability to selectively perceive reality, then you need to work on yourself. And this can be done with the help of special exercises and games. And this is not drilling yourself, but quite interesting and exciting activities. Today, the top ways to develop mindfulness include:- special computer games; entertaining games, like “Find 10 differences”; exercises to remember details of the environment or people’s appearance; listening to previously unfamiliar songs and trying to remember the words; training in transferring concentration from external stimuli to work and vice versa.
- a) in an hour; b) in an hour and a half; c) in two hours.
- a) 1 year and 10 years; b) six months and 10.5 years; c) 1 year and 11 years.
- a) 6; b) 12; c) 1.
- a) in the country over which the accident occurred; b) neither in A nor in B; c) each in his own homeland.
- a) cow; b) cat; c) formula.
Answers
The correct answers are hidden under the letter “b”. If you chose these answers in most cases, then you can be congratulated for your good attention. If you were more often inclined to answer “c,” then you are trying to approach questions meaningfully, but you still need to work on your logic of thinking. If most of the answers were under the letter “a,” then most likely you did not think about the task at all. Detailed analysis1. If Vasily took a pill in the doctor’s office, then he will take the next one in half an hour, the third in an hour, and the last one in an hour and a half. 2. If the older brother was 10 years old, and the younger brother was one year old, then they would have a difference of not 10, but 9 years. If the eldest was 11 years old and the youngest was one year old, then together they would be 12 years old. So the option remains: six months + 10.5 years. 3. There is a 28th day in every month. 4. If people survived the accident, then why bury them? 5. Cats are mammals, which means cat milk exists. This is what suits kittens best, and they love it more than the milk of other animals.
Riddles and attentiveness tasks
Attention is not only the memorization of visual images, it is also the perception of information by ear. Since ancient times, different peoples have had riddles, using which they tested not only wit, but auditory memory, as well as the ability to perceive various details by ear. This is exactly the case when you can’t ignore anything if you want to give the correct answer. For example, this riddle:“A flock was flying. Quite small. How many birds were there, and what were they like?!”
Of course, we can say that it has no solution, but if the person guessing it slightly softens the sound “m” in the word “absolutely”, and even plays it up with intonation, then this is what you get: A flock of seven owls was flying - small. How many in were there birds, and what were they? Answer: seven owls. Or this problem with a trick:
“There is a casket under the water, there are 33 pearls in it. The sticky fish liked them, and she stole all but 12. How many pearls were left in the casket?
An inattentive person will indulge in arithmetic and begin to subtract 12 from 33. But it was precisely 12 pearls that remained in the casket, since the fish was unable to capture them.
How to improve attention with special pictures
And yet, a person receives 90% of information through vision. That is why so much attention is paid to pictures to train the ability to concentrate.
- tasks to find as many homogeneous objects as possible in the picture, for example, vases, snowflakes, butterflies or dogs; pictures that allow you to see a 3D image from a certain angle; numbers enclosed in various geometric shapes, written randomly, which you need to find all in order; complex drawn on paper there are labyrinths from which you need to find a way out; a drawing of the room where the crime occurred, in which you need to find as many clues as possible, the number of which is known in advance.
How to become more attentive to detail
This can be achieved through training. Many people are surprised by scenes from detective films, where the detective asks witnesses if they remember the license plate number of the car that left the crime scene. How can you remember this? Not the color of the car, not its make, not the type of body (sedan, station wagon, convertible, etc.) or even the size, namely the number? After all, this is the last thing a person pays attention to in life. So, try to become a reliable witness: learn to pay attention to the license plates of the cars that are parked near your home or the building in which you work. Remember the make of each car, pay attention to who drives it:- a woman or a man; an elderly person or a young lady; what clothes this subject prefers, etc.
Exercises to improve concentration
Scientists paid attention to one phenomenon: the best success in mathematics, writing and reading was observed in children who simultaneously school activities learn to play musical instruments. What's the catch here? After all, a child’s mind is even more loaded if he learns in addition to the usual primary school disciplines also music. When playing an instrument, a person usually uses two hands. On plucked or bowed string instruments, the left hand clamps the frets on the fingerboard, while the right hand actually vibrates the strings - with the fingers, a pick or a bow. But at the same time, the hands act harmoniously. The hemispheres of the brain also work harmoniously. If your plans do not include mastering any musical instrument(and not only strings are suitable, but wind instruments, percussion instruments, etc.), then you can try to draw different figures with both hands at the same time. Left hand(if you are right-handed) you can practice it separately ahead of time if you cannot portray anything with it at all. Now start drawing circles with one hand, and angular shapes with the other: triangles, squares, rhombuses. Do this at the same time. Along the way, when you walk your usual route, you can also train your concentration. You meet a neighbor, remember his name, pay attention to his clothes, note some remarkable object in it, for example, a colorful tie or new handbag. Now mentally make up pairs of words: “Ivan Valerievich - a tie like Lenin’s” or “Praskovya Petrovna - a handbag made of crocodile skin.” Such funny associations will help you remember both the person’s name and his image. If you have a good auditory memory, then read out loud the phone numbers of your friends from your notebook. Do this with your eyes closed. You will see that it is easy for you to remember information that you previously obtained exclusively from a notebook. With good visual memory, you can come up with interesting images for numbers or choose a different color for each of them. Now try to remember the numbers written in notebook. This way you will train both memory and attentiveness.Video on attentiveness
There are many options available today for video sequences containing attentiveness tests. It is especially interesting to test yourself when viewing moving objects. A popular video suggests counting the number of passes a team makes. At the same time, a man appears among the players performing a dance in a bear costume. While the tested individual is counting passes, he does not see this “bear” among the players at all. This is followed by a warning that you need to be careful on the roads and not miss any details. Very instructive! As can be seen from the examples and tests, you can and should work on your attentiveness. There is no need to be timid in the face of imaginary barriers once set by those people whom we considered authoritative for ourselves. It’s not too late to develop as an adult, including learning to be attentive.
The ability to concentrate on any action or object is called concentration. Why is this skill so useful? When working on your main task, you may be distracted by other things (for example, social networks, TVs, phones, animals, doorbells), to which your attention switches.
Target concentration– prevent the owner from switching to “unimportant matters” and performing the necessary task.
Also, the skill is useful not only in work. If you do not have the concentration of attention, then you may not catch the essence of the conversation that is being conducted with you and ask the person again (and maybe more than once).
Concentration of attention a very important and useful skill that will be very useful in work, study, everyday life and simple conversations.
Improved concentration
Concentration is a valuable skill that gives you a good advantage over someone who doesn't have it. And, of course, it will be easier for you both at work and in everyday life.
When loading your brain with the tasks below, remember that you also need to rest and don’t overdo it.
Concentration in children
Working with a child’s concentration is an important activity to avoid problems with learning and memorization.
Exercises for a child need to be done regularly for the best results. Believe me, the result will not keep you waiting.
Another tip: study together with your child. Why? Firstly, the child will follow your example; it is easier for him to repeat than to do something that the parents themselves do not want to do. Secondly, such exercises will not interfere with parents, but on the contrary will give them peace of mind and attention. It's not too much for you, is it?
Place your child in a room, preferably with a monotonous wall. Attach a piece of paper to the wall. Place a dot the size of a fingernail on the piece of paper. Give your child the task of sitting still, looking at the point and thinking about it without looking away. If your child finds it difficult to do the dot exercise, start with a toy. Gradually increase the sitting time, starting with three minutes and up to 20. Remember to work with your child.
Place 3 toys in a row in front of your child. Let him look at them. Then swap the toys and add another toy until the child is looking. And ask them to tell you what has changed. If the child said everything correctly, then you can add another toy and swap them. Start with 3 toys, then gradually add more with each subsequent lesson, but no more than 20 toys.
Prepare a few items. For example, a pen, pencil, eraser with a pattern and a felt-tip pen. Give your child 3 to 5 seconds to memorize and cover with dark material. Then ask your child to tell you what he remembers. If you remember poorly, you can repeat the exercise. With each subsequent lesson, introduce new items and add one at a time.
Game "elephant". Imagine that middle finger- trunk, and the other four - paws. The trunk must not touch the table, and when the elephant walks, it must step on all 4 paws. Let the child try to cope with the task. If this happened successfully, play elephant racing.
Adult concentration
Concentration disorders are possible in both children and adults. Symptoms of the disorder are: inability to concentrate on one thing, as well as focusing on tasks to such an extent that nothing is noticed around; poor self-organization, poor memorization, impulsiveness, nervousness, constant mood swings, inability to motivate oneself, low self-esteem.
We've found that adults can benefit from playing games for kids, too. Check out the following exercises:
Exercises to develop concentration
To begin with, I will tell you about exercises that can be included as daily workouts and performed with pleasure. Such tasks will help save you from absent-mindedness and set you in the right direction.
1. Walk in nature
Walking in nature helps you not to think about anything that cares or excites you, that is, to forget about all the fuss for a while. How is this useful? At this time, the restoration of nervous processes occurs.
Just don’t try to replace it with a walk around the city. Completely different things! In nature or in a park there are no disturbances or irritants, unlike in the city.
The brain needs oxygen! Oxygen nourishes the entire body, it is like fuel for a car. WITH good fuel the car drives smoother, faster and lasts longer. Also with oxygen, the more fresh clean air comes in, the better our brain works, the higher our productivity.
2. Meditate
Meditation deals precisely with focusing attention, that is, positive results will not be long in coming. Soon, after several classes, you will feel that it has become much easier to concentrate on a particular task.
Meditation is beneficial for a person's memory and creativity. In addition to the above, it leads to stress state and helps to increase gray matter in the human brain, which means it has a beneficial effect on the emotional state.
3. Do what you love
Concentration can be affected by better side while doing what you love! Yes, that's true, but why is this so? During such activities, you will not stress (because your favorite) and the mental reservoir will be replenished. You can give an example of games and applications on your phone or any hobby that you can do with ease.
While doing what you love, the flow of thoughts inside your head on topics other than this activity stops, which gives you time to restore your mental and thinking abilities.
4. Don't remember information you don't need
Pay attention only to what is really needed, try to skip all the information noise. The brain is designed very precisely. We remember the most vivid, emotional, intense moments. Try to imagine as clearly as possible everything that you really need.
For better memory, connect as many senses as possible. Sign up for our course if you want to develop excellent memory.
Improving memory and increasing concentration
Many people around the world suffer from attention disorders and poor memory. If you are reading this article, you are definitely looking for a solution for yourself or your loved ones.
Do not think that poor memory and absent-minded attention are an irreparable problem. Training will not take much time, but it must be productive and regular, only in this case you will be able to correct the situation.
Games for concentration and memory
Exercise is good! But you don’t always want to carry them out; you need self-discipline and a strong desire. However, there is a very simple and exciting solution - educational games for brain fitness. These games will not only help solve the issue of motivation, but also perfectly train memory, concentration, attention and many other qualities. And the most interesting thing is that these games keep statistics of achievements, you can beat not only your own records, but also compete with other players :)
Anagrams
Game "Flank task"
The game "Flank Task" is similar to "Space", but it will be a little more difficult. The picture shows a flock of birds, and you will be required to indicate the direction of flight central birds. At first, you may be confused, but then it will be better, because this is already the beginning of the development of attention. Here we go?
Game "Number Reach: Revolution"
Interesting and useful game"Numeric Reach: A Revolution" that will help you improve and develop memory. The essence of the game is that the monitor will display numbers in order, one at a time, which you should remember and then reproduce. Such chains will consist of 4, 5 and even 6 digits. Time is limited. How many points can you score in this game?
Game "2 back"
For memory development I recommend an exercise like the “2 back” game. A sequence of numbers will be displayed on the screen that you will need to remember and then compare the number last card from the previous one. It's powerful memory and brain training, this is an exercise that is available after registration, are you ready? Then go ahead!
Music for concentration
Do you know that music can motivate a person to do various things and complete tasks? What about her ability to concentrate? So, the main thing is to choose the right music that will help you pay full attention to your work.
We offer a selection of musical melodies:
Courses for training concentration
In addition to games, we have interesting courses that will perfectly pump up your brain and improve memory and concentration:
Development of memory and attention in a child 5-10 years old
The course includes 30 lessons with useful tips and exercises for children's development. In every lesson helpful advice, several interesting exercises, an assignment for the lesson and an additional bonus at the end: an educational mini-game from our partner. Course duration: 30 days. The course is useful not only for children, but also for their parents.
Secrets of brain fitness, training memory, attention, thinking, counting
If you want to speed up your brain, improve its functioning, improve your memory, attention, concentration, develop more creativity, perform exciting exercises, train in a playful way and solve interesting problems, then sign up! 30 days of powerful brain fitness are guaranteed to you:)
Super memory in 30 days
As soon as you sign up for this course, you will begin a powerful 30-day training in the development of super-memory and brain pumping. The course contains many exercises that require concentration, which is actively trained and developed as the course progresses.
Within 30 days after subscribing, you will receive interesting exercises and educational games in your email that you can apply in your life.
You will learn to remember everything that may be required in your work or personal life: learn to remember texts, sequences of words, numbers, images, events that happened during the day, week, month and even road maps.
Speed reading in 30 days
Would you like to quickly read books, articles, newsletters, etc. that interest you? If your answer is “yes,” then our course will help you develop speed reading and synchronize both hemispheres of the brain.
With synchronized, joint work of both hemispheres, the brain begins to work many times faster, which opens up much more more possibilities. Attention, concentration, speed of perception intensifies many times over! Using the speed reading techniques from our course you will be able to:
- Learn to read very quickly
- Improve attention and concentration, as they are extremely important when reading quickly
- Read a book a day and finish your work faster
We speed up mental arithmetic, NOT mental arithmetic
Secret and popular techniques and life hacks, suitable even for a child. From the course you will not only learn dozens of techniques for simplified and quick multiplication, addition, multiplication, division, and calculating percentages, but you will also practice them in special tasks and educational games! Mental arithmetic also requires a lot of attention and concentration, which are actively trained when solving interesting problems.
Conclusion
- To fill the gaps in the development of concentration and memory, it is enough to use the exercises, games and tips from our article.
- You can develop and improve memory and attention at any age!
- As it turned out, a simple walk in nature is a big plus.
- By working with children on this topic, you are also working on yourself.
- Study, train, work on yourself!