Concentration — The Forgotten Skill Of The 21st Century
You Can Practice Concentration Every Minute Of Your Life
If you ask me to name 5 skills which I think every person should master… This one’s definitely gonna make it to the top 3.
Picture this as you read… You’ve just sat down to work at your desk in your office or at home. You look at those files or your laptop, or your books, whatever the case may be. You know your task. But you have so much to complete in a limited time that you just don’t know where to start and what to do…
It happened to me often. Before an examination, half of the time was spent wondering which chapter I should go through first.
Is it the chapter suggested by the teacher? Is it the chapter that I have already studied? Or is it the one that I think I should because there are high chances that most of the questions will be asked from the same? Or perhaps the one that my high-scoring friend suggested me to because he thinks the same?
Well, hold up! Take a deep breath and listen carefully. I’m here to help you. I’ll tell you what you can do in such situations, and the one skill you need to develop if you wanna nail every task in such situations.
With the help of this skill, you’ll be able to complete twice your work in half the time, build better relationships with people in general (and of course, your partner), remember a lot more names, dates, concepts, ideas, etc., and master anything — a language, a skill… Literally anything, quickly and efficiently.
The skill is Concentration. You heard that right, it’s a skill. Which means, it can be developed. I’ll be sharing 3 tips to practice concentration on a regular basis. And no, you do not necessarily have to meditate to increase your concentration. Although, that’d be an excellent practice.
In terms of work, this skill is called Deep Work. It is the ability to work for a prolonged period of time without distraction.
Why Do I Say That It’s A Forgotten Skill?
I can recall me and my friend having lunch on a couch while watching Limitless. I can recall my grandmom, constantly switch between channels to watch two shows at the same time while there’s an ad playing on one channel. I can recall myself, getting distracted by that LinkedIn notification.
And I’m sure… You probably can recall some similar moments too.
What Has Happened To Us?
In short, we’ve screwed our ability to concentrate. We’ve played with our ability to focus on something for a period of time. We’ve messed up the healthy dopamine levels in our brain, by constantly craving for gratification.
And it’s not completely our fault. Technology has its own pros and cons. We’ve been brought up playing computer games. Today, the kids are growing up playing on PS 5. Our children will grow up playing with far more advanced technological gadgets from childhood.
They’ll experience far more distractions than we do. So, they’ll have a harder time focusing on one thing than we do.
The Only Way Out?
Work on your patience. Work on your concentration. Work on your emotions. And there’s a way that you can practice all of these at the same time.
The way:
Develop the habit of focusing only on your current work. Train yourself to enjoy doing only one task at a time. Eat your food when you eat your food. No Television. Complete your homework while doing so. No listening to Selena Gomez at the same time. When you have a conversation with someone, pay attention to what the other person says. Do not think of anything else.
So while studying for your exams. Focus on completing one topic at a time. Do not jump on to any other chapter until and unless you’re done with the current one.
Reduce the no. of breaks that you take. Eventually, reduce the duration of your breaks. Long durations break your flow of work.
Push yourself a little harder every time. The best way to do this is to journal your progress. Take note of the duration you’re being able to concentrate without giving into any distraction. Push yourself to concentrate on your task for at least half a minute more the next time.
Thanks to Improvement Pill’s video on YouTube for this tip. The name of the video is How To Stay Focused Longer.
That’s all for now.
Thanks for reading. Have a great day!
