Exercises to increase concentration

[arithhuh]

Hi All..!

I'm Aditya, 18, from India.

I just wanted to drop by and ask you all if you know any exercises which increase concentration ability, and help build the stamina required to study at high concentration levels for sustained periods of time.

I'm trying out concentration on my breath, and a few exercises I found on the net - counting back from 100 to 1, counting skipping 3 digits (97, 94, 91, 87, etc).

Are there any other concrete exercises which really build your concentration?

Any help or feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and BEst Wishes,
~ Aditya.

[cdn2wheeler]

Neat idea. I have heard of a very similar process, counting backwards from 100 in segments of 7... that is, 100, 93, 86, 79 etc.

Haven't used the process, but it might be worth a try.

There's a page devoted to this here which has some useful stuff. It's focuses on studying but the processes can be applied pretty much anywhere.

[kiosan]

Take a look at your hand for 10 minutes. Look at fingers, skin, observe your hand. If you see that concentration gone away go back to your hand.

[arithhuh]

@ cdn2

Great link cdn!

I luved the "Be here now" technique. Will follow it incessantly from now.

Thnk u soo much.



@ kiosan

Will try the idea out.

Thank you for your prompt response.



As such, I'm trying to meditate everyday for 15 minutes with my concentration on my breath. Also, diet and exercise seem to play a great role in determining my concentration levels (the ease in concentrating), and also in the quality of my sleep.

[eblight]

Hi Aditya,
Hope your meditation practice is going well. If you would like further info on meditation please check my free meditation website Fragrant Heart - Free Guided Meditations
Go well.

[Woohoo]

You might want to reat the book by Theron Q. Dumont "The power of contrentation" you can find it here

NOTE: I haven't read it, it's still on my "waiting to be read list". So if you don't like it dont blame me Anyway you can't beat it's price, it's comletely FREE, so you loose nothing(except your time). But I ran through it and it has some very valuable concepts, which you will hopefully find valuable too.

[stellabeam]

I find physical fitness and a healthy diet increase concentration ability.
Also fresh air!

[Ilya]

Ahh, concentration. The great myth about concentration is that it is something that we do actively. When I was a kid and people told me to "Concentrate!" I felt that I had to do something, like, strain my muscles a little, wrinkle my face and look "concentrated". Of course this can't be farther from the truth. Concentration is a mental state. In western culture it is considered difficult to control mental states, so mastering concentration is considered "hard".
In fact, the value of the concentration state is to be able to keep attention fixed on one object, event, thought or person for prolonged amount of time.
So the problem has two parts - to be able to control attention at all and after that to keep it fixed on something longer than a few seconds.

Controlling attention is a huge topic, I won't go into it now. Keeping attention fixed on something is a popular goal in PD. Lots of people spend a lot of time and effort trying to "learn" it. I find it a little bit amusing, because these people usually can have their attention fixed for hours with great ease.

TV, reading, watching a movie, long commute... in all these and many other situations our attention becomes fixed on something and stays there without any effort from our side. Yes, you can say, that these are wrong and unproductive contexts. People often dismiss the skills they have just because these skills are demonstrated in the "wrong" contexts. Well, we the bosses, we can take the skill out of one context and use it in the other.

The key to the fixed attention is being in the certain state. In a trance state. That is why meditation helps concentration - after the months of training it teaches you to get in a trance state. Of course, driving a car has the very same effect.

So to get into the state of fixed attention is not a problem. The problem is to stay in that state throughout the disturbances. It is hard. For example any sudden and loud noise will attract the attention of the most people. I guess with practice one can learn how to avoid this reaction, but I find that earplugs are a better solution.

Similarly with the other environmental factors - if it is too hot, too cold, too noisy, too many visual distractions it is easier to get rid of all this, than to learn how to ignore it.

Answering the original question, about studying...
Aditya, please note that any prolonged mental work requires some lead-in time. Usually it is estimated as 15 minutes after the last serious interruption.
Serious, means, that your attention has fully switched to another process, not the momentary lapse needed to answer a trivial question. So it is ok to let your mind wonder during this lead-in process. After that you have a good chance to enter the flow state of high productivity. It is a form of trance, where the time distorts and you acquire the resistance to external disturbances. But if the problem is too hard for your current skill level, you might never enter this state, concentration or, not. If this is the case, make a step back, review the previous material, consult someone, to make the task easier.
You can work on your concentration skills if you want, but don't expect it to be the miracle solution to your studying problems
Also you can use reading as a form of meditation. Read for a while untill you are at the zone and then, carefully switch to your studies, while maintaining the mental state. It can help.

[arithhuh]

eblight, wohoo:

Thanks a ton for the resources guys.


stellabeam:

yupp! sure they help hehe.



Ilya:

Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed reply Ilya. I don't expect concentration to be a miracle solution to all my studying problems - I dun't really have any problems actually. I just want to further make efficient, what is already good.

[Ilya]

Originally Posted by arithhuh

Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed reply Ilya. I don't expect concentration to be a miracle solution to all my studying problems - I dun't really have any problems actually. I just want to further make efficient, what is already good.

No problem. If you are successful already, then I'd concentrate (no pun intended) on environmental issues and the lead-in time I've wrote about. Nothing beats uninterrupted work in quite environment in terms of productivity boost. Proven by thousands of software developers.

[Keith]

Is your body supporting your concentration?
I find that when I:
(a) am a healthier weight
(b) am doing regular physical exercise; and
(c) don't eat caffeine and sweets

that my concentration goes up dramatically without any mental exercises.

[4Mind4Life]

Yes I do know many good exercises to improve concentration! Check out my website and click on the category entitled "improve focus." You will find it helpful.

Originally Posted by arithhuh

Hi All..!

I'm Aditya, 18, from India.

I just wanted to drop by and ask you all if you know any exercises which increase concentration ability, and help build the stamina required to study at high concentration levels for sustained periods of time.

I'm trying out concentration on my breath, and a few exercises I found on the net - counting back from 100 to 1, counting skipping 3 digits (97, 94, 91, 87, etc).

Are there any other concrete exercises which really build your concentration?

Any help or feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks and BEst Wishes,
~ Aditya.

[robertanthony]

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