Image Credit: Pexels
{This is a collaborative post}
Focus is a metaphorical muscle that you can train like any other, but it does take practice and patience to get there. It’s also important to know the various means by which focus can be altered and impacted negatively, such as by watching too many short-form videos online or letting yourself become distracted.
However, focus issues aren’t always your own fault. Our world is busy and noisy, and can have many influential factors demanding our attention at all times. For this reason, you may find that your focus has somewhat atrophied over time, and it’s causing you difficulty as you try to contend with all of your daily responsibilities, such as working and raising a family, as well as maintaining a lovely home.
An unfocused mind can feel uncomfortable and distracted, while focus often feels good, attentive, and present. If you do struggle to focus, consider this:
Try Dedicating Yourself To Reading Once More
Reading builds focus. Not just fiction counts though, if you’re looking to get back into the habit, anything that holds your attention and keeps your eyes on the page for longer than a few minutes is a good place to start, as reading forces your mind to slow down and stay with a single train of thought, which makes it a great habit for sharpening focus again. Just ten or fifteen minutes each day can help train your brain to settle much more than it has, especially if you read a chapter in the morning or before you go to bed. Over time, this becomes more natural, and you’ll start to notice that holding attention in other areas of your life gets easier too.
Consider Any Adult Assessments
Now, you might find that your focus and irritable distraction have always been a challenge for you. If you’re an adult, otherwise healthy, and it seems to interfere with everyday life in ways that others don’t really seem to experience, then it might be worth speaking to a professional. Getting an ADHD assessment can feel like a big step and an admission, but it can also be a really useful one. It can feel utterly rewarding to have an actual diagnosis, though this isn’t something that happens in a day. Starting the process as soon as you recognise there may be an underlying cause to your focus issues is a really good idea, and this kind of support isn’t just for kids. As such, a growing number of adults are now seeking clarity on focus issues, and rates of diagnosis are going up, but that means they can be better treated.
Limit Social Media & Screen Use
Scrolling is easy and addictive, and if you find yourself scrolling short-form videos, YouTube content or social media feeds, that kind of behaviour chips away at your ability to concentrate, and it’s easy to carry that jumpy mindset into the rest of your life. If you’re always switching tabs or checking your phone, your brain never really gets the chance to settle and focus on what’s in front of it, which we all used to do with no issue. Set a few gentle limits here, like no phone in bed or keeping one or two apps off your home screen. It can really help.
With this advice, we hope you can feel more confident when learning to focus.
