hey there everybody and welcome to this brief video on improving your
attention span i'm your host dr donnelly snipes
a lot of people have asked me for tips to broaden their attention span and it's important to
recognize that for the average adult your tension span is probably anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes
so cut yourself some slack if you're not able to focus for two hours consistently well not many
people are that doesn't mean you can't work on expanding your attention span but be realistic
about where you're starting from compared to where other people are so some tips that can help
most people eliminate distractions the first one we'll talk about are physical distractions if you
are hungry if you're in pain if your legs falling asleep if you've got a pee or if you're tired you
are likely going to have more difficulty focusing on things than if you didn't have those issues
so plan pay attention periodically for example when you're working take breaks so you can stretch
your shoulders you can stretch your back you can get up and walk around for a second you can go to
the bathroom and then you can sit down for another period of focused attention cognitive distractions
are those thoughts that just come in and interrupt your train of thought you're working on a project
for work and all of a sudden you remember oh i need to remember to get cat litter on the way home
all right it happens to the best of us keep a notepad by whatever you're working on
so you can jot that down that way you don't have to remember to remember to get the cat litter
just jot it down so it's out there you're getting that thought out of your head and onto paper
that's one technique through meditation which we're going to talk about on the next slide you
can also learn to control some of those thoughts and keep your mind from wandering quite as much
but for now you know one of the easiest ways is to just keep a pad of paper next to you so you can
jot down some of those things that pop into your head so you don't have to try to remember them
environmental distractions are probably the biggest distractions that people experience and
sights can be whatever that catches your attention out of the corner of your eye whether it's your
dog walking by or a bird or somebody person walking by that can distract your attention from
what you're focused on so you may need to be in an environment that is more controlled smells can
also impact our ability to focus some essential oils can help you focus a little bit more
but other essential oils may tend to cause more relaxation and make it more difficult to focus
and then there are also just other smells noxious smells like somebody who stinks or if your dog
sitting next to you and passes gas might make it a little bit difficult to maintain focus on the
other hand things like the smell of coffee or pizza or well i get distracted by food really
easily if you couldn't tell but those can be distracting so i may arrange my study environment
so i am not subject to those things i may study in the library instead of at my favorite coffee shop
sounds can distract people you can manage those sounds either through noise canceling headphones
through putting on headphones and listening to classical music if you prefer that through ear
ear plugs or just turning off extraneous sounds in your environment you know turn off the tv
turn off the radio and tv and phone turn those off you know
those can distract your attention very easily your brain can only process so much input at one time
and if it's got multiple verbal signals coming in it's going to jump between them a lot of times so
turning off things that are not what you want to focus on can be helpful
along with that turn off those annoying pop-up notifications if you're working on a computer
those tend to distract and waste a whole lot of time because you may be working and really
in a groove and then all of a sudden you get a pop-up about an email and that takes your
attention away it's kind of like those cognitions those thoughts that just pop into your head
those pop-up notifications even if you don't go handle the email it took you out of your zone
and it's going to take you some time to get back into your zone turn off those pop-up notifications
and figure out okay when am i going to check my email for me i check my email first thing in the
morning and right before i go home but i don't have the notifications on during the day because
i need to be able to focus i'm not one of those people who does well with interruptions i do much
better if i have an entire day that's interruption free that i can just sit down and write
focus on one task at a time instead of putting all your books or whatever it is on the table
and saying all right i need to study set small goals chunk what you've got to do and focus on
one task at a time so sit down and say all right i need to get through sections one through three
of my biology chapter okay that is something that is doable probably in under 30 minutes
once you've done that task you can check it off and mark it off your list
that increases your dopamine that increases your norepinephrine and increases your motivation
and it helps you see small progress but it helps you see progress nonetheless focusing on one task
at a time also helps you know where you need to be paying attention if i come in and i sit
down at my desk in the morning and i say okay i need to do my work well what should i start with
it's much easier if i have a list of what things i need to do and i focus on them one at a time
email first and then social networking and then this and then that so i can get it done instead
of trying to jump back and forth between them increase your motivation for the task
think to yourself these tasks that i am trying to focus my attention on by getting this project done
for my boss or focusing on this biology chapter or even focusing my attention while i'm at the gym
whatever it is i'm trying to focus my attention on by focusing on this task and getting it done
and done right the first time how is it going to help me sleep better how is it going to improve
my energy to not be worrying about it how is it going to help me feel happier to have it
done how is it going to make sense and help me clear my head so i can focus on other things
how is it potentially going to improve my relationships with others when i'm not distracted
and stressed out about all the stuff that i still have to do or not being able to focus
work during your time of the day not everybody's in a morning person like me
know when you are most alert and when it's easiest for you to focus whether that is in
the morning or in the evening and try to arrange your schedule so you can work during those times
recognize your vulnerabilities and this kind of goes along with eliminating distractions
but not every day is going to be an a day some days you get up and you're sick your allergies are
acting up you didn't sleep well you're just grumpy something else is going on in your life that's
causing distress whatever the cases may be if you are not feeling a hundred percent it's going to
be harder to focus because whatever it is that's causing your distress your brain is programmed
to pay more attention to that it's programmed to say hey we need to focus over here not on
you know getting your notes done for today so cut yourself some slack and on those days
recognize you may need to pay more attention to some of the things we've already talked about
if you're having a day where it's difficult to focus you may need to really double down
on eliminating those distractions and setting those small goals so you can trudge through
and get the must-dos done for that day your first journaling prompt
i will know when i've improved my attention span when what does that look like for you
what is going to let you know that you have a better attention span and why do you want to do it
i don't often suggest caffeine but the research is pretty undeniable that caffeine
counters adenosine which is the chemical that causes you to feel sleepy and increases
norepinephrine and dopamine which are two chemicals that help you focus and pay attention
but i have an italics here a little bit because a little bit can you know give you the boost
that can be helpful if you're not overly sensitive to it but too much whatever that means for you
can actually put you into an anxiety state and hyper activate your threat response system so
you can't focus so you don't want to have so much caffeine that you're jittery that you're
feeling kind of high strong but a little bit like a cup of green tea may be helpful for some people
exercise has been repeatedly found to increase norepinephrine to increase dopamine to increase
serotonin all of which are helpful for focusing and to increase oxygenation
you're getting more oxygen to your brain you're fueling it you're supercharging it
which has been shown to increase attention practice meditation or mindfulness
in our culture a lot of times we're taught to focus on multiple things at the same time
or we're not taught to focus on just one thing in the moment so it's important to hone that skill
just like you train yourself to lift weights you're going to need to train your brain to focus
on one thing at a time and meditation or mindfulness meditation can be really helpful
at this to help you increase your attention span when those other thoughts aren't bombarding you
get enough quality sleep when you're sleepy you have too much adenosine in your in your
brain and it's going to be hard to focus that also means it doesn't mean just being in bed
for a certain number of hours the emphasis is on quality so if you've got sleep apnea
that's not quality sleep if you are you know legally drunk when you're going to sleep
you're not going to get quality sleep so good sleep hygiene is really important and gradually
increase the time that you are trying to focus work up by adding 30 seconds or a minute every
day or every couple of days i know it doesn't sound like a lot but that is manageable if you
sit and you try to focus for on something anything a flickering flame or the tree outside your window
for two minutes and focus on that without thinking of anything else keeping your mind clear you're
going to realize how long two minutes can really be so it's important not to set unrealistic goals
gradually increase your time and over the course of three or six months you'll start to see
pretty significant improvements
more journaling prompts what is different for you on days when you can focus
you know a lot of people will find that they have particular vulnerabilities that make it
more difficult to focus so what is different for you did you get up at a different time of
day did you start the day by exercising or did you start the day by going straight to
work instead of going to the gym first you know what works for you pick one thing you want to
pay attention to whether it's listening to people in conversations without having your mind wander
focusing on your projects at work whatever it is for you pick one thing identify five reasons
you will benefit from improving your ability to pay attention to it and then start working on it
for more in-depth resources addressing adult adhd is available at all ceus.com adhd now even
if you don't have adhd there are a lot of tips and tricks that are in this much longer video
that you may find helpful for increasing your attention span and your ability to get things done