10 Tricks to Pay Better Attention

Rapt attention means total focus that is essential to be good at any activity. In today’s fast-paced world where time is money and multitasking is the order of the day, paying attention becomes the casualty many times.  There are some simple methods that can help you to pay better attention.

The ten tips to pay better attention are:

1. Writing down tasks: Writing down tasks to be done lends clarity to the agenda. It enables us to eliminate overlaps in pending tasks or things that can be deferred and give focus on immediate tasks.
2. Diarize and map the agenda: Maintaining a list of things to do serves as a reminder not to miss crucial tasks and also eliminates the strain of having too many things on the mind. Breaking down a big task into smaller tasks lends sharper focus.
3. Create an appropriate environment: Noise, telephone calls, unscheduled conversations, browsing on Facebook, etc are all avoidable distractions. In order to focus on the task on hand, one needs to eliminate all causes of distractions and operate in a quiet environment.
4. Prioritize: The trick is to try not to accomplish too many things at the same time. One needs to set a priority and timeframe to accomplish tasks according to their level of priority.
5. Take a break: The mind has the ability to focus intensely for an optimum of 90 minutes. The brain tends to lose focus and get distracted for longer periods. In case of periods of intense brain activity, one needs to take a short break to enable the brain to maintain focus.
6. Set timeframes: In order to accomplish much within an allotted time, one needs to set time frames for each task. Work expands to fill in available time; hence it is essential to measure the status of incomplete tasks with the time remaining to complete the same.
7. Sleep: Poor quality of sleep is one of the prime causes of accidents. If the mind is rested and calm before starting any tasks, chances are the task will be accomplished with fewer errors and in a shorter time.
8. Eat right: Research has proven that a high intake of caffeine and sugar, gives a “high”. This feeling however is temporary and the energy surge from caffeine and sugar soon wears down. Caffeine and sugar should be consumed in moderation while protein intake should be increased, in order to increase attention levels.
9. Patience: Most of us can only aspire to control our minds. Often despite all the above conditions being met, we find it difficult to concentrate. The only solution in such a situation is to remain calm and wait for the mind to refocus.
10. Listen actively:  Listening, not just hearing is very important if you want to pay full attention to whatever you are doing.