Improving Focus & Concentration

For those who experience chronic tension, depression or anxiety, relaxing the mind and body might sound like an impossible task. Over the next three weeks we’ll be sharing three techniques that can help improve focus and concentration when practiced on a regular basis.

When our attention is fixed to a big picture goal, tension and anxiety can easily grow to a degree that makes us feel overwhelmed. We can be focused on personal goals like losing weight or work-based project deadlines, but most often there are a combination of many goals competing for our attention.

Our first technique is going to sound counterintuitive, but give it a try anyway. Forget the Goal!

That’s right, do your best to forget the big finish line. The idea here is to shift your focus away from the larger, looming end goal, and bring your awareness to smaller, present steps.

You may have heard people suggest trying to ‘live in the present moment,’ and this technique gets to the heart of that practice. If it feels equally overwhelming to flip your view completely toward the other end of the spectrum, that’s ok. You can work through it gradually in this way:

• Narrow down the goal to an action you can achieve this week,
• As that becomes sustainable, concentrate on to one change you can make today,
• Eventually practice asking, “Is there something I can do at this moment?”

If not, let it go and move on to something else. If there is, do it in the moment — avoid piling it onto a never-ending task list!
By shifting our focus away from the outcome and towards the process, we can significantly improve the odds of achieving success in whatever we do.

Good luck! And, let us know what you experience as you try this method.