That colleague who drops in, that phone call that you just can't let go... We like to think that all kinds of things are harassing us from outside, which means that we can't finish what we want to do. What we often don't realize is that about half of the time we cause our own distractions . And you can do something about those distractions yourself.
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How do you train your pink elephants?
The harder you try not to think about a pink elephant, the more often that pink elephant appears in your mind. We all have our own pink elephants: groceries you still have to get, the vacation you still have to arrange, the email you still want to answer. As long as it is not done, it floats around in your head and thus undermines your concentration.
Just like the pink elephant, simply telling yourself to stop thinking about it doesn’t help. What does work?
Entrust your tasks to an external memory, so that you relieve yours. That external memory can be an old-school notepad, but speaking into your phone or an app is also fine. Below I discuss 3 distraction stoppers, or: tips to maintain your concentration.
Stopper 1. Use external memory
Your brain, like your laptop, has a limited capacity. It is a waste to use your working memory for nagging tasks that you do not want to do anyway. A study by Roy Baumeister shows that unfinished business costs brainpower. You do not have to finish everything right away, you can also entrust your tasks to a system that you trust.
Therefore, put everything that comes to mind netherlands telegram data and requires attention, such as tasks, new ideas or the title for a blog you want to write, directly into an external memory. This can be a notepad, but you can also record it on your phone or use a task app. It doesn't matter what you use, as long as you find it a safe place to store it. Make sure you regularly go through your external memory. Only then will you dare to trust it.
Leaking your concentration is not always about distractions. Being able to keep your attention on something, even when you are not being disturbed, is something you can train through mindfulness and meditation. Meditation is a part of mindfulness. Mindfulness is about being in the moment. Not worrying about what is coming or what has been. It is about paying attention to this moment.
You can see your attention as a muscle and you can strengthen that muscle by training. You don't have to go to India for it and you don't have to light incense for it. So don't let the vague image hold you back. Research shows that it improves your concentration, even after just one seventeen-minute practice. Such an effect is temporary, however. Long.
