A person cannot constantly work at his maximum capacity. His energy falls, his strength becomes less and his concentration decreases. In order for us to be productive, we need to switch attention from time to time.
Definition
All people are faced with the fact that in the morning they can concentrate well on solving complex problems, and in the evening it becomes problematic. Why? A person spends his energy on making all kinds of everyday decisions, and for this reason, by the evening he has neither the strength nor the desire to do something important. Switching attention helps to restore energy. A simple technique gives good results if mastered to perfection. The brain will not be very tired if it is not working hard all the time.
A smart person takes a break every 2 hours of productive activity. Moreover, in his free time, he does not sit at the computer, but goes out to get some air, does physical education or makes coffee. Changing activities is the best way to switch attention. But it is not always possible to leave the table andtake a walk. Sometimes you have to quickly change the sector of your tasks and concentrate on each of them. How to deal with this situation?
Views
Switching attention can be of two types:
- Deliberate. In this case, a person forces himself to shift his attention from one task to another. Case in point: switching between multiple projects can often be seen in any office. And at home, people often work in multitasking mode. For example, a girl can wash dishes and talk on the phone at this time. Such a constant shifting of attention will reduce the effectiveness of each of the individual tasks, if the person performing them does not have this quick skill.
- Unintentional. Distractions accompany a person throughout the day. He may be busy with work, but a phone call will knock a person out of a state of deep thinking. Social media alerts prevent you from focusing on an activity for more than 30 minutes. A radio or TV playing in the background absorbs attention without him realizing it.
How to determine your performance?
Switching attention and distributing it between tasks is a useful skill. But before doing the exercises, a person must understand his starting point. Each individual has his own rhythm of life and sphere of activity. Someone needs a strong concentration, and someone can work on the machine. How to determine the volumeyour attention and its expenditure per day? In the morning, right after you wake up, sit down at your desk and start writing any number or letter. Draw a row until you get lost. Calculate the result. For example, you got 16 digits. The same test should be done throughout the day. Write a series of numbers closer to dinner, and then in the evening. After looking at the result, it will become clear to you at what periods of time you will need to be distracted, relieve mental stress in order to rush into battle again.
Reading two books at the same time
The method of switching attention is to train the mind for a conscious and quick change of activity without loss of cognitive functions. How can you get a good result? You need to practice a simple exercise daily. Take two books of the same format and similar content. For example, it can be detectives. Take an hour and start reading. You need to read both books alternately at the same time. When you finish one page in the first detective story, go straight to the second one. Focus on each book. After an hour, you should do a test. Write the contents of what you read from the first book and then from the second. At first, the task will seem very difficult, and you can hardly check yourself. Therefore, nothing terrible will happen if you reread the text again in the normal way. After six months of training, you will be able to change your activities quickly and without losing concentration.
Attention to emotions
Switching and sustaining attention is needed not only to cope with working moments. Man is an emotional being. For this reason, it is not always possible to control oneself. If you want to become more restrained, you need to learn to shift your attention from what offends you to something else. For example, in a fit of anger, try to imagine your feeling. Take a mental look around your body and think about where exactly you have accumulated anger. Think of a form for it. It could be a cloud or some kind of animal. Mentally, you need to release anger outward. Simple concentration and distraction of attention allows a person to quickly cool down and not break loose on his neighbor. You can practice this technique not only with negative, but also with positive emotions. Sometimes joy, pride, or a good feeling get in the way of work just as much as grief.
Meditation
The distribution, switching and volume of attention varies depending on how much a person is interested in what is happening around. Perhaps you met your friend on the street who walked by without even saying hello. When you called to a friend, he said that he was thinking. A person's attention can be focused either inside him, it is in this position that a person thinks, or outward, then the person feels what is happening next to her. It's hard to focus on both. For this reason, simple meditation can help to switch the mind. No need to sit in the lotus positionin order to clear the mind. Just focus on your breathing. Extra thoughts will leave your head, and a semblance of a vacuum will remain in it. In this state, a person can sit down to work and achieve the highest concentration of attention.
Attention to the environment
Do you want to learn how to change your activities without losing concentration? The property of switching attention lies in the fact that a person can do whatever he wants, but for this he will need to make incredible efforts. If the switching skill is trained, then it will be easy to quickly change the scope of activity. One of the simple practices is reminiscent of meditation. You should at the moment when you decide to change your occupation, be distracted and focus on the space around you. Ask yourself:
- I see. What do you see. Without changing the angle of view, silently list all the objects and objects that fall into the field of view.
- I hear. Focus on the sounds coming to your ears. It can be snatches of conversation, the hum of a computer or a refrigerator, the sound of a working TV, or children's laughter.
- I feel it. Try to understand how you feel. You may be warm, cold or hot. Maybe you want to drink or eat. Give yourself a full account of the sensations.
