Sunday, July 30, 2017

How to Improve Concentration AND Fitness

Focused Work AND Exercise, Every Day!

Lots of us are really tired at the end of a workday.  That is one of the reasons that we plop down on the couch and the only other exercise we get is pressing the buttons on the remote and lifting our hand from snack to mouth.

One way to get your exercise and stretching in daily and improve the quality of your work at the same time is the Concentration Enhancement Method.  That’s a big name for a simple technique!

How long can you concentrate optimally?

Current researchers make a case that the average attention span of American adults has dropped and it is limited to 20, 10, or even five minutes.  Concentration is also increased if a person is able to perform the task fluently, compared to a person who has difficulty performing the task, or to the same person when he or she is just learning the task. Fatigue, hunger, noise, and emotional stress reduce the time focused on the task. “Common estimates for sustained attention to a freely chosen task range from about five minutes for a two-year-old child, to a maximum of around 20 minutes in older children and adults” (Source:Wikipedia).  

Now here is the cool part. What you do in your break time makes all the difference.

Exercise increases mental sharpness, memory, and concentration according to a Harvard Men’s Health Watch in 2013. “Exercise stimulates brain regions that are involved in memory function to release a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Only the brain can make it, and (especially) with regular exercise”, the greater the intensity, the more likely BDNF production will increase.  (Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, 2008)
(In recent years studies have demonstrated that engaging in intermittent fasting and/or caloric restriction can likely increase a person’s lifespan and general health. One way intermittent fasting and caloric restriction help is by increasing the amount of BDNF signaling within the brain.)
In addition to improving concentration and overall brain functioning, the effects of physical activity may be linked to preventing a range of cognitive and neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. (Mary Carmichael, "Newsweek")

The Concentration Enhancement Method

1) Figure out how long your Deep Work block is going to be. You might have to build up your focus “muscle”.  Try for 20 minutes with no interruptions (set a timer) and then 25, and then 30, etc. One Italian even named this method Pomodoro (tomato) Technique because his timer was shaped like a tomato! His concentration unit was 25 minutes. You might work for 50 minutes and then rest for 10.

You allow yourself NO distractions – no phone, no Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or any other time waster (but they are great for after hours!). Plan what you want to get done in your designated time period. Set your timer and GO!

2) Work intensely on One Main Thing, your intent being to finish it off during this work unit.

3) When the timer goes off, you take an Active-Break. Take a walk, get some water, and do some physical activity.  Don’t take a break in front of your computer—your brain won’t get the pause it needs. Depending on your Concentration Unit, you’ll take a break between 5-10 minutes.  Studies have shown that 10 minutes are enough. If you take longer breaks, it’s hard to buckle down and concentrate again.

4) Try for at least four to five of these intense work/break units before you take a longer break.

5) Improve Work Quality and Get Fit at the Same Time!!

Here are some short exercise videos from YouTube, which you can do as your Power Pause:



One or more of the breaks could be used for Office Yoga:


With this yoga break, you even have time for a toilet experience afterward:


By the time you go home after work, you’ve done your exercise and stretching. It’s happened before that people have felt less tired after a workday built up in this way. Some even walk or bike to and from work as their energy increases. But that’s (calorie-less) icing on the cake.

Give it a try.

Let me know your experiences with this method. :-D


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