How to Sharpen Focus and Increase Your Productivity?

You sit down at your desk, ready to begin your work and start checking items off of your to-do list, but your mind keeps wandering, and you find yourself scrolling through your phone instead. 

According to a University of California study, it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to a task after a single distraction. This means that each day you risk losing hours of productivity. This translates to a few days per month and a few weeks per year. Just imagine how much more you could achieve if you improved your focus.

What Is Concentration?

Concentration is a valuable ability to focus the mind on one subject and exclude all other unrelated thoughts, ideas, feelings, and sensations. This applies to studying, athletic performance, work accomplishments, entrepreneurial success, and much more. The more focused you are, the more successful you’ll be.

Why Our Mind Keeps Wandering

Many factors can affect our mental focus. Stress, fatigue, poor sleep, dehydration, an unhealthy diet, and lack of physical activity can deeply affect cognitive functions, including your focus and memory. Problems with concentration can also point to an underlying condition, like mild cognitive impairment, or a mood disorder, like depression or anxiety.

The Science Behind Your Brain

It’s commonly believed that as we age, our mental sharpness will decline, but that doesn’t have to be your fate. We used to believe that the brain only developed through childhood. Once we became an adult we were done with that development, however, research in the last couple of decades discovered the opposite. Neuroplasticity means that the brain can restructure itself and reorganize connections, which means learning new skills, improving memory, developing the brain, adapting to stress, and even recovering from brain trauma and injury is possible.

There is a scientific solution to help you increase focus and enhance mental capacity.

Brainwave Entrainment

You may have heard that the human brain is an electrochemical organ. This means it is powered by electricity and chemicals. The brain’s electrical activity can be seen in the form of brainwaves. Different brainwaves – alpha, beta, gamma, delta, and theta, characterize different states of mind. To accomplish a certain task, our brain frequency needs to be aligned with our goal. For example, the state when we can think clearly and keep focus produces dominant beta brainwaves. Therefore, you need your brain to produce beta brainwaves when you’re trying to learn a new skill, study or concentrate.

Brainwave entrainment is a thoroughly studied, entirely safe wellness practice. With this approach, your neurons can be fired quickly, resulting in an enhanced level of performance.

PEMF, The Future of Medicine

The key technology here is called PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field), an FDA-approved technology that has been in use by doctors for decades. Over 7,000 studies have shown PEMF to be safe and non-invasive.

To use PEMF technology and harness the benefits of brainwave entrainment safely and comfortably at home, NeoRhythm has developed a device that combines 12 different stimulation programs using scientifically determined frequencies to help you target desired goals such as sharper focus, boosted energy, improved sleep, and much more.

Factors Affecting Mental Performance

Since everything in our body is connected, many factors can affect our mental focus.

• • Stress

Ironically, stress improves focus for a short period. We have all experienced how an approaching deadline can suddenly turn you into a superhuman. However, in today’s fast-paced society, people are exposed to stress more than ever. Constant exposure to high levels of stress can have a significant long-term impact on brain functions, resulting in problems with cognition, attention, and memory. PEMF helps you to relax and improve your meditation practice.

• • Pain

Being in physical pain makes it especially hard to perform at your best. If you are looking for an alternative solution to taking pain medication, PEMF offers a safe way to relieve some of your pain. It has been known to help manage musculoskeletal pain, fibromyalgia, back pain, and post-operative pain, and it also promotes the body’s natural healing process.

• • Lack of Sleep

Getting enough hours of high-quality sleep fosters attention and concentration. Most experts recommend that adults get around 6 to 8 hours of sleep per night. According to the CDC 1 in 3 people don’t get enough sleep, making sleep deprivation a serious global problem. PEMF helps you fall asleep faster and sleep deeper, even if you have experienced insomnia in the past.

• • Body

Physical activity boosts the brain’s dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin levels, helping you to concentrate and feel mentally sharp for tasks at hand. Exercise also stimulates the growth of new brain cells and helps combat age-related decline. Numerous studies have proven that PEMF can improve athletic performance since it improves blood circulation, reduces inflammation and lactic acid, prolongs lung capacity, helps with recovery, and plenty more.

• • Mood

PEMF helps you to “choose your mood” by creating a perfect mental environment for your desired state of mind with brainwave entrainment. It is important to acknowledge that everybody feels sad or blue from time to time. However, if you are struggling with longer periods of distorted mood, it might be a sign of a mood disorder (check the section about PEMF and medical conditions below).

9 Ways to Sharpen Your Focus

• • Balanced Diet

While quick fixes like coffee, sugar, and energy drinks may seem like a good idea, they have a long-term negative impact on your cognitive functions like concentration and memory. Eating a healthy, balanced diet that includes brain-boosting foods can help to keep your focus as sharp as can be.

• • Regular Exercise

Exercising regularly can improve concentration, motivation, memory, and mood. If your job requires you to sit at a desk all day, you should consider applying some changes to your lifestyle. Try to stretch your legs during a break and include walks in nature in your schedule.

• • Improve Sleep

Getting enough sleep regularly is very important for sharp focus and overall well-being. PEMF can be a valuable tool that helps you to catch those Z’s. To reach your full potential at work, while studying, or in your athletic performance, don’t forget to pay extra attention to your sleep hygiene.

• • Train Your Brain

Try to think of your brain as a muscle. It gets stronger through exercise. For a sharp mind, it is important to engage your brain in challenging activities like learning a new language or learning to play a new instrument. It is especially important to keep the brain sharp as we age to reduce age-related decline.

• • Reduce Social Media Use

Picking up your phone every time you receive a notification can significantly affect your productivity. Scrolling through Facebook or Instagram for long periods is also not healthy. According to a recent study, using your phone during a break at work does not allow your brain to recharge as effectively as other types of breaks that don’t include a screen, both in terms of being able to perform quickly and efficiently in the second half of the task and in terms of performance. Next time instead of reaching for your phone, try to take a walk or have a chat with your coworkers.

• • Stop Multitasking

Many people believe that multitasking is a time saver but it’s the opposite. In fact, research shows it takes you up to 40% longer to complete the task, and you’re more likely to make mistakes.

• • Stay Hydrated

Dehydration has a significant negative effect on physical and mental performance. However, recent studies show that even mild dehydration can impair cognitive performance, decrease focus, and affect critical thinking skills and memory. Since 80 percent of our brain is made up of water, this makes perfect sense. Next time when you start feeling “foggy” or tired during the day, drink a glass of water and see if it helps.

• • Practice Mindfulness

Many studies have shown that mindfulness training can improve focus, memory, and other cognitive functions. And those are just a few of the many benefits of practicing mindfulness and meditation. Neuro meditation can help you regain focus in a busy world and harness the other benefits of mindful living.

• • Use PEMF to Help Your Brain

Albert Einstein once said, “Future medicine will be the medicine of frequencies.”

The future is already here. NeoRhythm is one of the best devices to help the brain using scientifically determined frequencies, based on dozens of scientific studies in the field of pulsed electromagnetic therapy (PEMF) across the world, and years of our research. It is a safe, non-invasive, and comfortable way to sharpen your focus, enhance your mental capacity, and much more.

Medical Conditions That Affect Concentration

Focus is often related to external factors like a chaotic work environment or social media notifications. However, constant concentration difficulties might be linked to underlying medical conditions.

Some of the most common ones include:

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

PEMF is becoming an increasingly popular treatment for people with ADHD. Parents whose children are struggling with ADHD especially value PEMF for being harmless and non-invasive.

Anxiety

Difficulty concentrating is one of the most common symptoms of anxiety. Numerous studies have proven that PEMF helps to relieve anxiety. Unlike traditional treatments, it relaxes the brain naturally without any chemicals or side effects.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

PEMF is becoming an increasingly popular treatment for people with ADHD. Parents whose children are struggling with ADHD especially value PEMF for being harmless and non-invasive.

Depression

Although antidepressants are the go-to solution to treat depression, Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) is now proving to be a highly effective alternative way of treating depression. Always talk to your doctor first about your options and what alternative treatments you are considering before starting them.

Insomnia

Sleeping disorders like insomnia can have a significant effect on performance at work or in school. PEMF therapy proved to be a successful way to deal with insomnia by helping to get your sleep cycle back on track.

Dementia

Dementia is a common expression for various symptoms of cognitive decline, including the ability to focus. PEMF can help reduce the risk of developing dementia.

References

• American Psychological Association. (2006). Multitasking: Switching costs [online] American Psychological Organization. Apa.com. Available at: LINK [Accessed 23 Sep. 2021].
  
• Chiesa, Albert. Calati, Raffaella. Does mindfulness training improve cognitive abilities? A systematic review of neuropsychological findings. [online] Ncbi.Nlm.nih.com. Available at: LINK [Accessed 26 Sep. 2021].
  
• Kang Sanghoon, Kurtzberg, Terri R. (2019). Reach for your cell phone at your own risk: The cognitive costs of media choice for breaks. [online] AK journals. akjournals.com. Available at: LINK [Accessed 23 Sep. 2021].
  
• Riebl, Shaun K. Davy, Brenda M. The Hydration Equation: Update on Water Balance and Cognitive Performance. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.com. Available at: LINK [Accessed 23 Sep. 2021].
  
• Tarumi, Takashi. Rosetti, Heidi. (2019). Exercise Training in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment: A One-Year Randomized Controlled Trial. [online] IOS press. Content.iospress.com. Available at: LINK [Accessed 23 Sep. 2021].
  
• Thomas, Alex W. Graham, Karissa. (2007). A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial using a low-frequency magnetic field in the treatment of musculoskeletal chronic pain. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.com. Available at: LINK [Accessed 23 Sep. 2021].
  
• Xiang, Gao. Xiaolu, Wang. (2014). Research on brain-induced effects by extremely low frequency pulsed magnetic stimulation. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.com. Available at: LINK [Accessed 23 Sep. 2021].
  

Disclaimer

NeoRhythm has not been evaluated by the FDA. These products do not claim to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical conditions. Always consult your medical doctor regarding any health concerns.