Tips to Improve Concentration

All of us know the importance of concentration skills. Below are given some tips to help you develop better concentration whether you are working, studying or doing anything.


1. A simple exercise to increase concentration:
This is a simple exercise to improve concentration which can be done anytime you want to study or do an important task and want your mind to be focused on the task.

On a blackboard or a large piece of paper taped to the wall, draw large sideways figure 8s (the infinity symbol) over and over with the right hand, the left hand, and both hands. If you don't have paper, do the drawing motion in the air. Start drawing really large sideways figure 8s and continue making the figure smaller and smaller until you are drawing really tiny Figures. You are then ready to begin homework, or any work that requires concentration.

If anytime during your work you feel you are losing concentration, stop the work and do figure 8 exercise again. This exercise can also be done with closed eyes by imagining drawing figure 8's.

This exercise helps to activate both the right and left visual fields and hence makes the brain more focused.


2. Do one thing at a time, set aside specific time period:
It helps concentration if you just do one thing at a time giving it your complete undivided attention. Multitasking (doing many things simultaneously) will make you distracted and it is an ineffective way of doing things contrary to what many people believe. If you still think multitasking is good then read this article : Myth of multitasking (opens in a new window)

Do one thing at a time in order to develop concentration. If you are trying to think of giving presentation at office, or studying for your exam - for the next 30 minutes or so, just think of that alone. Focus your mind on the details of the job and how you plan to do it. Let not your attention wander to other things during this time.


3. Do something as if for first or last time :
We take a lot of everyday things for granted and do not observe as intently as we should. In order to develop focus and observation, try to look at tasks which you do everyday as if you are doing or seeing them for the first or the last time. This will encourage you to observe details which you may have missed before, thus improving your observation, concentration and also in gaining new insights.


4. 5 more rule :
I came across this technique while browsing. Its a wonderful technique. According to author of the website:
"There are two kinds of people -- those who have learned how to work through frustration, and those who wish they had."

From now on, if you're in the middle of a task and tempted to give up -- just do FIVE MORE. Read FIVE MORE pages. Finish FIVE MORE math problems. Work FIVE MORE minutes".

By implementing this strategy, you are stretching your mind past the point of frustration and building up mental endurance just as good athletes push past the point of exhaustion by not giving up when their body initially protests of tiredness. This way they build up the stamina.



5. Unclutter your mind by writing down :
While doing something important, if other worries are invading your mind thus affecting your
concentration then an effective way to overcome this problem is to write down any concern you might be having on a piece of paper, next to it write down a date or time when you want to deal with this problem. Writing it down this way will help in uncluttering your mind so that it is free to concentrate on the task at hand.


6. Reward yourself:
Decide before starting your work how you would like to reward yourself when you finish. The reward can be anything that makes you happy and relaxed - like having your favorite food,
going out for a walk, meeting your best friend etc. It doesn't have to be something big, any activity that gives you pleasure and takes your mind off work for some time will do. This system of rewarding yourself will increase motivation for doing things.


7. Be project specific :
Before you start any work, be clear in your mind as to what you want to accomplish. Before sitting down to study for exams, be clear what chapter you want to study now, how much time do you intend to study etc. Be as specific as possible and move on to some other task only after you complete this.


8. Avoid unnecessary movements:
People who have short attention spans and faulty concentration are usually restless people. If you watch them you will notice them making a lot of unnecessary movements like shaking hands and legs while sitting, talking etc.

While those people who have sound concentration are usually calm and composed, they sit and stand still without any unnecessary movements. Avoiding unnecessary movements will help you preserve your valuable energy, maintain composure and improve concentration.


9. Try to find comfortable relaxed noise-free atmosphere without distractions:
When you are working on something, give it your undivided attention and try to minimize distractions as much as possible. Try avoiding visual distractions by pulling curtains on windows if you are sitting near one.


10. Foods that increases concentration:
"Any vitamin deficiency can lead to difficulty with concentration," says Chris D. Meletis, ND, chief medical officer at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine.

Including Vitamins in your daily diet should help in improving concentration. Iron deficiency can also lead to poor concentration and irritability. High haem iron foods like meat, fish and chicken should be helpful in enhancing concentration.

Also take food and juices rich in Vitamin C. Try drinking a glassful of fresh fruit juice or drink black tea with lemon.


11. Be gentle with yourself:
If any thoughts come to your mind then gently drive them away, and bring your mind back to the subject at hand. Do not try to force out the thoughts, it works better if you are gentle. If any thought is important one which you would like to pay attention to later, then write it down on paper as mentioned in tip #5 above.


12.Use a concentration scoresheet:
Whenever doing some important work, use a concentration scoresheet. Each time you find your mind wandering, make a check mark on the sheet. If you do this on consistent basis, you may find that you have far fewer check marks and far greater concentration.


13. Break task into smaller parts:
Breaking a task into smaller parts will make it seem less daunting and help you approach it with more positivity. If you are trying to study a textbook for exam, then you can make a goal of finishing one chapter at a time.


14. Concentration exercises:
Concentration exercises help in training your mind to concentrate more and for longer periods of time. I have mentioned some concentration exercises in my post which you can read here :
Concentration Exercises

Its recommended to practice exercises given in that article on a daily basis in order to improve your concentration.


15. Do a thing wholeheartedly:
If you approach something half-heartedly, it can show in the quality of the work. In order to do things better, do them with interest. Whatever you are doing, try to find some aspect of it that interests you.If you can find something interesting in each thing you do, you can enjoy even the
most mundane and boring tasks.

If you follow the above tips seriously, then you can find a good improvement in concentration skills. If you want to learn faster and better, remember more and improve your memory so that you can study better or remember important information, then check this out:
Better Memory, More Marks

Free Memory Course for You
Do you want to learn tips on how to develop a super power memory? Subscribe to this free email course and enhance your memory for the better - Memory Course


Related Articles:
1. Tips to develop good study habits
2. Tips for healthy sleep
3. Overcome Fears by Educating Yourself




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SQ3R: An Effective strategy for reading textbooks

SQ3R stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recall, and Review. This is a 4 step strategy is useful for processing large amount of information.

Lets discuss the technique in detail:

S - Survey: Before starting to read something, survey it. To survey a chapter, read the title, introduction, headings, and the summary or conclusion. Also, examine all visuals such as pictures, tables, maps, and graphs. Look for bold face prints, italics, end-of-chapter questions etc.


Q - Question: You need to have questions in your mind as you read. The questions will give you a purpose for reading and will help you in staying focussed. Turn the headings and sub-headings into as many questions as you can think of and write them down. This will stimulate your thinking. Also when you search for the answers to these questions, you are actively learning the subject rather than simply reading it.


R - Read: Read the information that follows each heading to find the answer to each question you formed. You may have to make up a lot of new questions as well and search for their answers too. This is active learning which is better than passive reading.


R - Recall: At the end of each section or sub-section, stop reading and recall your questions then try to answer them without looking at the textbook. See how many questions you can answer from memory. If you can't answer any question then look back into the section (as often as necessary). Dont proceed to the next section until you can answer all questions about this section from memory.


R - Review: After you have finished the entire chapter using the above given suggestions, go back over all the questions from all sections. Check out whether you can still answer them, if not look it up and refresh your memory.

This is the SQ3R strategy for studying any course material. You can add another two steps to this strategy and make it SQ3RWT strategy. The additional two steps are optional and they are as follows:

W - Write : After you finish a topic using SQ3R strategy, write down all questions you had developed while studying and their answers in your notebook. This way you will have notes on this particular topic for future reference. These notes can also provide you with good points for class discussions.

T - Teach : The final step is teaching what you have just learnt to somebody. By teaching it, you are re-inforcing in your mind what you have just studied and it will help you in remembering the information better. I had discussed this teach technique in detail in my previous post which you can read here :
Teach technique - Learn any subject better

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Tips to develop good study habits:

Free Memory Course for You:

Do you want to learn tips on how to develop a super power memory? Subscribe to this free email course and enhance your memory for the better - Free Memory Course

Study Habits Guide:
Developing good study habits is important so that you can get good results in exams. You should be able to score good marks by cultivating good study habits in yourself.

Develop effective study habits and practice them till it becomes habitual. The following are some important suggestions:

1. Take responsibility of yourself:
In order to succeed at studies you need to put in the required effort, time and patience. You need to make a few sacrifices and assume responsibility for your actions. Are you prepared to do all the above?


2. Know what is important to you:
Dont lets others dictate what is important and what's not for you. You should know your own values and priorities and act accordingly.


3. Discover when you study at your best:
Is it in the mornings or evenings etc. Discover key periods when you are most focused and productive so that you can use such periods for your most difficult study challenges.


4. Always try to do one thing at a time:
Give undivided attention to one thing at a time. Set a time period for one important task and during that time do only that without letting your attention wander to other things. When the time is up, leave that work even if you have not completed it, you can go back to it later but now for habit's sake leave it.
Doing one thing at a time can help you concentrate better on the important tasks and you tend to do the tasks better this way rather than trying to multitask.


5. Look for better alternatives to problems:
Suppose you have read some course material and do not understand it fully, don't just re-read it. Try something else - like consulting with your professor, discussing the subject with others, research on internet etc.


6. Continually challenge yourself:
Consistently challenge yourself to do better. Competing with yourself is and more productive than competing with others.


7. Study and work within a specific length of time everyday:
Set aside a specified time each day and stick to it. This can help in making you more self-disciplined and immensely help in your studies. You may want to try devoting some time after school/college to studying your lessons.


8. Be positive while studying and preparing for exams:
Being positive helps in avoiding stress and panic before exams.


9. Take an active role in studying:
Rather than just reading the book, try the following suggestions to make studies more interesting:

• Use a highlighter to mark important points,
• make notes of significant points in a notebook,
• record questions about items you don't understand,
• try to predict what will be on the next page and connect what you're reading with other things you've read,
• convert the sections or paragraph headlines into questions and compose their answers after reading the paragraph or section - for example, if you are reading a section called "The Causes of the American Revolution," ask yourself, "What were the causes of the American Revolution?" Reading and answering questions aloud will help you understand and remember the material.

10. Read for fun and knowledge:
Many people may like reading but hate studying academic books. I am one of such people - I like reading books and browse information sites on internet but dont like reading academic books. One way to deal with this problem is to pretend that you're just studying for knowledge and fun and not for exams. This helps in removing exam stress from our minds and making us feel relaxed so that we can concentrate on gaining knowledge from the text we are reading.

11. Tips to Develop interest in a subject:
If you find that you lack interest in a particular subject, then the following tips may help in generating interest for that subject:

• (i) Think about why you want to learn about a given subject : List out as many valid reasons as you can think of and keep the list handy with you. This list can help you to get motivated in studying that subject because it shows you why this particular subject is important and you cannot avoid it.

• (ii) In order to develop interest in a subject, gain more information about it. The more information you gather about something the more likely that you will become interested in it.

• (iii) In order to develop interest in a subject, exert activity toward it. Keep reading about it, do research on that subject, try to help someone else in that subject etc. All these activities help you in strengthening the interest further.

• (iv) If you find a subject too difficult as a result of which your interest is dwindling then it might help to find an alternate textbook to study the subject, or to take the help of a professor.

For more detailed explanation of the above tips you may read my previous post by clicking here : Become Interested in Any Subject

12. Overcome Procastination:
If you are in the habit of procastinating (putting things off to do later), then the following tips may help you: overcoming procastination tips


13. Finding a suitable Place for Studies:
It is important that the place you use for studying is comfortable and free from distractions. Here is a checklist for selecting suitable study place:

• Is your study place accessible to me whenever you need it?
• Is it free from distractions?
• Does your study place have enough storage space to keep all your items - books, pens, rulers and other things you require?
• Does your study place have enough light and comfortable temperature?A
• re you comfortable sitting at that place for longer periods of time while studying?

14. Physical preparations while studying:
Have a bottle of water with you while studying and keep drinking from time to time. Remember that water helps electrical and chemical reactions in our brain and it is recommended to drink 8-12 glasses of water a day.Also use appropriate lighting that does not strain your eyes.


15. Remember to take frequent breaks while studying:
Breaks are important in order to give your mind much needed rest so that it can come back fresh. If you study continuously without breaks then you may find your concentration and energy levels going down. Hence it is not a good thing to study continuously without breaks as it decreases your productivity and at the same time causes feelings of fatigue. Break times can be 10 minutes or a little more.


16. Follow SQ3R Strategy:
While reading any course material or textbook follow the SQ3R strategy. The SQ3R technique is a simple and effective tool to grasp the subject and remember it better. Read about it by clicking here: SQ3R strategy



17. Use Teach technique to study better:
After you have studied a topic, you can use "teach" technique in order to better register in your mind what you have just read. Read about this technique here : Learn Any Subject Better

18. If you are looking for specific strategies for studying maths or physics then click the below given links:
maths studying strategies,
physics studying strategies

19. To remember the information you studied better, check out - Memory training for students

Learn how to get good grades at college or school. Click here now.

Useful Resources for you:
Learn new languages - quickly and easily


Related Articles:
1.Tips to improve concentration
2.A great tip for self-study
3.How to write faster and better
4.SQ3R strategy for reading textbooks


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Information on home remedies for diabetes

A 3 year research by Malaysian University has confirmed that cinnamon has the potential to reduce blood sugar levels. The spice seems to bave a positive effect specially on Type II diabetes. Studies by Agriculture Research Service in United States have also found that certain substances in cinnamon helps cells become more responsive to insulin.

Type II diabetes causes cells to lose their ability to respond to insulin, the hormone that tells the body to remove excess glucose from the bloodstream. This condition usually develops in people in their middle age and prematurely kills an estimated 100 million of the world’s population every year.

Dr. Mohammad Roji who is the research and development manager at UTM (University Technologi Malaysia) has further added that cinnamon extract was found to improve blood circulation, heal wounds, reduce pain spasm and prevent ulcer and allergies.

Cinnamon is an ingredient used in cooking, and in cakes, pastries and beverages like coffee and tea.


Various Home Remedies for Diabetes - Herbal medications for diabetes
1. Regular grape juice can cure diabetes.

2. Boil 3-4 fresh mango leaves and drink each morning.

3. Regular intake of two tender leaves each of neem and bilva in the morning can help in reduction of blood sugar levels.

4. Soybean which is full of proteins, iron, calcium and Vitamin A can be helpful in diabetes.

5. Soaked almonds taken in morning on an empty stomach.

6. 45 mins to 1 hour walk each morning can help in maintaining proper body weight and correcting insulin resistance.

You can try the above home-made herbal diabetes care remedies.


Learn How to Fight Type II Diabetes

Also check out : Foods that prevent cancer

Good Night Sleep Tips - 15 Tips for Getting to Sleep

Good night's sleep is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Your sleep can affect other areas of your life like how you feel during the day, how active you are, your studies, career, relationships etc.

The National Sleep Foundation reports (2002) that America is on the verge of a poor sleep epidemic, characterized by the following eye-opening statistics:

>>> 64% of American adults get less than the eight hours of sleep that experts recommend is required to maintain optimal physical, mental, and emotional health.

>>> One-third of the US population says they get less sleep now than they did five years ago

>>> One-half of Americans have experienced insomnia (sleeplessness)

>>> Drowsiness due to a lack of a proper night of sleep interferes with the daily activities of 37 percent of all adults.


People should wake up every morning feeling refreshed and energetic without the need of an alarm clock. This may be possible if you have a good healthy sleep at night.



Below are some tips for better sleep:
=====================================


1. Have a regular bed that is comfortable. Also maintain regular schedule for sleeping and waking up, even on weekends. Try going to bed at the same time and getting up at the same time every day. Maintaining this time schedule is very important. This helps in overcoming sleep problems.


2. Create a sleep-conducive environment that is dark, quiet, comfortable, cool relaxing. Make sure your bed and mattress is comfortable.


3. Finish your dinner atleast 2-3 hours before sleeping.If you feel hungry before sleeping, try nutrition bars instead of eating just prior to sleep.

4. Avoid nicotine, caffeine and other stimulants which can be found in coffee, tea, soft drinks, cigarettes, chocolate etc.

5. Regular exercise can help in maintaining good health and can also be useful for good sleep. But remember to finish your workout atleast a few hours before your bedtime.

6. Try to go to bed only when you are sleepy. This avoids that time you often spend trying to sleep but failing to do so.

7. Keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature, neither too hot nor too cold.

8. Don't worry unnecessarily if you feel you are not getting enough sleep, as it might make matters worse. If you have the habit of waking up in the middle of the night and looking at your clock, it is advisable to turn away the clock from your eyes so that you have to turn it back in order to see the time and you may decide not to go through that trouble and may soon overcome this habit.

9. If you cannot sleep for 15-20 minutes then get out of bed and do something else. Return to bed only when you feel reall sleepy. Repeat this as many times as necessary during the night.

10. Nutritional food like green vegetables and fresh fruits can help in improving the quality of your sleep.

11. An old-fashioned remedy is to take two teaspoons of cider vinegar with two teaspoons of honey in a glass of warm water.

12. Footbaths in lukewarm water can help in inducing sleep.

13. While lying in bed you can visualize various parts of your body relaxing.Wear an eyemask to shut out the light.Sweet Dreams Sleep Mask

14. Free your mind from worries as they can prevent you from having a restful sleep. Leave office work at office, do not spend more than 3-5 minutes thinking about the day's problems while you are in bed, avoid having arguments with somebody in the evenings as they can interfere with your sleep at night.

15. If you have a long list of things to do and your mind is constantly thinking about them then one of the best ways to free up your mind is to write down each important task on a piece of paper, next to each task you may write down a future date and time when you want to deal with it. Writing them down will help in uncluttering your mind so that you can now peacefully go to sleep.



Some tips to help you feel fresh and energetic during day:
==========================================================


1. If you have problems getting up from bed in morning, then try this simple technique to fully awaken yourself. Just go into direct sunlight and stay there for 2 minutes. When we are in darkness, our body produces hormones which make us feely sleepy. This sleepiness can be overcome by exposing our bodies to bright light, specially sunlight. You should feel wide awake and fresh within just few minutes of being in sunlight.

2. Wipe your face with hands after getting up from bed in order to drive away the sleepy feeling.

3. While getting up in the morning, do not jump out of your bed. Instead take your time - adjust your clothes, stretch your body and ease out of bed rather than hurrying. Drink a glass of water to get your system going again.

4. Take short naps during the day to help you remain energetic. You may avoid sleeping for longer hours during day, but take short naps ranging from 10-30 minutes as these naps will help in recovering lost energy and keeping you fresh all day long. Research has proved the benefits of short naps and many busy people have been known to take naps during the day - among them being Thomas A. Edison, Mark Twain etc.


Tips for people who work in Night Shifts:
=========================================

People working in night shifts like working at airports, hospitals, in customer care etc. have to sleep during day and they may find the noise and light to be distracting. Here are some tips for such people:

1. Use room darkening shades or curtains if you are sleeping during daytime or use an eyemask like this one: Sweet Dreams Sleep Mask
2. Use fan to block out outside noises or use a sound conditioner:Marpac 580 Sound Screen & SleepMate Sound Conditioner
3. Try to take regular meals and balanced diet.
4. Walking, jogging, swimming etc. can help in making you stay alert and enjoy healthy sleep.
5. Avoid late night caffeine.

Disclaimer: The information provided here is not intended to be medical advice. If you suspect that you have a sleep disorder then it is advicable to seek professional help.


See these resources for better sleep:
1. End Your Tiredness Program - Feel energized throughout the day, no more tired and sleepy feelings. This guide can really help you

2. Discover Natural Home Remedies for Insomnia

3. How to get rid of Dark Circles From Under the Eyes

Sleep Mask:



Related Articles:
1.3 steps for a good night's sleep, 2. Tips to prevent headaches, 3.Have more energy everyday, 4.3 simple diet changes to skyrocket your energy levels

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Are you failing despite persistence?

All of us must have heard the proverb:
"Winners never quit and quitters never win".

Time and again, we have seen the value of persistence in the lives of succesful people in whatever field they were, whether in business, politics, sports etc.

But there may be a lot many men and women who persisted in trying to achieve something yet they failed. You may be among them, you may have been trying to achieve something from many years and still have not succeeded.

So what is the difference between people who persist and finally succeed and people who fail despite persisting tirelessly??

There is a very important difference. Read on.

People who persist and still fail in achieving their desired goals, are usually those who keep on doing the same thing again and again and yet expect a different result.

Persistence is not about repeating the same thing over and over and hoping for a different result each time. It is stupidity, not persistence. Such persistence is misguided and not likely to help.


People who tasted success are usually those who learn from their mistakes, change their approach, try new things and keep trying new things till they are able to finally achieve their desired result.
Such people are open-minded, willing to learn, try new approaches and don't assume they know everything. All of these are very important traits.

Thomas A. Edison seems to have failed 10,000 times before finally inventing the light bulb. Now each time he failed, he tried another experiment and kept on doing it. He didnt repeat the same experiment 10,000 times hoping for a favorable result. If he had done that, then most likely the light bulb would not have been invented, not by him atleast.

So remember the following points while pursuing your goals:

1. Be persistent.

2. Try another approach if the earlier one didn't work.

3. Keep an open mind and be willing to learn, specially from your mistakes. Do not assume that you know everything.

4. Do not think that you have tried all possible approaches. You may have tried all approaches that you are aware of, but there may be things that you don't currently know. So focus on finding newer approaches.

If you do the above, then you are giving your mind strong signals that you are determined to achieve your goal. Your mind no longer has any excuses. This is the kind of persistence that we need.


Related Articles
1.Important attitude for success
2.Tips to manage stress
3.Overcome fears through education
4.Tips for healthy sleep
5.Managing stress at workplace
6.Tips to improve concentration

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An important attitude for success

There is a very useful attitude that you can have when you are
trying to achieve any goal. Try to have the following attitude for
any goals that you consider worthwhile and useful:

"I will try to achieve this goal no matter how much time it takes".

You may be determined to achieve a particual goal. However there is
a slight difference in the above mentioned attitude that makes it so
much more useful.

There are two powerful things in the above mentioned attitude and they are:

1. You are committing yourself to the goal for a very long time - this is important to develop persistence,

2. You are not keeping any time frames for achieving that goal. This is also
very important. When you lift the time constraints while trying to achieve something
you become more relaxed and positive. Not just that, your whole
approach to the goal may change.

You will now pay attention to a lot of details which you might have neglected before, you will take the time to gain information that is essential for your particular goal. After removing the time constraint, you may realize that the quality of your work has improved.

If you have time constraints, then you would try to rush things. You would try to achieve things quickly, try shortcuts and miss important steps in between. You may also not give sufficient time to learn new things which can be helpful in the pursuit of your goal.

So allow yourself time to gather information, learn the important stuff, do things at a pace with which you feel comfortable, so that you dont get overwhelmend.

If you take out the time limits and commit yourself for long time to your goal, and say to yourself that you will keep trying no matter how much time it takes, you are sending a message to your brain that you are not going to give up. This is a very powerful message and your mind is likely to respond in a similar fashion by becoming more focussed about your goal.


Related Articles:
1.Are you failing despite persistence?
2.Get Rid of negative self-image
3.Overcome fears through education
4.22 tips to handle stress


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