4 Golden Rules to Boost Your Focus
[Pseudo-] experts say that you can’t beat your pet goldfish in the attention race — just look how fast you scroll! But don’t worry; we got your back!
ACCORDING TO the Huffington Post, students’ ability to concentrate on something getting shorter. In fact, Time Health says that you now have an attention span shorter than a goldfish, which means you cannot focus for more than nine seconds! This is in line with a new study from Microsoft saying that people’s attention now drifts away after eight seconds.
They found out that since the mobile revolution began, the average attention span dropped to the less-than-goldfish standard from twelve seconds. The report read:
“[h]eavy multi-screeners find it difficult to filter out irrelevant stimuli—they’re more easily distracted by multiple streams of media.”
Yikes!
How did they know that? It is said that the Canadian researchers have surveyed 2,000 participants and studied the brain activity of 112 others using electroencephalograms (EEGs), which are instruments used to examine the brain and its areas that are currently at work by reflecting ultrasonic waves as part of a painless procedure. It’s cool and interesting, but let’s make things true and clear first.
The goldfish myth
There have been many scientific papers on goldfish memory, but there is no proof that goldfish have short attention spans or memories, despite popular belief. Goldfishes can perform many kinds of learning said to be for other animals. They have also become a model for studying memory formation and the process of learning, because they have a memory and they can learn.
That means your fishy friend Roberto may one day jump through the hoops and become a world-famous goldfish greatness! Also, that means you’re not really at the level of the favorite aquatic pet in terms of focus. In fact, the same report where this goldfish myth came from says that because you can effectively divide your attention, you’re a better multitasker than those from ages before.
Here’s how to focus
But goldfish or no goldfish, you still need to keep that attention because focus is needed to succeed in school. Also, the temptation of mindlessly scrolling through our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds is too strong to resist (raise your hands, everyone who relates!), so it’s important that you keep your eyes, mind, and soul glued to the goal — so keep reading! Here are four ways to increase your attention span and boost your focus:
Take care of your body and refresh your mind.
Get enough sleep, exercise, take a refreshing bath or shower, drink water, and work at appropriate times. If you work during the night time, try doing your assignments and projects before bedtime in order to relax your body before going to sleep.
Get rid of distractions.
Turn off your phone, tablet, television, or laptop if not needed. If you are easily distracted by outside noise, try listening to ambiance music. Music that helps you calm down, stay focused, and get creative is also good. Websites like Coffitivity, Noisli, and Focus at Will provide these sounds. So does Spotify!
Do not pressure yourself too much.
Pressuring yourself will prevent you from being able to focus on your task, and will have you chasing after the time you have left to understand the topic. Do your task slowly to be sure that you know the material.
Reward yourself.
Give yourself little rewards after finishing parts of your task by planning something fun or being able to go online for a while. Don’t go overboard with your rewards, though!
Now that you know how to improve your focus as a student, try these tips out and reach for your big dreams in few easy steps! I’m sure your goldfish will be very proud of you.
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About us. The Shekinah Standard is an online publication of and by Shekinah Learning School learners and alumni.
About the writer. Ayanna Andrea Santiago is a self-confessed llama lover. She’s also a Grade Seven learner with tons of ideas — memes included — in her head.
