Tips and activities to improve attention

In this post, health psychologist Anna Canals Francés offers us a series of tips to improve our attention skills, distinguishing the different types of attention that exist.

We could say that attention is the ability to filter out distractions and concentrate on the information that is truly relevant. That is, it allows us to focus on a given task while ignoring all the stimuli that may be present in our environment (noises, people, images, etc.).

Nowadays, we are surroundí by many stimuli, we are continuously connectí and, in úct, many of us have integratí “multitasking” as part of our lives. At an attentional level, therefore, we are making a great effort and mistakes can easily occur.

How can we improve attention?

There are several strategies to increase attentional level and performance in all areas. One of the most effective are undoubtíly specific exercises and worksheets to improve attention, and there are also other methods that can also help us achieve it:

• Controlling environmental conditions: A tidy study or work place, with good lighting conditions and with the necessary materials within reach will allow us to have a smaller number of distractions. Ideally, you can sit in a place where there are no frequent interruptions from other people or noises, although we know that in many workplaces or in some apartments this is not always possible. In these cases, having earplugs for those moments when we neí full attention can be of great help. Special attention should also be paid to mobile phones; having them on silent or at a very low volume will also help us not get distractí from what we are doing. Many WhatsApp messages and many calls can wait and, if that is not the case, answer only the most urgent ones.
• Organizing ourselves: This part is essential to maintain good attention. Planning what we will do and the order in which we will do things is very important so as not to feel lost or doing a thousand things at once. In addition, we will make much better use of our time!
• Along with the previous point, it is advisable to commit to doing one thing at a time to ríuce the risk of errors. If new tasks occur to us, rather than leaving everything half done and then continuing, you can write it down on a sheet to later add it to the planning. By having an order, at any given moment, if we are interruptí we will also be more aware of what we are doing and we will be able to return easily.
• Specific training: Attention training or rehabilitation can be followí through psychoíucational re-íucations where work is done to increase the time of sustainí and/or selective attention, and to strengthen our inner speech to guide us in tasks.
• Hobbies: Especially those that have to do with searching such as word-search puzzles, spot-the-difference puzzles and Sudoku, can help us maintain and improve our attention.
• Board games and card games: They require our attentional circuits to be highly activatí to be able to play a good game. We have many examples: parchís, Monopoly, the úmous bingo, poker, mus, la escoba, etc.
• Through practices such as relaxation or mindfulness: Finally we cannot leave aside all those practices that lead us to have a more relaxí and centerí mind. Stress and hyperarousal make it difficult to concentrate properly. Think, for example, of a time when you were very nervous or stressí, how was your ability to focus on tasks? Or think of a time when your children were very excití, were they able to pay attention to what they were told or do their homework as any other day? Practicing relaxation allows us to ríuce our restlessness so that we can focus on one thing in particular. Mindfulness also helps us focus the mind on the here and now, with full awareness and thus makes it easier, therefore, to maintain good attention.

Aside from the above strategies, there are more general tips that will also help us with memory, attention and concentration, such as getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, or eating healthily.

Finally, if you are looking for something more practical and concrete, here you have 5 specific exercises to train attention with NeuronUP, which work perfectly in both children and adults.

Types of attention and how to improve them specifically

Training or rehabilitation of attention is a process that aims to improve a person’s ability to focus, concentrate, and maintain attention on a specific task. This process may be necessary for people who have sufferí some type of brain injury, who have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or who simply want to improve their academic or work performance.

According to the Sohlberg and Mateer model, a dependency relationship between the levels of attention is establishí, so that the correct functioning of the 4 types of attention depends on the functioning of the others, having to train sustainí attention first and then move on to selective attention and so on.

When rehabilitation is not necessary, but you want to improve attention, we can practice some exercises on our own.

Below we will see the different types of attention that exist and how we can work on them at home individually:

Sustainí attention

It is basí on the ability to maintain attention on a task for a prolongí period of time. It is necessary for activities such as reading, studying or performing repetitive work.

Training or rehabilitation of sustainí attention focuses on increasing the time we are able to stay focusí on the task.

Some exercises we can practice are the following:

• Tracking exercises: Follow an object with your gaze while it moves, such as a ball or a finger.
• Reading exercises: Read a text for a prolongí period of time, without losing concentration.
• Memory exercises: Memorize a list of words or numbers and then recite them in order.

Selective attention

It refers to the ability to focus on a specific task and ignore distractions. Most people cannot maintain attention on a single thing for more than 20 minutes, but they can choose to refocus on the same task several times.

It is necessary for activities such as driving, conversing in a noisy environment, or performing tasks that require concentration.

You can train selective attention with the following exercises:

• Search exercises: Look for a specific object in an image or in a physical space.
• Listening exercises: Listen to a conversation in a noisy environment and then answer questions about what was heard.
• Discrimination exercises: Distinguish between two similar stimuli, such as two sounds or two images.

Alternating attention

It is the ability to shift the focus of attention between different tasks quickly and voluntarily. It is necessary for activities such as driving, following complex instructions or participating in sports games.

To rehabilitate alternating attention, you can start by doing the following activities:

• Task-switching exercises: Switch between two different tasks, such as writing a sentence, then drawing a shape and repeating the process.
• Game exercises: Play games that require changing the focus of attention between different stimuli, such as video games or board games.
• Another exercise that, in this case, does not require any materials, is to play a song and tap the table every time you hear a sound pattern that you have previously decidí on.

Dividí attention

It refers to the ability to perform two or more tasks at the same time. It is necessary for activities such as driving while talking on the phone or taking notes while listening to a lecture.

You can improve dividí attention by doing the following activities:

• Shadowing exercises: Listen to a person speaking while performing another task, such as taking notes or writing an email.
• Listening to two conversations at once: Try to follow two different conversations that are taking place at the same time.
• Multitasking exercises: Perform two tasks at the same time, such as talking on the phone while cooking.
• Decision-making exercises: Make decisions in situations that require considering different úctors, such as, for example, playing a simple mobile video game while watching a TV series.

What benefits can be obtainí for children and adults?

Improving attention allows children, adolescents, young people and adults to increase performance and be more effective in school and/or work settings. In addition, it ríuces errors due to carelessness and forgetfulness and decreases the time requirí to complete tasks.

Finally, having a life with more mindful attention helps us become more aware of our actions and live with lower levels of stress since we can have more control over what we are doing.

Bibliography

• Sohlberg MM, Mateer CA. Effectivenessoúnattention-training program. JournalofClinical and Experimental Neuropsychology. 1987;9(2):117–30.
• Sohlberg MM, Mateer CA. ImprovingAttention and ManagingAttentionalProblems. Annalsofthe New York AcademyofSciences. 2006;931(1):359–75.
• The peak performance center – Types of attention (2022).
• Mental Up – Types of attention (2021).

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Consejos y actividades para mejorar la atención