Keeping focus is difficult when you have ADD. You feel guilty for not being able stay focused during conversations. You might wander off during a boring conversation. You might not know what was discussed after a conversation with your colleague or after a meeting.
For a long time we assumed that you only use 20 percent of your brain, but that’s a myth.
You use 100 percent of your gray matter and process about 1,400 words per minute. The concentration problem arises the moment you create too few internal stimuli. Then “boredom”, a kind of underperformance, occurs. You do not use the full capacity of your brain, so it starts looking for more stimuli. The void must be filled. This is the stary of a typical case of mind wandering. We do this 47 percent of our time anyway. How can we improve our focus with ADD? In this post, we will explore four concentration techniques useful to help people with ADD improve their focus.
Five helpful concentration techniques for people with ADD to improve their focus
The following tips are proven to help people with ADD focus. It’s important to note that not every tip will work for every individual, but every individual can find one that works for them! Try a few at a time and find which give your brain a little boost.
- Organizing thoughts and tasks
One thing is to write out your ideas. You can’t do everything at once, so you must organize the stuff you need to do. Otherwise, your thoughts will interrupt you while you are trying to focus. Luckily there are lots of ways to do this; you could write out a simple list, use the KanBan method, or be more visual with a mind map.
- Fill the void with….multitasking!
Not enough internal stimuli? We can think of 1400 things a minute. The average speaking speed is 125 words per minute. You can process about 250 words per minute reading. This means that there’s a space that needs to be filled. Many tasks require only 20 percent of our brain capacity. No wonder our smartest system starts looking for other stimuli!
- Multitasking? Is that really a good idea?
With multitasking, you actually fill the void. Pay attention! We are not talking about task switching here, where you literally switch from one task to another. When doing something that requires little internal stimuli, the idea is to do something simple almost mindless next to it to stay attentive.
A great example is doodling during a phone call. If you sit with pen and paper, your brain fills up with that activity. So you listen more attentively. It makes it harder for the brain to wander.
Research has shown that you can actually remember 29 percent more information from a phone conversation if you doodle at the same time. Teachers know that children like to draw and color while reading aloud. So everyone keep a notepad and pen handy during meetings, classes, or phone calls!
- Background sound
If you work with others around you — especially in an open office — putting music on is a great way to reduce distractions. But you have to be careful, the music itself can be a distraction too! So I’ve listed some tools that give you sound that won’t distract others.
- Mediation
Sometimes writing out your thoughts and to-dos is not enough to calm the mind. Sometimes you keep distracting yourself anyway. Meditating or just breathing can be a great way to calm the mind.
Some additional tips to improve your focus with ADD
The following tips are proven to help people with ADD focus. It’s important to note that not every tip will work for every individual, but every individual can find a tip that works for them! Put a few into practice at a time and find which help give your brain a little boost.
- Find Your Ideal Environment
Your environment plays a huge part in your ability to get things done, and keeping it clean from the start will reduce distractions later. Set aside a short time as needed, whether that’s daily, weekly, or whenever works for you. Use this time to tidy up your workplace — your home, office, desk, car, etc. — so you can get back to work feeling refreshed.
On a similar note, have you noticed you work better under certain circumstances? Maybe you find yourself at peak productivity on rainy days — if so, play rain or thunder sounds throughout the day as you work and see if it helps you get things done.
If you work remotely or take online classes, finding motivation to work while at home can be hard for some people. If you need complete silence to do your best work, create a dedicated space. Shut the door, put headphones on, and close the blinds, if needed.
Or perhaps at the other end of the spectrum, you are more productive when you see others being productive as well — take your laptop to a coffee shop where you can people-watch and see others work.
- Do a Small Part
Finding the motivation to begin a task can feel overwhelming. Breaking your tasks into smaller chunks and starting with just one aspect can sometimes help with the overwhelm. Once you get started, you might find you get “in the zone” and want to keep going. Often, your motivation kicks in after you’ve begun a project, not before.
For example, let’s say you need to clean the kitchen after dinner. The dishes need to be done, the counters need to be wiped, the leftovers need to be put away, and the floor needs to be swept —thinking about it all together can seem like a lot.
- Try to Beat the Clock
Do you put off tasks until right before the deadline? That’s not a coincidence. Deadlines force you to push past the procrastination, and waiting until the last moment creates an adrenaline rush, boosting your motivation.
With that in mind, give yourself deadlines for things. Make a game out of it and see if you can give yourself a bit of a rush as you try to beat the clock. Say to yourself, how quickly can I finish this task? Whether it’s folding laundry, putting dishes away, or running errands, giving yourself a hard deadline can push you to complete your goals.
- Find a Buddy
Do you know anyone else with ADD? Having a friend who understands and can relate can be so helpful. Hold each other accountable. Whether you talk daily, weekly, or even just periodically, you can help each other stick to your goals and get things accomplished. It’s just nice to share your progress and celebrate your successes with someone who gets it.
- Switch Things Up
You may find that your brain jumps from one thing to the next, which doesn’t help when you’re trying to get things done. Instead of allowing it to get the best of you, make it work in your favor! As you begin your day, create a list of the top three things you need to get done that day — whether it’s a sticky note on the fridge, a note in your phone, a checklist on a whiteboard, or even a mental note you repeat to yourself throughout the day. If you find yourself in need of a change while you’re working on one of your tasks, pivot to one of the other two things to give your brain a chance to focus on something else for a while. Then, you can return to the original task when you’re ready to do so.
It’s best to keep your list small, so you aren’t constantly going from goal to goal without making much progress. If needs be, you can always add another task to your list once you have completed one of the original three.
- Make Time to Move
Giving your brain breaks is important and setting aside specific times to do so can be helpful. Take a little time throughout your day just to forget entirely about what needs to be done and put the “pro” in “procrastination.” Just a short, ten-minute exercise break or mini dance party can do wonders for your mentality.
If you’re feeling fidgety at the office, take a short break to refill your water bottle and walk up and down the stairs of your building. Or perhaps you need a change of scenery — go for a walk around outside the building and take in the fresh air.
On a similar note, if you need time to relax, take it. Spend some time meditating, focus on your breathing, or even take a small cat nap. Learn what you need to do to keep your focus and figure out how to incorporate those things into your life, without them throwing off the course of your entire day.
The key here is to set a limit. Before you begin, set a timer and stick to it. When the timer goes off, it’s time to get back to your original task.
- Allow Yourself to Feel Whole
Remember, your ADD isn’t something you need to fix; it’s something you need to learn to work with. Talk to people in your life about it, make room for it, and most importantly, remember to be kind to yourself. If you’re struggling to find tactics that work for you, don’t be afraid to find help. AdventHealth has a team of highly-skilled professionals who can work with you to find solutions so you can be your best self. Learn more today.