Concentration

When we can’t concentrate, it feels like we’re being pulled in different directions and we don’t know what to focus on. It’s as if something keeps popping into our minds, distracting us from what we’re doing. Even when we try to block it out, it keeps returning, causing us to trip and stumble over our own thoughts.

The distractions can be caused by many things. Worry. Boredom. Noise. Tiredness. Restless thoughts. Whatever it is, it prevents us from giving our full attention and energy to our goals. For example, if we’re trying to read and we get distracted, we can get hardly grasp what’s going on in the book, let alone move on to the next page.

Trying to concentrate can be a struggle if we’re not in an environment that is quiet. For example, if we’re somewhere that has a lot of noise such as loud music, it can interrupt our concentration to no end. Or if we haven’t eaten or haven’t gotten enough sleep, that can interfere with our concentration since we’re tired, low on energy, or simply hungry.

Sometimes we can’t concentrate because we’re not interested in what we’re concentrating on. Maybe it’s because it’s not important to us, or maybe it’s not something that piques are interest. In order to concentrate, it needs to be something that takes priority over other things. For example, it can be something that we have a vested interest in, whether it is financial, our health, or maybe a personal goal (i.e. a writing goal). If it’s none of these, then we need to be disciplined about it–make it a routine. If we make that routine a habit, then we’ve essentially made it a priority.