How to Find Focus When You’re Feeling Out of It – Best Ways to Boost Concentration
Many of us can have trouble concentrating, especially when there’s a lot of things going on in life. Here’s a guide on how to find focus when you’re feeling out of it.
Learn key techniques to boost concentration and focus easily throughout the day, no matter what challenges you’re facing. Plus, find out common reasons why you may be feeling so out of it lately!
How to Find Focus When You’re Feeling Out of It
Without further ado, here is how to find focus when you’re feeling out of it. These tips will help you feel more alert and sharper, allowing you to concentrate on what you need to do.
1. Start with Some Deep Breaths
Just taking a couple of deep breaths can make you feel better. This is because deep breaths help in a couple of ways. Breathing is the movement that fuels the lymphatic system, which is a group of organs, vessels, and tissues that help keep a healthy balance of fluid throughout the body and protect you from illness. Second, breathing helps to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, the part of the body responsible for keeping the fight or flight instinct off. When the parasympathetic nervous system is activated, we experience an improved mood, improved digestion, lowered blood pressure, and a calmer heart. Just taking a couple of deep breaths can instantly make you feel better due to how it calms the body’s functions. This in turn will help you be able to focus more without the stress, anxiety, or racing thoughts to get in your way.
2. Do Some Jumping Jacks or Push Ups
If you’re unable to focus due to stress, anxiety, or other worries keeping you jittery, one of the best things you can do is redirect that energy. If you’re feeling out of sorts, it could be due to an imbalance of chemicals in the body. These chemicals, such as cortisol, adrenaline, and norepinephrine, all lead to racing thoughts, a racing heart, and shaky hands. Next time you feel this way, try to do some physical activity that helps redirect that energy someplace else. This can be a couple of jumping jacks, some push-ups, or pacing around the room.
3. Change Your Scenery
If you’re feeling stuck, and unfocused, one thing that can help a lot is a change in scenery. This means moving rooms or changing locations. A location shift can help the mind feel less stuck. Plus, it’s helpful if you move from a cluttered noisy space to somewhere that is calmer with fewer distractions. Distractions can limit your ability to focus on something, so moving to a space that is relaxing and visually pleasing can be just what you need to concentrate.
4. Clean Up Your Space
A cluttered space is visual noise. If your area is untidy, that means there is nowhere for your eyes to rest, nowhere for your mind to relax. Just taking a couple of moments to clean up your space can make a huge difference in your mental clarity and concentration. This also helps reduce distractions. Now you’re not thinking about having to fold the laundry in the corner, you are concentrating and focusing on what you need to be doing.
5. Skip Social Media Scrolls
Social media scrolling is not just a waste of time, but detrimental to health. This reduces our ability to focus in general since most social media is designed to keep your attention for a couple of seconds before moving on to the next thing. This primes the mind to be easily distracted and need constant stimulation. Plus, hearing a social media notification is a surefire way to become unfocused. During the time that you want to concentrate, try to avoid social media and turn off notifications for a while.
6. Set and Achieve Goals
Sometimes we become unfocused because we are trying to achieve a huge goal and can’t look at the bigger picture. It can be very helpful to break goals down into smaller, more achievable goals. That way, you’re able to complete a task, which leads the brain in a reward pathway that makes you feel good and accomplished. Write down your goals, break them down into steps, and make sure they’re achievable, relevant, and specific. These smaller tasks can help you concentrate on completing and accomplishing those steps. That way, you end up feeling better and more productive, well on your way to completing your bigger goal.
7. Sip a Drink
Certain beverages can help us focus. One of the most obvious ones is caffeine. Caffeine can help you clear your mind and sustain attention. It’s important to not drink too much, as this can lead to nervousness or anxiety, which will actually reduce your ability to focus. Drink small amounts of caffeine when you need to. This doesn’t have to be coffee, it can be black tea or even green tea, both of which have a small amount of caffeine. Avoid drinks that are too sugary, such as juices or energy drinks, and avoid alcoholic beverages when you want to focus on something.
8. Make Space for Quality Sleep
None of these tips will have any effect if the most important aspect of our life is under-prioritized. We need to get enough sleep to be able to concentrate. Not getting enough sleep makes our reaction time slower, increases mental fog, and is detrimental to our ability to focus. Studies have found that driving while sleepy is just as bad as driving drunk in some cases. Try to set up a good nighttime routine to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Check out a complete guide here on how to set up a routine that is helpful and achievable.
The Takeaway
This guide on how to find focus when you’re feeling out of it is perfect for anyone. The tips are simple enough to incorporate into your busy life yet very effective. It’s not great feeling disorientated with mental fog or unfocused, so actively working to combat that is vital. Remember, one of the best things you can do to enhance focus, and to increase physical and mental health, is to sleep well. Take time to set up a good nighttime routine that helps you get an optimal and deep rest every night.
Know that health comes from within. Eat nutrient-dense food, move your body, and care for your mental health. Daily habits are the building blocks for emotional, mental, and physical health. As shown above, take care of your gut health! Learn everything you need to know about gut microbiota today for free here.
