This Wednesday: tips for boosting your ability to concentrate.

Every Wednesday is Tip Day.
This Wednesday: Tips for boosting your ability to concentrate.

1. Chew gum. According to a recent study, chewing gum improves memory by increasing blood flow to the relevant brain regions.

2. Or chew on a plastic stirrer. I don’t like gum, but I find that keeping one of those plastic coffee stirrers in my mouth really helps me concentrate. Maybe it’s just a placebo effect, but who cares?

3. Take a break. Studies show that due to the “reminiscence effect,” people work and study more efficiently when they take a ten-minute break each hour.

4. Drink caffeine. Caffeine sometimes gets a bad rap, but it does make you more alert and energetic, and reduces distractability. (Plus, if you're drinking enough liquid, you have to take a break every hour -- to go to the bathroom.)

5. Clear off part of your desk. It doesn’t need to be perfectly tidy, but having a patch of bare surface helps focus your mind.

6. Exercise. Exercise wakes up the brain, plus I find that if I don’t exercise regularly, I can’t sit still at my desk.

7. Locate your office supplies. Having the tools that you need at hand — the stapler, the memo pad, the pen — means that you won’t lose your chain of thought while you’re rifling through your desk.

8. Get enough sleep. Enough said.

Comments

[Mike]

Hey Gretchen,

Currently I’m writing my master thesis at a company getting up at 7am every morning. First of all it is astonishing how fast time goes by and second I find it really hard to concentrate on my work for a long time without giving into distractions. Music helps to generate some energy and of course coffee seems to do the trick as well. With a free coffee machine at work it is extremely tempting to keep those cups coming, however the coffee just seems to work for a relative short duration. Actually, I seem to feel more tired in de afternoon drinking coffee in the morning. I tried to drink more water and much less coffee and (depending on the day) it is really working out. My energy level seems to be more consistent during the whole day which increases my afternoon productivity.
The following article suggests the same: http://www.sustainable.ie/cultivate/magazine/tired_of_being_tired.htm

Greetz, Mike

[Glenn]

I'm at my desk by 6AM. Thanks to David Allen's "Getting Things Done," my desk is totally empty. I focus by opening up my computer and first doing my "to do" list. Then I check e-mail. Then I close e-mail and only check it about every two hours. Thanks to Peter Drucker's "The Effective Executive" and Manager-Tools.com, I know what my weekly priorities are. I spend at least one hour per day on my number one priority. I do that early in the morning, unless the actions items involve interacting with others who may not be at work yet. At the end of the day, I try to go back and evaluate my success. Although sometimes I'm too tired or behind to do it. I'm working on that, though.

Great blog. I enjoy reading it.
PS: I like Strides Gum. It is VERY flavorful, probably too much for some people. Target carries it. I usually chew it after I burn out on coffee.

[Gretchen Rubin]

Zoikes, up and at your desk at 7:00 am and 6:00 am! Just the thought of such productivity at that hour makes me reach for a cup of coffee...but I agree, when I can get myself to my desk by that hour, I can be enormously productive. There's something about the sun rising and the quiet that is very conducive to concentration.

[amanda]

I really like your blog too, and I'm interested by these tips. I used to get into work at 5:30 am, and now I get in at 7 am, it's really hard to get going so early in the morning! I'll try some of your tips!