If you want to get better, then practice consistently and measure constantly. Use that feedback to figure out what is working and what isn’t. Then, spend your time putting in more reps rather than searching for another hack. Every day, thousands of choices like these happen inside your brain. It’s a constant battle between your desire to create great work and your primal need to know what is going on around you. While focus can seem like fuzzy concepts, it is actually well-studied when it comes to the neuroscience behind it and makes it easier to understand and control. To understand what a focused mind is, you need to understand the concept of intentional field. Your intentional field is the combination of everything inside of you—such as thoughts, emotions, or physical sensations—and everything outside of you—including what you see and what you hear. Focus is the ability to concentrate on cues inside or outside of you in a deliberate way. In today’s world, the sources of distractions are constant, and less likely to be critical to our survival. We get interrupted by a never-ending flow of competing cues and information, and it becomes harder to sustain our attention for longer periods of time. In short, we struggle to stay focused. In this digital world, we are easily distracted. Information is everywhere and we feel the need to deal with increasing and multiple forms of information. It drags on our time and our attention. The inability to concentrate on the task at hand is one of the maladies of our time–everyone wants to know how to focus better, how to concentrate. Yet, the benefits of improving concentration and focus make it an issue worth addressing. Concentration is affected by both internal and external or environmental factors.
Do regular exercises, make yourself divine by offering prayers in time and be contented.
• Distraction. We are bombarded by a constant flow of information, whether new or old, during the process of doing something. Researchers have found that our brains are so primed for this distraction that just seeing our smartphone impairs our ability to concentrate. We constantly assess whether the information is useful, sufficient, or meaningless. The sheer quantity coming in muddles our assessment of whether we actually need more information to make decisions.
• Insufficient sleep. Scientists have found that lack of sleep can lead to lower alertness, slower thought processes, and reduced concentration. You will have more difficulty focusing your attention and may become confused. As a result, your ability to perform tasks especially relating to reasoning or logic can be seriously affected. Chronically poor sleep further affects your concentration and memory.
• Insufficient physical activity. Have you ever noticed how vigorous exercise leaves you feeling more relaxed and energetic throughout the day? When you don’t do physical activity, your muscles can become tense. You may feel tightness in your neck, shoulder, and chest and such persistent, low-level discomfort can affect your concentration.
• Eating habits. What we eat contributes to how we feel, including our mental sharpness and clarity, throughout the day. If we don’t fuel our brains with the proper nutrients, we start to experience symptoms like memory loss, fatigue, and lack of concentration. Low-fat diets can ruin focus because the brain needs certain essential fatty acids. Other restrictive diets may negatively affect concentration by not providing the nutrients the brain needs or by creating hunger, cravings, or feeling of unwellness in the body that are themselves distracting.
• Environment. Depending on what you are doing, the environment can affect your focus. Obviously, a noise level that is too loud is a problem, but many people also have difficulty concentrating when it is too quiet. It isn’t just the overall noise level but the type of noise that matters: the high-energy, anonymous hum of a coffee shop might bring focus while the overheard conversation of two co-workers derails it. A favorite song quickly has you singing along, happily distracted, while less distinct instrumentals might keep you attuned to the task. Lighting that is too bright or too dim can affect your vision. A room that is too hot or too cold creates discomfort.
All of these elements can affect your concentration. The fact of matter is that all these factors are addressable. But we need to train our brain to resolve all these issues. For these do regular exercises, make yourself divine by offering prayers in time and be contented.
(The author is a teacher at Govt High School Brakpora Anantnag. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
Are good managers also always good leaders? SabaMehrajWani
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In order to be a good manager, one must be able to keep track of the tasks they are given day in and day out, week after week , month after month and year after year. Managers, supervisors, and challengers are all competent at what they do. It’s not uncommon for them to find new methods to make the most out of the resources they currently have. They’re on top of things and always have been. Projects are handled by them. They’re in charge of everything from the buildings and personnel to the supply chains and the needs of the customers. They focus on the present as It is all about executing the strategy that is being put in place. They concentrate on the task at hand. Instead, leaders are concerned with laying the groundwork for their strategy. Their job is to lead the company on a path towards greater progress, advancement, and transformation. Trends, possibilities, and dangers are sought out from the outside by leaders. For example, they look at economic trends; changes in religious beliefs; trade practices; ethics; ideologies; and politics. When they think about what the world will look like in the future, they come up with a plan to show how and where they’ll fit into the picture. A company’s success hinges on it’s ability to recruit and retain top-tier executives and managers.
All contribute to making the organization’s long-term goals a reality. There is, however, a difference between a competent manager and a good leader. It’s not always the case that great leaders are also great managers. Good management and leadership, on the other hand, have a significant impact. It is well adapted to the new economic needs. When it comes to employees, they are no longer considered as replaceable cogs in the machine. Managers must provide their employees with more than simply a job description. They also want their supervisors to assist them improve their own abilities. Leadership and management must work together in order for an organisation to function well. ‘Target-setting’ is a management method that only works if there is a strong leader in place. A leader’s ability to see the effective implementation of their strategic vision is another benefit of having good management abilities. As a result, it is conceivable – and beneficial – to combine strong leadership and management characteristics. Achieving this balance might be a challenge because of the different responsibilities. However, successful managers and leaders have similar characteristics, therefore if you want to be both, focus on the following four areas:
• Good listening skills.
• Recognize and examine what catches your interest.
• Make a conscious effort to substitute your negative self-talk with realistic and uplifting ideas; don’t anticipate the terrible or leap to inferences. Be in the now. Focus on the future rather than the past.
• Making yourself responsible for the business’s progress. Make a strategy that enables you to clearly communicate your vision for the company, to accept responsibility for your own activities and to see them through to completion, and to provide feedback to your staff so that you and they can both be held responsible for their actions.
You have the capacity to be a great leader and manager if you possess these four characteristics, as well as people management abilities and the ability to win followers.
(The author is a student. The views, opinions, facts, assumptions, presumptions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the authors and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”.)
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