7 Little-Known Tricks To Help You Regain Focus When You Lose Focus While Working

It’s 3.00 p.m.

Fear grips your heart as you stare at the open MS Word document on your computer screen.

You have to finish and submit this 2000- word article to your client before the day ends, but you’ve been able to type only 100 words.

That’s because your mind has been wandering for the past one hour.

You try to focus and work, but you just can’t focus on the computer screen.

What do you do? ?

In this article, I share some little known tricks, backed by science, that can help you.

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Eat Dark Chocolate

I’m sure you have those afternoons when you get fuzzy and try to focus on your computer keypad, but your mind wanders and you find it hard to bring it back and continue what you’re doing.

The good news is that eating dark chocolate can help you. And this is backed by science.

One study tested subjects by making them consume dark chocolate containing 60% cacao (the seed that’s processed into chocolate). The study found that the brains of the participants became alert after they’d eaten the chocolate.

This study confirmed an earlier study which had found that plant chemicals found in chocolate, known as flavanols, can help sustain focus and attention in adults doing intense mental work.

If you’re worried about consuming too many calories, eat at most 30 g (or 1 ounce) daily, or a square or two a day.

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Glance At A Green Vista For A Minute

I discovered a tool some years ago that helps me to regain focus and get back to work when I lose focus.

Like many writers, I often find it difficult to maintain my focus when I’m working.

Then I came across a study that found that people who took a short break and viewed a green vista found it easier to concentrate, and made less errors, when working.

Luckily for me our yard is full of green grass, crops, and trees with green leaves. Whenever I lift my head and look out of my window I see greenery.

Since I saw that study I have been practicing viewing greenery whenever I feel tired and can’t think logically, when my ideas stop flowing or when anxious thoughts make me lose focus.

These are some of the benefits I get from glancing at greenery:

·???????It refreshes my spirit and gives me renewed energy

·???????It helps calm my mind

·???????Helps reduce mental tension

·???????Reduces confusion

·???????Boosts ?mental clarity

·???????Makes it easier for me to generate fresh ideas

·???????Fewer intrusive thoughts come into my mind

I find it very helpful when I’m reading something very boring, such as the findings of scientific studies, and when I’m writing an article that’s technical in nature.

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Practice Acupressure

Does anxiety that you may not be able to finish all the numerous tasks clients have given you make you lose focus?

Or does fatigue make you take your fingers of your keyboard and stare into space? ??

Acupressure can help you.

Acupressure is a technique used in Chinese medicine to generate well-being. It involves applying pressure to certain specific points on the body (called acupuncture points) with your fingertips to alleviate various symptoms. It also enhances the flow of energy through the body.

There are two techniques that can help writers get back to work when the above mentioned symptoms make them lose focus and concentration.

The first one involves applying pressure to the yintang-EX-HN3 pressure point, which can be found where your forehead meets the top of your nostril.

Research has shown doing this exercise can help reduce ?anxiety, as well as ?stress and fatigue.

So how do you do it?

·???????Sit comfortably in a chair, in front of a mirror

·???????Relax your entire body

·???????Inhale deeply, count up to five, and then exhale slowly

·???????Place your forefinger on the yintang- EX-HN3 acupressure point

·???????Apply steady, even pressure

·???????Move your finger in circles, clockwise, for a minute

·???????Repeat the procedure five times

·???????Then move your finger in circles, anticlockwise, for one minute

·???????Repeat the procedure five times

And if lots of intrusive thoughts distract you, or you daydream while working, you can deal with them by pressing the Ren Zhong - GV-26 (DU-26) acupressure point.

This acupressure point can be found between the lower boundary of your nose and your upper lip (one thirds of the way down from your nose to your upper lip.?

Here is what to do:

·???????Place the tip of your thumb on this point.

·???????Apply steady, even pressure.

·???????Massage for five minutes.

Doing this exercise will help bring you back into the present and you’ll?find it easier to focus on your work.

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Practice Foot Reflexology ?

Reflexology is a very old therapy that has been used by indigenous North American tribes for managing pain and other symptoms, for centuries.

The indigenous people believe that certain zones of the feet, or reflex points, are linked to specific internal organs, and that stimulation of these reflex points stimulates the nerves in those areas. Consequently, blood flow improves, the breathing rate drops, and the immune system experiences a boost. ???

Research findings show that this technique can help release feel-good hormones into the body to help improve alertness and general well-being.

Reflexology provides other benefits as well:

·???????It can help relieve pain in your hands and feet

·???????It can help you to maintain the flexibility of your hands and feet as you work

·???????It relaxes hands and feet, and the whole body

It’s very helpful when you’ve been typing for hours, and sitting for hours, and your arms, hands, fingers, and wrists ache, your legs and feet feel stiff, and you can’t concentrate on your work because of that.

Here’s how to do it:

·???????Get a foot reflexology chart and place it in front of you (There’s a chart in this pdf that you can download and enlarge or you can download one for free from Pinterest).

·???????Get smooth oil (Olive oil gives the best results).

·???????Sit in a comfortable position.

·???????Pour a tablespoonful of the oil on your right foot and spread it all over your foot, and on the bottom.

·???????Apply sustained pressure and knead your foot.

·???????Cross your right foot over your left knee and hold your ankle firmly.

·???????Place the tip of your left thumb on the head/brain point (the underside of the top of your third toe).

·???????Press firmly for one minute.

·???????Release the pressure.

·???????Repeat five times.

·???????Repeat the routine for the head/brain point of your left foot.

Any fog in your mind will be cleared way and you will experience mental clarity. Plus, you’ll find it easier to think positively.

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Fidget

Research done in 2013 found that intentional fidgeting can help boost the release of neurotransmitters (chemicals found in the body) that control how long a person can maintain his attention and focus, and that can help one focus and concentrate on a task.

Additionally, it can make it easier for you to sit for long hours at your computer without getting tired.

There are a number of ways you can fidget to help you focus.

Exercise 1

·???????Put a large coin in your palm.

·???????Focus your mind on the coin and feel its smoothness or roughness.

·???????While its lying flat, move it around in your palm for a minute while still focusing your attention on it.

·???????Raise it and roll it up and down in your palm repeatedly for a minute.

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Exercise 2

Optionally, this is a way of fidgeting that can help you.

·???????When you can’t focus, put a tennis ball in your left hand and mindfully feel it.

·???????Close your eyes, breathe in deeply, and feel its texture and the softness.

·???????Then roll it in your left palm in circles, clockwise, with your right palm.

·???????Repeat the exercise in your right palm.

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Exercise 3

·???????Put the tennis ball in your right hand.

·???????Focus your mind on the ball and squeeze and release, squeeze and release, repeatedly for two minutes.

·???????Repeat with your left hand

The repetitive actions above will make it easier for you to center your attention.

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Spend Time With Someone Who Shares Your Vision

Connect with someone who shares your values and vision, and your sense of urgency, so you can remind each other of your goals and encourage each other to keep working.?

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Recall Your Goals

Remind yourself of these things:

·???????Why you’re working and what you want to achieve in life.

·???????The poverty you want to escape from.

·???????That your failure to continue working and deliver may cost you your job.

·???????The bills you have to pay.

·???????The comfortable life you want to live, and all you’re yet to achieve.

Doing this will help put pressure back on you and help rekindle your motivation to keep working to meet your life goals.

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Conclusion

It’s OK if you lose focus once in a while. The important thing is to avoid becoming comfortable with the situation. Choose to do something about it. Apply the practical tips given in this article and you will find it easier to get back to work when you lose focus. ?