Pay attention, learn quickly about life

You want to improve general focus so you can increase productivity. Here is a simple exercise I found helped me a lot, with this is simply counting the steps until I reach my destination whenever I am walking somewhere. While it sounds silly, it teaches your brain discipline. The human mind tends to wander around, especially when left unchecked, so doing this will build mental fortitude and focus. You will notice at the start that after the first 20 or so steps, you will start thinking of random, most often useless, things.

Even just noticing that you do this and then going back to counting will help you, because in the long run, those 20 steps before you lose focus will become 50, the 50 will eventually become 100 and so on. Meditation. If you’re someone that does not yet meditate, I know what you’re thinking whenever this is recommended. Trust me, up until last November I was in your shoes. However, the single most important habit I have developed since then is meditation.

Start slow, only 3 minutes a day, preferably in the morning. It will help wake you up, sharpen your mind and give you a sense of accomplishment and make you feel ready to take on the world. It’s going to be hard at first, but you will find plenty of instructional videos on YouTube. I’d gladly link one here, but it’s better if you search for them yourself because what works for me, might not work for you. If you want to start but are unsure how, the thing I did at first was focusing on my breath. I was inhaling deeply and exhaling.

Between those two processes there’s a short second in which the body does nothing. I would focus on that, and whenever my mind would wonder around, I’d make sure to bring it back to that. I am not able to put into words what I felt after I completed my first week of meditating daily. It’s an amazing habit that is much harder than it seems, but the rewards are beyond your imagination.

Focus on just one thing at a time. A great quote that emphasizes this: “Unlimited possibilities are not suited to man; if they existed, his life would only dissolve in the boundless. To become strong, a man’s life needs the limitations ordained by the duty and voluntarily accepted!” You simply want to stop daydreaming as much

You can start by developing healthy habits. One habit I have been working on is reading whenever I would normally check Facebook. I always make sure to have an interesting book or magazine around, and whenever I’d have to wait a few minutes for something, instead of wasting those minutes watching YouTube Death Battles and Cinema Sins videos, I’d pick up that book and read it. I feel much more accomplished at the end of the day since I started doing that and I actually even sleep better at night. If reading is not your thing I suggest doing puzzles such as Sudoku, Kakuro or cross word.

Start using To-Do lists and other habit tracking apps. Technology is all around us, but it’s our choice when we use it to procrastinate. Start a task planning system. Deal with it every weekend and clear it, making sure to keep it tight. I know it might sound unrelated to your question, but being more aware of the things you have to do helps you schedule everything better. And when you schedule, you have to pay attention to everything (events, people, tasks etc).

This is literally the single best way to pay more attention to your own life: schedule it. That way, you will know what will happen ahead of time, rather than playing the relentless game of “catch-up” with every little thing. Of course, you can’t plan for everything, but planning for what you can will greatly improve being aware of what’s happening around you.

Make a habit of contacting n people a day. Use a Habit-Tracking app such as Habitica or Habitbull to help you do it. There are plenty of other great choices as well, look for what works for you. This will not only help tighten your social circle, but since you are the one taking the initiative you will at all times be aware of how you spend your time.

I could list here 20 other habits that might help with the awareness of your surroundings, but at the end of the day, it’s only a matter of focus. Knowing there’s a problem you already took the biggest step. Now all you have to do is work the smaller ones. The two books I would suggest reading are: "The power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg and "Deep Work"- Cal Newport. The first one teaches you how habits are formed. Knowing this you will know how to develop your own and get rid of any you might not like.The second book teaches you how to excel through intense focus in a distracting environment. I know it kind of contradicts what you are requesting but trust me, it will help.

Imagine a train is running @ 70+kmph. But, still I'm able to hear tadak tadak tadak tadak sounds made by the tracks. It is indeed very uncomfortable, people are fighting for seats. Lot of quarrelling. Yeah! I'm in general compartment. It’s 12am now and I don't know who this guy is. He is reading continuously for 3 hours and literally forgot everything around him. I don't know anything about him but I can deduce few things He is reading a book. I guess he got only one shot remaining. The moment which he's waiting is one step away. He is not ready to let that moment slip away.

See, when you want to get something, All these lame excuses like forgetting things, remembering things, concentration problems doesn't matter for you. These are just reasons created by you to justify your future failure. When you are in comfort zone every small thing becomes distraction for you. Get out of that comfort zone. Try to study even though you're constantly being distracted by things. Make discomfort your new friend. Then you'll be able to study 2 times greater when you are in your comfort zone. Cheers!