Improving Concentration And Being More Productive

[Gagan]

Hi,

I started meditation as an exercise of my brain to improve my cognitive skill and being more productive person, i was expecting to have better concentration but now I am realizing that there are different meditation for concentration (with concentration target) and different for other meditation (do nothing technique).

If it is good for my concentration if I keep practicing do nothing technique with concentration meditation.

my main goal is to have better concentration and better cognition in daily life.  Any suggestion?

 

[Visitor]

(A) = concentration target. (B) = do nothing.

(A) Learn to listen to other (B) than your self.

(B) Do not listen to self when (A) listening to somebody or reading something.

 

[Nahm]

@Gagan I do not find meditation to be a tool for concentration. I find it to be useful for letting go of thoughts, and all the mental and bodily momentum of thoughts. I agree with you that it will improve overall cognition and unify orchestration of the mind. It gets me back to no momentum. In that state of mind, I then do what I want to do. That statement is oversimplified. 

If you want focus and concentration, learn an instrument. Classical music, specifically, works very well. If that makes you think "but I am not talented" or "I can't play an instrument", then try to realize it is only because you don't have focus and concentration, and that would be a great way to get there.  Almost no one is talented, but a lot of people practice a lot and years of practice are what is commonly referred to as talent. I prefer to increase my concentration playing guitar and singing versus doing nothing. It's more enjoyable, it's a handy social hobby, and I usually lose myself from doing multiple things at one time (singing, playing, diaphamic breathing, resonating the vibration in my head and chest, etc. ) Losing myself is my favorite thing to do so far, I hope if you dig this, that it brings you joy as well. 

[Gagan]

Thanks for reply,

Now I can understand that meditation is not for improving concentration and cognition but I am observing a pattern when I am doing concentration meditation (concentration target) that my inner mind is trying to disturb my concentration in the same way my concentration get distracted in my daily routine work. 

Now I have a new doubt that if I will keep doing concentration meditation with some other kind of mediation weather it will help me in concentration or not ?

If there is some other ways than playing instrument to improve concentration some kind of meditation or other brain exercise.?

Shall I stop doing Concentration meditation (concentration target) and do nothing  together? (shall I choose either ?)

Doubt about do nothing

When I start do nothing practice initially i feel calm and free of control as supposed to be but after sometime I am just sitting and thinking about various things about my life which I also think when I am not meditating (can't feel the difference between meditation and  thinking about random things),If it is normal for do nothing technique or I am doing it wrong.

[BjarkeT]

If you want better concentration I highly recommend deep work by cal newport

one of the things he recommends is:

1: focus as intensely as possible (the higher the concentration the more you can do in less time)

2: be bored so it becomes easier for the brain to fire the relevant neurons (even to the point where it becomes bored to concentrate on what you do)

3: avoid attention residue. Its something thats happens when you switch from task to task quickly and it makes your concentration weaker (this can happen a lot if you are on the internet)

4: be aware of tools that can give you attention residue even when you aren't concentrating as it can make your concentration weaker when you go back to concentration 

hope you can use it

kind regards

[Siim Land]

Attain Jedi-Like Concentration in 4 Steps

1. Feel in Control of Your Environment - If there’s the possibility of a random stimulus to pop up, then you’re already unconsciously pre-empting it to happen, thus causing slight arousal and anxiety.

   1. Turn off social media notifications and other pop-ups.

   2. Plug off the Internet, unless you really need it for your work.

   3. Mute your cell phone or switch it to airplane mode. In fact, put it out of sight for the time being so you wouldn’t be tempted to play with it.

   4. Eliminate other possible distractions, such as the TV, radio, pencils, toys, food. Whatever your weakness might be, you know it – get rid of them.

   5. Lose the possibility of other people disturb you. 

   6. Switch to Jedi-Sage Mode. 

2. Dedication and Commitment - The amount of focus we can dedicate to one thing is limited to how many objects we have to concentrate on.  

   1. Dedicate yourself to the ONE thing. 

   2. Concentrate on only one task at a time. Enough said.

   3. Have only a handful of commitments and projects at a time. 

   4. Finish a task before you pick a new one. 

   5. Empty your mental recycle bin. 

   6. Practice via negative. It’s the method of first subtracting the downside before adding in more stuff. 

3. Persistence and Perseverance - The key to extraordinary results lies in intense concentration on the task and thus becoming immersed by it.  It’s the merging of your awareness with the object of your focus, which is a state of consciousness called FLOW, or the zone.

4. Strengthened Willpower and Psychic Energy -  To attain jedi-like concentration we have to also deliberately practice it.

   1. Jedi Meditation. This is probably the most fundamental tools in the psychic skill-set of a jedi-warrior.

   2. Laser-Sight Gazing. This same focus can be achieved by looking at one object for an extended period of time.

   3. Concentration Curls. A bodybuilding exercise used to flex your mental muscles. It’s based on doing reps of periods of focus. Simply hold a thought, a concept or an image in your head for a set amount of time.

   4. Conversational Presence. While talking to another person, gaze into their eyes and give them your fullest attention.

How to Reclaim Your Attention?

The key to not losing focus entirely is to simply notice that when you’re beginning to drift, accept it and then guide your attention back to the task.

Check out the video for more descriptive explanations!

 

 

Stay Focused

Stay Empowered

Siim

[Gagan]

@Nahm

Thanks for reply,

Now I can understand that meditation is not for improving concentration and cognition but I am observing a pattern when I am doing concentration meditation (concentration target) that my inner mind is trying to disturb my concentration in the same way my concentration get distracted in my daily routine work. 

Now I have a new doubt that if I will keep doing concentration meditation with some other kind of mediation weather it will help me in concentration or not ?

If there is some other ways than playing instrument to improve concentration some kind of meditation or other brain exercise.?

Shall I stop doing Concentration meditation (concentration target) and do nothing  together? (shall I choose either ?)

Doubt about do nothing

When I start do nothing practice initially i feel calm and free of control as supposed to be but after sometime I am just sitting and thinking about various things about my life which I also think when I am not meditating (can't feel the difference between meditation and  thinking about random things),If it is normal for do nothing technique or I am doing it wrong.

[HikiNEET]

@Gagan Hey, stop doing this, do this instead:

24/7 zen mode. Focus on everything that you do in an extreme way. Focus on your senses, be in the now.

Books:

The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle

Flow - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Edited June 16, 2017 by HikiNEET