Overcome Lack of Concentration & Focus

We are living in a time of constant change and technological advancement. While improving our lives in many ways, technological progress also presents many distractions and loss of concentration. Some of these distractions may cause or alleviate a lack of concentration and focus in adults.

It is also possible to use technology as a solution to this problem (in order to improve concentration). Before covering concentration issues in adults and difficulty focusing, let’s take a look at the basics and start with the question: "What is concentration?”.

Definition of Concentration

Concentration can be explained as focusing on something without being affected by internal and external stimulus, and being able to keep doing it for a while without any distraction.

Attention deficit appears when concentration problems in adults or focus problems in children occur. Nowadays, this situation can be considered quite normal, and it is possible to overcome it.

Difference Between Concentration and Focus

Let’s explain the difference between focus and concentration step by step:

Focus means being in touch with reality in general. The mind of a focused individual knows where it is, who it is, and why it is there. This means that he is "focused" on the particular task at hand and does not allow his mind to wander off.

Concentration is the act of isolating one's attention on a particular task or an aspect of consciousness. For example, an article, a book, etc. When reading, if there are two people speaking nearby, your concentration can be divided, but you still focus on reading the article.

Contrary to focus, concentration is not just a 'yes' or 'no' option. There may be several degrees of concentration. Focus, on the other hand, is a fundamental aspect of will. So, a person is somewhat more in control of their ability to focus. You can think of it as an imaginary key that allows you to ‘open’ and ‘close’ your focus according to your will.

Causes of Lack of Concentration

If someone says 'I have trouble focusing', there may be many psychological, physiological and environmental causes. Let's explain below a few of the most common factors that lead to concentration problem in adults:

Sleeping disorders

Our sleeping quality and length are extremely important in every aspect of our lives. Sleeping disorders may cause memory and concentration problems in adults or lack of focus in children. Sleep improves us, rejuvenates our body and mind. Therefore, when we are sleepless, we feel unable to focus at work or to concentrate on any task at school.

While sleeping disorder makes it difficult to focus, it also creates the need for constant rest. Creating a sleep pattern is one of the best focusing techniques for adults that decreases sleeping disorders and the inability to focus and concentrate.

Today's technology

Today's technology can cause a lack of concentration and focus problems in adults. This happens because of all the voices that we constantly hear as an external stimulus, such as social media notifications, clock alarms, SMS notifications, call notifications, etc. All of these stimuli cause trouble concentrating on something. After a while, we start facing difficulty focusing and that's why we start to experience loss of concentration even while we are working in our quiet offices.

Although technology may seem like it prevents us from focusing and creates some trouble concentrating, it is mostly related to our choices. Likewise, we can improve our ability to focus and concentrate by taking advantage of technology.

Hormonal changes

Hormonal changes can cause symptoms in many different ways in the body and in our life. The most important of these are sleep problems, confusion, fatigue, and depression. All these symptoms are actually the cause of impaired concentration.

If you have these types of symptoms, you can have a simple blood test to check for hormonal imbalance. Solving hormonal problems with a professional will also help concentrating on tasks.

Emotional stress

Our brain secretes adrenaline in case of danger and keeps the body in a state of stress. Although adrenaline provides high energy and full focus at first, its effect passes in a short time. This time, the brain activates the cortisol hormone as a result of continuing stress. During intense focus, the prefrontal cortex of the brain operates at full capacity.

In this way, it becomes easier for the individual to make healthy decisions, focus, finish the job to reach the solution. However, the constant presence of cortisol in the body disrupts the normal mechanism of the prefrontal cortex. When this part is not working properly, it causes poor concentration and focus quality. In this case, the individual cannot make logical decisions which leads to short term memory loss problems and adaptation problems.

Medications

The chemical contents of drugs can have quite intense effects on the brain. The amount or frequency of medication and the use of the right medication are issues that need to be very carefully addressed in order to maintain mental health.

To use any drugs, you must definitely undergo a doctor’s control. In order to avoid any complications, you should make sure to tell your doctor if you use any medications for focusing and concentration.

Consequences of Concentration Problems

Having trouble concentrating and having difficulty focusing are factors that seriously affect daily life. In order to learn how to focus and concentrate, it is very important to identify the source of the problem because some learning disabilities like Dyscalculia, or Dyslexia, can be misinterpreted as lack of concentration and focusing.

These should be diagnosed by a specialist. Then parents should follow their recommendations and take advantage of supportive solutions such as Dyslexia apps for kids.

Let's give a few examples of what it might be like to have trouble concentrating and having difficulty focusing:

Problems Focusing at Work

Even if you love your job, you may sometimes have the question 'why am I having a hard time focusing'. If you still continue to experience this problem even if you have removed all kinds of factors from your life that may cause you to have trouble concentrating or having difficulty focusing, you need to be careful, because the loss of concentration can directly affect your business performance.

The Trouble of Remembering

Memory is the basis for learning and quality life. Individuals use memory to create information about their assets and events. Obtaining any information and keeping it in long-term memory also requires a sharp concentration and focusing skill.The lack of concentration in children can especially be a major obstacle to learning. In adulthood, it is important to find out what causes a lack of concentration and do brain exercises for memory to maintain the quality of one's life.

Reading Difficulties

Reading is also one of the basic elements of learning and self-development. If your loss of concentration allows you to fail at a task even as simple as reading, this can directly affect your learning, memory, and success in various areas in life. Children with focus issues, in particular, often face problems while reading. It can be helpful to apply basic concentration techniques in both children and adults to overcome this issue.

What Helps to Solve Concentration Problems

Lack of concentration and focus in adults is an issue that starts as a small problem and affects life in many areas by getting deeper. The earlier measures are taken to deal with this problem, the faster and more effective the results can be. Let's take a look at what helps concentration:

Concentration Techniques

As in every mental problem, there are many techniques with and without medication on how to improve concentration in adults. Here are some of them:

1. Brain exercises

There are many ways to help keep your brain healthy no matter your age. Doing brain exercises to increase your focus, concentration, and memory will also help you keep your brain sharp as you age. It is even helpful as brain exercises for stroke recovery.

2. Eating Healthy

The nutrients we take into our body are important for the health of all our organs. We get all the energy and nutrients we need from these foods. Eating a healthy diet is extremely important both for a healthy mind and to eliminate the lack of concentration in children and adults.

3. Sleeping well

Sleep is one of the most important factors for the mind to rest and refresh. The mind needs rest to get and store new information. Overcoming sleep problems and regular sleep is the most effective way to eliminate the lack of concentration and focus in adults.

4. Doing sports

Doing sports is not only good for your body. The researchers found that adding physical exercises to your daily routine also helps your brain to ignore distractions. In one study, it was observed that students doing moderate physical exercise were more successful than those who did not exercise before performing the test that measures attention times.

5. Develop your own techniques

The mental structure and needs of each individual can be different. For example, things that distract someone may change according to the individual’s interests. Everyone has even a different concentrating face. For this reason, as well as the causes, those who are experiencing trouble concentrating and difficulty focusing should determine their own needs clearly in order to solve this problem.

6. Prescribed medications

Drugs for concentration and focus should be taken under the supervision of a doctor. Using drugs without knowing the possible complications and side effects can cause many other problems. Drug abuse can result in a lack of concentration. Only drugs that are used in the right dose and for the right purpose will help lack of concentration and focus in adults.

Improving Concentration and Focus

Playing concentration games is definitely the most fun treatment method to improve your concentration. The importance of games has been often emphasized as it is much easier to focus on work that you are enjoying. Even psychologists, psychiatrists, or child development specialists strongly recommend various brain exercise games as a treatment similarly effective as medications.

Frequently Asked Questions