NEUROSCIENCETIST EXPLAINS HOW TO BOOST FOCUS PERMANENTLY IN MINUTES

Unlocking the Power of a 17-Minute Practice to Supercharge Your Focus

In a world filled with distractions and constant demands on our attention, the ability to maintain focus is a prized skill. Whether you're a child trying to concentrate on your homework, an adult navigating a busy workday, or someone grappling with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), enhancing your focus is a goal many of us share. Surprisingly, there is a simple practice that, in just 17 minutes, can potentially rewire your brain to improve your attention and offset some of the attentional drift we all experience.

Before delving into this intriguing practice, let's explore the mechanisms of attention and why they sometimes falter. Have you ever found yourself missing important details when you're engrossed in something? This phenomenon is known as "attentional blink," where your intense focus on one thing leads you to overlook other information. Remarkably, individuals with ADHD often experience more attentional blinks than those without the condition. This raises a fascinating hypothesis: perhaps, instead of being unable to focus, people with ADHD are over-focusing on specific elements, causing them to miss other crucial details.

The key to addressing this issue lies in cultivating what experts call "open monitoring." Open monitoring is typically associated with advanced meditation techniques, such as vipassana meditation, which requires years of practice to master. However, there's a simplified version of this concept that anyone can embrace. It involves harnessing your visual system's two modes of processing.

When you're deeply engrossed in something, you have a narrow, intense focus – imagine looking through a soda straw. This high level of attention can cause you to miss peripheral information. However, there's another mode, known as panoramic vision, which allows you to consciously expand your gaze to take in a wider view. Panoramic vision also processes information more effectively in terms of time, making it an invaluable tool for improving focus.

Now, you might wonder how you can develop this panoramic vision. The good news is that it's achievable for almost everyone, regardless of whether you have ADHD. You can consciously practice dilating your gaze to enter a state of panoramic vision, where you see a wide area around you, even while maintaining your focus on a central point. This practice has the potential to rewire your brain and enhance your ability to attend to multiple things without falling victim to attentional blinks.

Research has shown that dedicating as little as 15-20 minutes to this practice can produce remarkable results. Subjects were asked to sit quietly with their eyes closed and focus on their breathing and internal sensations. The practice is akin to meditation, but without the need to guide your mind into any specific state or place. The key is to maintain your awareness of your breath and internal state.

What's truly astonishing is that just one session of this quiet 17-minute interception, focusing on your inner world, can significantly reduce the number of attentional blinks you experience. This improvement in focus can be near-permanent, even without any additional training. It seems that reducing the amount of visual information coming in and honing your interception, your awareness of your internal state, can make a substantial difference.

The implications of these findings are profound, extending beyond age, whether you're a child, an adult, or someone concerned about age-related cognitive decline. Age-related cognitive decline often results in worsened working memory and diminished focus, accompanied by an increase in the number of attentional blinks. However, this simple 17-minute interception practice offers hope that it can offset some of this cognitive decline.

In a society where time is a precious commodity, dedicating 17 minutes to this practice might seem like a small investment. It's not about adopting a regular meditation routine but about committing to one session of focused interoception. By doing so, you can potentially rewire your brain to boost your ability to attend to tasks better and, importantly, reduce attentional blinks.

In addition to the benefits of this practice, the ability to engage in panoramic vision, or open monitoring, is a powerful tool. It enables the brain to process more information more rapidly. The beauty of this tool lies in its effectiveness from the very first attempt, and it consistently delivers results.

While the precise mechanisms behind these effects are not entirely clear, the results are indisputable. The improvements in focus and attentional control are significant and long-lasting, making this 17-minute interception practice a worthwhile endeavor for anyone looking to enhance their cognitive capabilities.

In conclusion, this 17-minute practice, focusing on interception and the cultivation of panoramic vision, holds the potential to rewire your brain and boost your ability to focus. It is a simple yet powerful tool that is accessible to everyone, regardless of age or whether you have ADHD. So, why not invest a mere 17 minutes to supercharge your attention and elevate your cognitive abilities? In a world where distractions are abundant, this practice might just be the key to unlocking your full potential.

CREDIT ANDREW HUBERMAN