6 Exercises That Improve Your Focus

In a fast-paced world, it’s important to find ways to enhance your focus. Perhaps you’ve already tried many methods. Just like your abs, your mind muscles need resistance so they can stretch and grow. Challenge yourself with the exercises listed below, all of which have been proven to sharpen the brain.

1.) Practice mindfulness
When your brain is constantly being pulled in multiple directions at the same time, it’s hard to focus on any single task. Defeat this downside of 21st-century life by resolving to do one task a day with complete mindfulness. When brewing your morning coffee, take the time to let the steam warm your skin and inhale the aroma. When tackling a work assignment, power down your electronics and focus on nothing else. Practicing mindfulness on a daily basis will soon turn it into routine.

2.) Play memory
Remember that matching game you played as a child? It’s time to dig out the stack of cards again! Get a bunch of friends together for a trip back into childhood and play a round of memory. You’ll have loads of fun trying to outdo your friends’ powers of recall and you’ll be giving your brain a real workout at the same time!

If you want to give the game a grown-up spin, have a friend gather a bunch of random items on a tray. Look at the tray for 30 seconds and then have your partner remove it. How many displayed items can you remember? Keep on playing until you can remember all of the objects easily.

3.) Meditate
Not only does meditation help keep you relaxed and calm, research has repeatedly proven that it significantly boosts your attention span. You don’t need to run off to a mountaintop for three hours every afternoon. Try meditating for just 10 or 15 minutes a day. Even short bouts of meditation can improve your focus.

4.) Play brain games
You may be sick of Sudoku, but there are loads of other brain games that’ll keep your gray cells in top form. Search “brain training games” on Google for dozens of fun games that challenge your brain. You’ll find some that boost your memory, improve your attention span and increase your cognitive speed and mental flexibility. To up the fun factor, compete against a friend!

5.) Puzzles
Another childhood favorite, jigsaw puzzles are a great way to exercise the brain. If you’d rather not work with a physical puzzle, you can find lots of free puzzles online.

6.) Physical exercise
When your body starts moving, so does your mind. Physical exercise has lots of benefits for the body – and one of them is keeping your brain cells healthy! You’ll also improve your mental stamina, which is always a good thing.

Your Turn: How do you train your brain? Share your best tips with us in the comments!