Mind training: 10 exercises for concentration

Concentration in chess is no less important than in boxing - loss of concentration is fraught with rapid defeat. Here is what is written about the con:

Concentration of attention is the retention of information about an object in short-term memory. Such retention presupposes the isolation of an “object” as a concept from the general idea of ​​the world.

Concentration is one of the properties of attention. Other properties of attention: stability, volume and switchability. Impaired ability to concentrate is called “distraction of attention.”

A person who trains his attention, with each training, gets closer to the fact that his capabilities will expand. This applies not only to chess, but also to other areas of activity.

Two-minute concentration on the second hand

This exercise is described in many sources. According to Tom Wujek's book, Mind Training, the author is American philosopher and psychologist William James (1842-1910).

• Place a watch with a second hand in front of you.
• Relax for a few moments, concentrate your attention, and when you are ready, begin to follow the movement of the second hand.
• For two minutes, focus all your thoughts on the movement of the second hand, as if nothing else exists in the world.
• If you become distracted, thinking about something else, or simply switched off, stop, concentrate your attention and start again.
• Try to maintain this level of concentration for two minutes.

Attention is your most important muscle.

A significant achievement is to set a difficult goal of your own free will and firmly hold it in your mind.

The Two Minute Mindfulness Challenge is one of the best exercises for training your mind. An interesting detail: as you begin to exercise regularly, you may well find that doing this exercise becomes more and more difficult for you. This happens because you gradually become more and more picky about the “quality” of your attention. You now clearly understand when your consciousness is clouded and when it is clear. You develop self-criticism and begin to demand maximum clarity of thinking from yourself. After a couple of weeks of regular practice - at least 5-10 minutes a day - you will feel that your attention has noticeably sharpened. You will learn to focus your mind on a specific subject for longer periods of time. Your thinking will become clearer and more flexible, and you will need much less time to focus all your mental energy on a particular subject.

How to Assess Your Attention Level

Once you have successfully mastered all 10 exercises, evaluate your level of concentration using simple tests.

Mind training: 10 exercises for concentration Photo: Depositphotos

Test "10 words". He will need an assistant. He names ten words with different meanings that are not connected by associations. You need to repeat them. For example: summer, pillow, purse, slow cooker, ice, socks, balcony, bag, notebook, exhibition.

If you named 8 words, you have a high concentration of attention. If you were able to repeat 7 words, the result is satisfactory. Below seven - you have low concentration.

Here's another test. For it you will need a stopwatch and five tables of five cells horizontally and five vertically. Each table contains numbers from 1 to 25 in a chaotic order. You have 5 attempts - one for each table. Your task is to find and show all the numbers in order. Record the time separately for each attempt.

If you do it in 40 seconds or less, you have excellent concentration. If you needed more than 40 but less than 50 seconds, the result is satisfactory. If you don’t even meet the 50 second standard, you need to develop attentiveness. For the purity of the experiment, prepare these tables in advance or ask an assistant - you do not have to know the order of the numbers.

Minute per move

Quote from Sergei Lysenko’s book “Conversations with a Chess Psychologist”:

When I was young, I was a lousy attention span. This severely limited me both in the chess game and in my professional activities. Looking at the chess position, I did not fall into hypnosis, because... I was constantly distracted by neighboring games, my attention was attracted by any noise or movement in the tournament hall. With such “headlessness” it is impossible to become a strong chess player: my games were replete with mistakes, the strategy was not clear, and blunders often occurred. In the end, I decided to take control of the situation, and this is what I did. I didn't participate in tournaments for a couple of months. At home I learned to concentrate. My friend, a strong first-class player, acted as a sparring partner.

In the first game, each of us received a minute for one move. We had two chess clocks. A minute later the flag fell, and this was a signal that within five seconds I had to make a move, after which the opponent was already thinking within a minute. The main condition is that during the minute allotted to us for reflection, we should not be distracted, all our thoughts were only about the position. You can’t imagine how this simple exercise organizes the game! When we learned to concentrate for one minute, we moved to 2, then to 3 minutes, and so up to 10 minutes.

Now it is even easier to do such exercises, because... chess computers appeared. You sit down to play with the computer, place a one-minute chess clock next to you and, without taking your eyes off the position, think intently. After this, you will gradually increase the time to think about a certain move. Time will pass, and you will learn to immerse yourself in “chess hypnosis”, i.e. purposefully concentrate your attention. In a couple of months, you will be able to solve a complex problem or sketch in a strictly allotted time. Place a position on the chessboard, “charge” the watch for 30 minutes and, without being distracted by anything, think. You can come up with a lot of similar exercises: the main thing is that they include the time factor and your complete immersion in the intricacy of the figures.

Techniques for quickly capturing attention

It often happens that it is difficult for a person to concentrate, but it must be done. If so, try these exercises.

• Divide the action into cycles. For example, you need to sort documents according to a certain criterion. Tell yourself mentally “start”, pick up the document, look at it carefully and decide which pile to send it to. Next, say “stop.” This focus will help you avoid mistakes, and you will quickly concentrate on the task at hand.
• Reception of photographer Sasaki. Creative people tend to have their head in the clouds. Photographer Chris Sasaki decided that every time he noticed that he was distracted, he would say “Attention!” in his mind, look around and be clearly aware of what was happening around him and what he was doing.
• Do you feel like your attention is slipping away? This happens during long lectures or tedious seminars. Quickly change your facial expression or posture, so that distraction and drowsiness will disappear.
• Clearly state the purpose for which you need concentration. It's impossible to find something unless you know what you're looking for. Thus, if you need to concentrate on searching for information on the Internet, formulate your request as clearly as possible. You can also break the question into several subtasks.

Regular exposure

Choose something directly in your field of vision, such as a pencil, and tell yourself as forcefully as possible: “Look at this pencil!” Then pause and wait for your consciousness to respond to the order. The pencil will appear more clearly in your thoughts. Record the reaction of your consciousness by mentally saying: “Excellent.” Now repeat the same thing several times: “Look at this pencil! - Pause. - Great". “Look at this pencil! - Pause. - Great". Pay attention to the “quality” of your attention. Note the time when the response occurs; determine how quickly your mind reacts. Check to see if he begins to respond faster with training. So, look around and focus your attention on something.

What is attention

Attention is defined as the concentration of consciousness on a specific object. This is a special cognitive process that differs from all others in that it does not have its own content and exists, as it were, inside other mental phenomena:

• memory,
• thinking,
• perception,
• movements, etc.

But despite the “lack of independence,” attention is a very important process. The level of its development affects the quality of mental activity, the memorization of information, its analysis, and the clarity of movements. The effectiveness of any activity and human safety depend on attention.

The deep, psychophysiological basis of attention is the dominant - the predominant focus of excitation in the cerebral cortex. It arises from the influence of the most powerful or significant stimulus and literally suppresses other sources of excitation, forcing a person to focus on the main, primary thing.

Imagine that you are reading an interesting book or watching an exciting movie. You are so immersed in this process that you don’t notice anything around you, you may not react even if someone calls you by name, even though a person’s name is a very strong irritant. This is how involuntary attention based on interest works. You may be distracted from reading by a stronger stimulus, for example, the loud sound of a door slamming, and your attention switches to another object.

Attention is always selective and isolates from the surrounding world objects that have special meaning for us:

• related to interests and hobbies;
• related to needs, primarily vital (vital);
• strong irritants: loud sounds, bright flashes of light, strong odors, blows, jolts, pain, etc.;
• a sharp, unexpected change of scenery: new furniture in a friend’s apartment, snow that fell outside the window in the morning, a bright poster on the wall of the house.

This concerns involuntary attention, which arises as if by itself and does not require effort to maintain it. How can you force yourself to concentrate on reading a boring textbook, an official paper, on performing tedious, uninteresting, but necessary actions? After all, if you simply force yourself to concentrate, your brain will quickly get tired, your thoughts will start to wander, or you will uncontrollably want to sleep.

When they talk about the need to develop attention, they mean voluntary attention, which requires effort to maintain it.

Physiological aspects

Concentration of attention is not always related to a person’s mental abilities and psychological characteristics. The physiological component also plays an important role in this issue. That is why improving concentration is inextricably linked with normalizing lifestyle and daily routine:

• Make it a habit to get adequate sleep. If you fall asleep late and get up early, then you are unlikely to be able to give 100% of your mental or creative activities. Let 8 hours of rest become your unshakable rule.
• Pay attention to your diet. Try to include complex carbohydrates that are processed slowly, constantly nourishing the body in general and the brain in particular. Also, before starting your work day, be sure to drink a cup of coffee or eat some dark chocolate.
• Make time for activities that make you happy. This could be a walk, shopping, hobbies, fitness, watching movies, listening to music and much more. Positive emotions contribute to the production of the hormone dopamine, which has a beneficial effect on attention.
• If none of the listed methods has had the desired effect on the process of concentration, then you need to consult a doctor who will recommend you special medications.

Useful tips

Developing concentration is possible not only through special exercises or techniques, but also through constant self-control. So, wean yourself from biting your nails, knocking on the table, actively gesturing, or swinging your legs while sitting.

An important step on the path to high concentration is gaining emotional balance. Try to protect yourself from negativity and stress, and also get plenty of rest. Make it a habit to listen to calm instrumental music. Also surround yourself with objects of colors that have a beneficial effect on the nervous system and emotional state (for example, green and blue). Also try not to watch TV shows that have a negative connotation.

For high-quality mental work, it is necessary to develop both hemispheres of the brain. To do this, it is very useful to periodically change hands when performing any ordinary tasks. So, taking a toothbrush or spoon in your left hand (and for left-handed people - in your right), you will cause activity in those parts of the brain that were not previously involved.