Distraction & stimulation: Feed your attention enough to increase concentration

Distraction is made up of everything that pulls your attention away from what you need to focus on. Stimulation is everything that arouses your brain to be goal-directed for learning and work. There is a reason why a balance of stimulation & distraction is required to improve concentration while studying.

We have two types^[15] of attention – endogenous & exogenous. Both are active at the same time in a delicate balance. Endogenous attention is goal-driven, deliberate, and can convert into concentration. Exogenous attention is stimuli-driven (whatever attracts you), automatic, and can convert into both – concentration (if it is useful to you) or distraction (if it is unrelated to your task). When you plan to study a graph, you mostly employ endogenous attention. When you lose focus because of a notification on your phone and start scrolling through Instagram, you are at the mercy of exogenous attention. High-concentration study sessions are possible when we limit exogenous attention and maximize endogenous attention.

When any type of attention is not fully occupied, exogenous attention has more opportunity to break your focus. Some people can concentrate without distractions while studying. Some need a small level of distraction while studying.

Background music can occupy some portion of your attention, and according to research^[16], it does help people concentrate better.

Generally, music with lyrics is a bad idea because lyrics & human voices capture our exogenous attention. Many can increase concentration while reading and writing, even calculations, by listening to background music or noise. Others require total silence. Some can only focus for a few minutes and then require a conversational or YouTube break. Many would prefer non-zero distraction and non-infinite stimulation which occupies enough of your attention to allow the endogenous attention to focus on studies and work. Everyone’s capacity to concentrate is different because their need for stimulation/arousal & vulnerability to distraction is different.

Distractions from within the study/work material (noticing some important bit of information) also use exogenous attention, but those distractions are useful as they help you connect the dots and link related/highlighted concepts while learning. Stimulation/Arousal (or the lack thereof) emerges from enthusiasm, lethargy, exciting content, boring presentation, dull room lighting, background chit-chat, attending to other less important work, etc. All of these factors affect how your attention is occupied. Once you are deeply engaged and feel excited about studying a topic, you’ll experience flow.

The advice here is: Fill up your attention, with the least distracting but potentially engaging activities while studying.

Tips to zero in on your distraction/stimulation balance for a fully occupied attention span

• Reflect on how you can focus using different sources such as books, YouTube, Audio lectures, Slideshows, forum discussions, etc. Choose what’s most convenient and appropriate for you.
• Try different types of background sounds ranging from meditation music to metal.
• Try studying with or without your phone/music according to which content format you are using – books, YouTube, articles, etc. Each will engage you differently, so your brain will get distracted differently.
• If a topic distracts you, try studying it from a different source like YouTube or articles. Repetition in different forms also helps learning.