Preparing your body and brain for efficient executive functioning
April 6, 2024 | by Bloom Code Studio
- Sleep well, sleep enough, and take breaks. Brain functions depend a lot on the quality and quantity of sleep and breaks restore attention.
- Stay hydrated[3], eat well[4], and do some coordination-based exercise[5] and aerobics[6]. If you are dehydrated, lethargic, and haven’t consumed food, your concentration power will drop. The brain demands a lot of resources (glucose, oxygen, calcium, etc.) at the chemical level. Keep your body healthy to allow the brain to consume those resources.
- Work on mental health, avoid boredom, and partake in some meaningful stimulating work that engages your brain and body. Emotional states affect overall attention[7], and they may decrease your ability to concentrate.
- Take enough healthy breaks for your brain to digest past learning and replenish resources for a burst of concentration. A work break to watch cute photos of animals is a known way to boost concentration by increasing careful behavior and narrowing attention (sharp focus).
- When you choose to concentrate, find a way to stay engaged, curious, and have fun because these mental states supply more cognitive resources that are specifically relevant to what you are processing. Gamify. Interact. Create. Be active, not passive.
- Play games for fun to train your brain. Video games[8] can improve concentration because games often demand it, and we end up practicing our focusing ability. They also become a good break to reset the mind.
- Practice mindfulness, meditation, or yoga[9] to improve cognitive functioning and baseline concentration level. Yoga may also improve overall cognitive functioning in children with ADHD[10] and depressed people.
- Coffee, Green Tea & Matcha Tea[11] are great to enhance attention. So is chewing gum.
- Go out into nature to improve overall well-being and work-life productivity. Doing so helps our brain reset the emotional chaos that disrupts attention. It’s also helpful for kids[12].
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