Technology has created a lot of positive things for society but it’s also caused us to be constantly bombarded by stimuli that can damage our focus, memory, and attention spans.
The average person spends about 12 hours a day using digital media, according to Harvard Business Review.
Lots of the content we’re consuming when using digital media can cause stress which is damaging to our mental health.
“By constantly engaging our stress response [when we check our phones], we ironically are impairing the very cognitive abilities — like memory and attention — that we so desperately need,” Stanford psychologist Emma Seppälä and author of The Happiness Track tells Harvard Business Review.
Thankfully, there are simple things we can do to strengthen our cognitive abilities and even help us to be more productive without working harder.
Mindfulness practices like meditation help us to relax, reduce stress, boost mental clarity and awareness of what we are feeling and how we are spending our time.
You can meditate for 20 to 30 minutes a day or just even stopping throughout your day to take a few deep breaths and be present with yourself.
Advanced education and learning help to keep memory strong by stimulating your mind to maintain brain cells and foster communication between them.
This can include taking up a hobby, learning a new skill, reading, taking a class, joining a book club, playing chess or bridge, doing crossword or jigsaw puzzles, or doing design work.
It’s also important to make sure that you’re regularly using all your senses. This helps to boost your memory
Associating things like scent along with visual images helps your mind to better recall things.
So, make sure to stop and be aware of taste, smell, touch, sound, and sight when engaging in tasks like eating or engaging in hobbies, like ceramics.
Another great way to boost memory and cognition is to stop believing myths about losing these abilities with age.
Did you know that smelling food can stop you from overeating? Read more here: http://www.andreabeaman.com/health/use-your-senses-and-stop-overeating/
Posted by Andrea Beaman onMonday, December 9, 2013
“Middle-aged and older learners do worse on memory tasks when they’re exposed to negative stereotypes about aging and memory, and better when the messages are positive about memory preservation into old age,” Harvard Medical School reports.
“People who believe that they are not in control of their memory function are less likely to work at maintaining or improving their memory skills and therefore are more likely to experience cognitive decline. If you believe you can improve and you translate that belief into practice, you have a better chance of keeping your mind sharp.”
Cleaning up and keeping a tidy and organized living and workspaces is also great for helping you to maintain focus, as clutter can lead you to be distracted.
It’s also important to take breaks, especially when you’re going from task to task or meeting to meeting.
Give yourself a 15-minute break for every 45 to 60 minutes you spend in a meeting or in between tasks to help you process, reflect, and prioritize.
This will help keep you from wasting time and feeling burned out, which can lead you to becoming unfocused.
Young Living Essential Oils also recommends cognition-supporting supplements like their NingXia Nitro, which has energy-boosting D-Ribose and Korean ginseng extract or MindWise, which is their brain wellness serum that includes vitamin D, CoQ10, ALCAR, and GPC.
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