Power of Concentration

“Concentration is the essence of all knowledge; nothing can be done without it.” The difference between man and animal lies in man’s power to concentrate. The difference in their power to concentrate also constitutes the difference between man and man. Creativity, talents, originality, scientific discoveries and inventions, fine arts and even spiritual truths discovered by the sages are product of concentrated mind. Especially for students, concentration is a must. It is impossible to acquire knowledge and working skills without adequate concentration. A restless mind leads to confusion.

Here are six simple ways: How to concentrate?

1. Say NO to worries: While studying or listening to lectures, some unwanted background thoughts keep on distracting us. Try to avoid those, read aloud, even louder, interact better in class with the subject or with the teacher about the subject, be mentally alert by asking questions like: why?how?when???
2. Water: Proportionately more than 70% of our body is water. Frequent and regular intake of water helps in recharging the brain and allows you to concentrate for longer hours at a stretch.
3. Ridiculous thinking: Anything which is odd, silly, ridiculous and funny is stored by our mind ten times better. While memorizing, give the information a ridiculous angle. Do it systematically.
4. Association: Associate the new information you want to memorize, with something you already know.
5. Sleep: A good night sleep is very essential for concentration as it helps the brain to recharge and refresh itself for the next day’s activity. A timely routine and optimum sleep helps in recognizing the gathered information into convenient plan of normal storage.
6. Eye Memory: What we see physically or mentally, we retain twenty times better than what we hear, whatever you want to learn functioning of a steam engine, visualize mentally a vivid, exaggerated picture of it, while reading about it.

I hope it helps!