Concentration and multitasking, can they go together?

I have been asked whether practicing concentration might interfere with one’s multi-tasking ability, as being able to concentrate on one thing and filtering out other stuff seems to be the opposite of multi-tasking.

The mind can always think on one subject or object at time. When we do several things at the same time, we are actually moving the focus quickly from one subject to another, and it only seems to us that we are focusing on several subjects at the same time. This can sometimes be tiring, and we might not be able to complete tasks successfully, because we do not focus on each task long and intently enough.

After developing some degree of concentration ability, you will able to hold the mind for longer periods exclusively on one subject, and you will be able to study/understand/accomplish everything better and more efficiently. At the same time, your ability to move your mind swiftly from one subject to another at will, while focusing it strongly on each subject, will also grow, which means improvement of your multi-tasking ability.

With a better concentration ability, it will be easier for you to focus your mind on one thing, subject or task, and it will also be easier to handle several tasks at the same time.

This ability goes hand in hand with the growth of the ability to disregard and reject unwanted thoughts, which means greater inner peace. With greater inner peace, the mind and thoughts are more under your control, and it becomes easier to clear your mind from irrelevant thoughts when you need to focus on one task or while multitasking.

The ability to concentrate does not make the mind rigid and inflexible. It strengthens and makes sharper all the 5 senses, enhances the intuition, makes the mind more peaceful, and helps you accomplish anything you wish to do.

How to improve your concentration and attention and why is it important?

Paying attention to what you are doing is one of the most important keys to success. If you are not able to hold your attention on one thing for some time, how can you accomplish anything?

Successful people are able to focus their mind on their goals day and night, until they accomplish them, be it money, fame, power, self-improvement or meditation. How can you improve your ability to focus your mind on your goals, when there are so many things that distract your attention?

Napoleon Hill said the following words about attention: 

“Controlled attention is the act of coordinating all the faculties of the mind and directing their combined power to a given end. It is an act, which can be achieved only by the strictest sort of self-discipline.”

“Learn to fix your attention on a given subject, at will, for whatever length of time you choose. You will have learned the secret to power and plenty! This is concentration.”

“Keep your mind on the things you want and off the things you don’t want!”

This is good advice for anyone one wishes to learn how to improve the concentration and attention. 

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The mental noise is an activity of the mind that almost everyone experiences day and night, and which most people consider as a natural activity of the mind. Though it goes on all the time as a background noise, you usually become aware of it in an acute form, when there is a problem, worry or fear, and you find your mind thinking and thinking about it, until you feel it is about to explode from thinking.

The mental noise manifests as inner conversation, inner monologue and as a tendency to constantly think, analyze, compare and repeat thoughts in the mind. It is an involuntary activity, which prevents you from focusing the mind and concentrating on what you are doing. It causes distraction, never being in the present moment, and it wastes a lot of time and mental energy, which could have been use for better purposes.

Some, will not agree with me, and say that constant thinking is a sign of being alive and active, and that they prefer to be constantly thinking. They feel that life would be boring and lifeless without the constantly thinking. This is because they have never experienced any other state of consciousness, and constant thinking seems to them to be the natural state of consciousness.

When the mental noise is reduced, the five senses function better, the ability to concentrate grows, and there is calmness and self control. Nothing is lost in this process, there is only gain.

Here are two articles on the mental noise:

1. The Mental Noise

Mental noise is the constant chatter of the mind that never stops. It is the inner conversation or inner monologue that constantly goes on in the mind.

Many are unaware of this mental noise, because it has become a deeply embedded habit, and is considered as a natural and inseparable part of life.

This mental noise is like a background noise that never ceases, from the moment of waking up in the morning, to the moment of falling asleep at night. Often, it even prevents you from falling asleep. It is a sort of inner voice that constantly analyzes everything about our lives, surroundings and the people we know. It is a voice in the head that just keeps talking and talking!

The mind often repeats the same thought over and over again, like in a loop or like a record that got stuck. If this is a positive thought that’s fine, but too often this a negative thought or a negative mental images that just intensify stress, worry, anger or frustration. These are thoughts that you absolutely do not need.

Read the article

2. How to Calm Down the Mental Noise

After reading the article on the mental noise, it is time to start doing something about it. As you now know, the mental noise is the inner dialogue and constant chatter that goes on in the mind almost all the time. Sometimes we are not aware of it, and at other times it is most disturbing and distracting the attention.

When do you become more aware of the mental noise and find it disturbing?
When you need to focus your mind on a certain activity, such as studying, reading, solving problems or anything else. At this time you become more aware of the buzz and constant flow of irrelevant, and often useless or distracting thoughts.

Read the article

Clear, step-by-step instructions and guidance for gaining inner peace, inner happiness, mental mastery and freedom from worries and anxieties, written in a clear and easy to understand language.

Peace of Mind in Daily Life

I have been recently asked how to proceed when one is distracted by thoughts. The questioner asked, referring to the exercises at: www.successconsciousness.com/index_000005.htm

When doing the concentration exercise number 1, which is counting words in a book, I always keep on counting, and if a negative thought comes, I ignore it and keep on counting. Is it ok to do the exercise this way, or do I need to start from the beginning?

Here is what I replied:

If you are able to ignore the distracting thoughts and keep your attention on the counting, that’s okay.

If you are not able to resist the distracting thoughts, follow them, and then after a while catch yourself thinking about something else, then you will have to stop the exercise and start from the beginning.

Resisting the distractions and continuing the exercise without loss of attention is different from forgetting the exercise and thinking on something else.

Thoughts always try to distract the attention, but if the will and desire are strong, and the attention is strong, the concentration will continue, in spite of some thoughts at the background. If the will, desire and attention are not strong enough, you will most probably forget to concentrate, and become aware that your mind has drifted away, only some time later. This might be after several seconds or even several minutes. In this case the distracting thoughts become the main focus, and you will need to start the exercises from the beginning.

It is like working out with weights. If you lift the barbells and do the exercise, in spite of the difficulty, you are strengthening your muscles. However, if you stop the exercise, do something else, and then again try to lift the barbells a few moments, only to give up again, you are not doing anything. So it is with concentration exercises. Not giving up and continuing without loss of attention, in spite of the attempts of the mind to distract the attention, will result in strengthening the concentration.

Strengthen your concentration and bring inner peace to your mind.

Attain mental mastery.

Develop inner detachment and inner strength.

Become aware of the Consciousness beyond the mind.

Peace of mind in Daily Life

Do you hold your breath while concentrating intently on something? Many do so, as if holding the breath helps to concentrate. This of course is done unconsciously, but it causes physical and mental strain, which is absolutely not healthy and disturbs the concentration. You have to be aware of this tendency of holding your breath, and when it happens, relax your body and start breathing normally. After all, how long can you hold your breath? After a little while you will feel strained and exhausted and will have to breathe in.

One of the website visitors asked the following question:

“Whenever I want to concentrate, I have to hold my breath. Otherwise I can’t concentrate properly. The problem is I want concentrate more than a minute. Can you help me?”

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