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Tips to improve your concentration power and productivity

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Distractions might cause you to lose focus

Distractions might cause you to lose focus

One approach to improving work productivity is the ability to focus on the topic at hand. Distractions can hinder job growth and decrease the quality of the work.

You can work to improve your capacity to concentrate if you are aware of how focusing might impact your job. This article shares some tips to improve concentration power.

Do one task at a time and develop strong willpower

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By exercising strong willpower, you can avoid temptations that would otherwise divert your attention. Making definite, detailed goals, committing to them, and focusing on one thing at a time will help you strengthen your willpower.

Having a schedule, setting time aside for work completion, and reminding yourself daily of why your goals are important will also help you develop willpower.

Meditate

Meditate for at least 15 minutes in the morning to stop your racing thoughts, reduce depression and anxiety, and get an insight into yourself before you start the day. Sitting upright, closing your eyes, inhaling deeply, and concentrating on breathing can help.

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Additionally, you can employ quick meditation sessions throughout the day when you feel your concentration slipping. In addition to helping you focus again on your work, meditation can enhance your memory, increase your alertness and awareness, and lower your stress levels.

Workout

Your energy will increase, your memory will improve, and your brain’s ability to ignore distractions will improve. You are maintaining a healthy weight and improving mental and physical activity.

Possible benefits of maintaining potential benefits of physical activity. Brisk walks, running up and down stairs, yoga, working in your garden, or any other type of exercise that works for you are all acceptable options.

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Sleep properly

Lack of sleep can quickly impair memory, attention, and other cognitive processes, including focus. Occasionally, not getting enough sleep might not be too bad for you. However, consistently not getting enough sleep might impact your attitude and productivity at work.

Over exertion can even impair reflexes and impair your ability to drive or perform other daily duties. It might be challenging to obtain enough sleep occasionally due to a busy schedule, health concerns, and other circumstances. However, adults should strive for seven to eight hours of sleep per night, according to many experts.

The following advice will help you get a better night’s sleep:

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An hour before going to bed, switch off the television and put away screens.

  • Maintain a pleasant, cozy temperature in your space.
  • Relax before bed with calming music, a hot bath, or a good book.
  • Even on weekends, try to sleep and wake up at around the same hour every day.
  • Regular exercise is essential, but avoid a strenuous activity right before night.

Pay attention

A smart technique to increase your focus is to pay deliberate attention to your environment, the people you contact, and your work activities. Making it a point to notice specifics in your daily life will help you develop your attention span.

You might take note of the names of the stores you pass on your way to work, the names of the bus stops and parks, the design of your office complex, the arrangement of the office furniture, and what your coworkers are wearing to work, for example.

Use verbal and nonverbal indicators to show others that you are paying attention when interacting with them, whether at work or elsewhere. These cues include speaking, smiling, and making eye contact. When someone is speaking to you, refrain from looking at your phone or around.

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Eliminate distractions

Distractions might cause you to lose focus on your work and squander time. Distractions might not be completely avoidable, but you can try to minimise them. Find out what distracts you frequently by watching yourself, then deliberately avoid those things.

For instance, you might have a routine of frequently checking your email, texts, Instagram, or news. The five or 10 minutes you spend looking these up can pile up and waste a lot of time that could be used to do meaningful work.

Consider disabling your phone’s notifications, putting it away while you work, and refraining from unnecessary computer and phone internet browsing to reduce distractions.

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Set a timer

You can focus more on important things by keeping track of your time, which will help you understand how you spend your working hours. Set a timer for 30 or 60 minutes, and throughout that period, focus solely on your work.

Practice with shorter time blocks of 10 or twenty minutes if you find it challenging to stay focused. This method of making the most use of your time can increase productivity and be helpful for job advancement.

Conclusion

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Your weight, food habits, and degree of physical exercise affect how well you operate and concentrate. For instance, if you skip breakfast, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to work effectively at noon because of hunger.

Taking care of your health, staying active, and consuming foods promoting concentration can improve concentration. You might wish to include avocados, and chocolate in your diet to improve your capacity for concentration. — pickthebrain.com

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Features

The Herbal Preacher man (1)

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THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 

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Sikaman Palava

The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.

Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.

Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.

When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.

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So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.

“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.

Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?

When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.

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So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.

The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day. 

The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.

He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.

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The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.

The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat. 

The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!

This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006

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Some issues requiring attention

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When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.  

Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.  

On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.  

One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road.  A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month.  Thus is clearly unacceptable.

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Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies.   Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.  

We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk.  Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads.  Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm.  Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.  

It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon.  Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.

When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent.  It is not a new phenomenon.  It has been there since Adam.  Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media.  It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.  

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Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes. 

Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters.  He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.

Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling.  It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are.  This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.  

It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning?  I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.  

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The police must however be seen to be active in this matter.  God bless.

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