Concentration refers to the mental effort you direct toward a task.
It’s sometimes confused with attention span, which refers to the length of time you can concentrate on something.
Attention span and concentration can vary for a number of reasons. Some people have a harder time tuning out distractions, and age and lack of sleep can affect concentration.
Health conditions like brain injury and older age may also affect your concentration and memory.
Keep reading to learn more about research-backed methods to help improve your concentration. We’ll also go over some conditions that may affect concentration and what to do if trying to increase concentration doesn’t seem to help.
Train your brain
Playing certain types of games can help you get better at concentrating. Try:
sudoku
crossword puzzles
chess
jigsaw puzzles
word searches or scrambles
memory games
A large 2015 study of 4,715 adults suggests that spending 15 minutes a day, 5 days a week, on brain training activities can improve concentration.
Brain training games can also help develop working and short-term memory, processing, and problem-solving skills.
Kids
Brain training can work for kids, too. Invest in a book of word puzzles, complete a jigsaw puzzle together, or play a game of memory.
Even coloring can help improve concentration in children or adults. Older children may enjoy more detailed coloring pages, like those found in adult coloring books.
Older adults
The effects of brain training games may be particularly important for older adults since memory and concentration tend to decline with age.
A large randomized study sponsored in part by National Institute on Aging funds from 2014 looked at 2,832 older adults followed up on participants after 10 years. Older adults who completed 10 to 14 sessions of cognitive training saw improved cognition, memory, and processing skills.
After 10 years, most study participants reported they could complete daily activities at least as well as they could at the beginning of the trial, if not better.
More recent studies have examined computer-, app-, and virtual reality-based cognitive training programs as well as programs that provide brain training and exercise. A 2021 review of research suggests the biggest benefits result from a combination program.
Play a video game
Newer research suggests playing video games may help boost concentration.
A 2021 study of 154 children suggests gaming could help improve visual selective attention (VSA). VSA refers to your ability to concentrate on a specific task while ignoring distractions. However, it’s unclear how long the effect lasts.
Study authors recommend future research to continue exploring how video games can help increase brain activity and boost concentration.
A 2017 review examined 100 studies examining how video games could affect cognitive function. The results suggest that playing video games may lead to various changes in the brain, including increased attention and focus.
This review had several limitations, including the fact that the studies focused on widely varying topics, including video game addiction and the possible effects of violent video games. Studies specifically designed to explore the benefits of video games could help support these findings.
Improve sleep
Sleep deprivation can easily disrupt concentration, not to mention other cognitive functions, such as memory and attention.
Occasional sleep deprivation may not cause too many problems for you. But regularly failing to enough quality sleep can affect your mood and performance at work.
Being too tired can even slow down your reflexes and affect your ability to drive or do other daily tasks. Sleep loss over time can lead to negative health effects.
A demanding schedule, health issues, and other factors sometimes make it difficult to get enough sleep. But it’s important to try and get as close to the recommended amount as possible most nights.
Many experts recommend adults aim for 7 to 8 hours of sleep each night.
Some tips for improving your quality of sleep include:
Turn off the TV and put away screens an hour before bed.
Keep your room at a comfortable but cool temperature.
Wind down before bed with soft music, a warm bath, or a book.
Go to bed and get up around the same time each day, even on weekends.
Exercise regularly, but try to avoid a heavy workout just before bed.
Exercise
Increased concentration is among the many benefits of regular exercise, which benefits everyone. A 2018 study of 116 fifth-graders found evidence to suggest that daily physical activity could help improve both concentration and attention after just 4 weeks.
Research from 2020 found that adults over 45 who engaged in regular physical activity experienced less subjective cognitive decline compared to adults who were more sedentary.
Regular physical exercise may also:
lower blood glucose levels
reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
prevent heart disease and diabetes
improve your mood
Do what you can
Experts recommend 2.5 hours of aerobic exercise per week, but doing what you can is better than not exercising at all. Depending on your personal fitness and weight goals, you may want to exercise more or less.
Sometimes, it isn’t possible to get the recommended amount of exercise, especially if you live with physical or mental health challenges.
You can incorporate physical activity throughout the day. If you get your heart rate up, you’re exercising. Ask yourself:
Can you walk your kids to school?
Can you get up 20 minutes earlier every morning to fit in a quick jog around your neighborhood?
Can you split up your weekly grocery trip into two or three trips by foot or bike?
Can you walk to the coffee shop instead of driving?
If you can, try getting exercise right before you really need to focus or when taking a mental break.
Spend time in nature
If you want to boost your concentration naturally, try to get outside every day, even for a short while. You might take a short walk through a park. Sitting in your garden or backyard can also help. Any natural environment has benefits.
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), spending time in nature can have a positive impact on both physical and mental health.
A 2022 review of research suggests that indoor plants may help:
lower diastolic blood pressure
improve academic achievement
improve electroencephalography (EEG) readings
improve attention and response time
Try adding a plant or two to your workspace or home for a range of positive benefits.
Succulents make great choices for low-maintenance plants if you don’t have a green thumb.
Kids
Children benefit from natural environments, too. A 2017 study followed over 1,000 children from birth to age 7 to determine how lifelong exposure to trees and greenery at home or in the neighborhood might affect attention.
The study suggests that natural environments could benefit brain development and may improve attention in children.
For children with ADHD, a 2024 systemic review suggests spending time in nature can:
boost their mood
reduce stress
improve concentration
reduce symptoms of ADHD
Give meditation a try
Meditation and mindfulness practices offer multiple benefits, including improved concentration.
A 2023 study of 48 participants from a larger mindfulness study suggests that mindfulness may improve the efficiency of brain functional organization. The authors also suggest that mindfulness may induce neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain’s neural networks to grow and change through reorganization.
This may help increase attention, focus, and other cognitive abilities.
Meditation doesn’t just mean sitting silently with your eyes closed. Yoga, deep breathing, and many other activities can help you meditate.
If you’ve tried meditation and it hasn’t worked for you, or if you’ve never meditated before, this learning about the types of meditation can give you some ideas for getting started.
Take a break
Taking a short break from work or homework can increase your concentration.
Consider this scenario: You’ve spent a few hours on the same project, and suddenly your attention starts to wander. Even though it’s hard to keep your mind on the task, you stay at your desk, forcing yourself to keep going. But your difficulty focusing makes you feel stressed and anxious about not completing your work on time.
You’ve probably been there before. Next time this happens, when you first feel your concentration drop, take a short mental break. Refresh yourself with a cool drink or nutritious snack, take a quick walk, or go outside and get some sun.
When you return to work, you may feel more focused, motivated, or even creative. Breaks can help boost these functions and more.
Listen to music
Turning on music while working or studying may help increase concentration, depending on the individual.
Even if you don’t enjoy listening to music while you work, using white noise to mask background sounds could also help improve concentration and other brain functions. Nature sounds may also help you feel more relaxed and reduce stress.
Not everyone agrees that music is helpful, especially when studying a challenging topic.
If you do choose to listen to music, here are some tips:
choose instrumental music rather than songs with lyrics
keep the music at a background noise level
choose neutral music and avoid music you love or hate
Otherwise, playing music may be more distracting than not.
Vary your diet
The foods you eat can affect cognitive functions like concentration and memory. To improve concentration, avoid processed foods, too much sugar, and very greasy or fatty foods.
Instead, try eating more of the following:
fatty fish (think salmon and trout)
eggs (white and yolk both)
berries
spinach
You can also try following the MIND diet, an eating plan designed to keep your brain healthy.
Staying hydrated can also positively impact concentration. Even mild dehydration can make it harder to focus or remember information.
Drink caffeine
There’s no need to include caffeine in your diet if you prefer to avoid it, but research does suggest consuming caffeine may improve your processing speed.
If you feel your concentration starting to drop, consider a cup of coffee or green tea. If you don’t enjoy caffeinated beverages, a serving of dark chocolate — 70% cacao or higher — can have similar benefits.
A 2019 longitudinal study found evidence to suggest that phytochemicals naturally found in matcha, a type of green tea, improve cognitive function and reduce cognitive decline.
Try supplements
Though more research is still needed, some nutrients may help promote concentration and improve brain function.
Many people choose to get these nutrients through dietary supplements, including:
Bacopa monnieri (Brahmi), an herb
choline, a nutrient found in beef and chicken liver, eggs, and some seafood
omega-3 fatty acids, commonly found in seafood
creatine, found in dairy, meat, and some nuts
Ginkgo biloba, an herb
ginseng, an herb
Rhodiola rosea, an herb
tyrosine, commonly found in meat, seafood, and other protein-rich foods
valerian root, an herb
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate supplements. This means you cannot be sure of the precise ingredients or how supplements will interact with other drugs. There’s not enough research to confirm whether these supplements are effective or safe for everyone.
Supplements tend to contain ingredients in higher amounts than are typically found in food. You can usually consume these nutrients in food or in an herbal tea without many of the risks associated with supplements.
Always check with a doctor before trying any supplements, especially if you have any health conditions or allergies. A doctor can go over the possible benefits and risks of supplements with you and may recommend one that’s best for your needs.
Do a concentration workout
Concentration workouts often help children with trouble focusing. This mental workout involves fully devoting attention to an activity for a set period of time.
Activities can include the following:
Draw or doodle for 15 minutes.
Spend a few minutes tossing a balloon or small ball with another person.
Set a timer for 3 to 5 minutes. Try to blink as little as possible.
Suck on a lollipop or hard candy until it’s gone and resist the urge to bite into it. Pay attention to the flavor, the sensation of the candy on your tongue, and how long it takes to eat it completely.
After completing one of the activities, ask your child to write a short summary, sketch, or explain how they felt during the experience. Talking about where they lost concentration and how they managed to refocus can help develop these skills for use in daily tasks.
A concentration workout can benefit adults, too, so feel free to give it a try yourself.
Avoid multitasking
Multitasking seems a good way to get a lot done, but some scientists have questioned it.
Studies suggest we are not as good at multitasking as we like to think we are. For one thing, the brain is not designed to cope with doing two or more things at once. What we are actually doing is switching from one task to another. As a result, we can’t give our full attention to any of those tasks.
If you have the chance to tackle one thing at a time, you might find you can concentrate better.
Set a timer
Blocking off time for specific tasks can help you focus on one thing at a time and lower the risk of environmental distractions. Setting time limits can also help channel your energy toward the task at hand because you know the time you can or need to spend on it is limited.
Researchers looking for ways to help people overcome challenges associated with working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic suggested the following tips:
Timeboxing
When you make your to-do list, book a time slot on your calendar to do it, and stick to it.
Timeboxing can help you:
make sure you complete tasks
signal to others when a meeting time is convenient for you
separate work from home life, if that’s an issue
Using a timer
The Marinara or Pomodoro Timer, for example, encourages a person to work for 25 minutes and then take a 5-minute break. After four blocks of 25 minutes, the person takes a 15-minute break. This way, the person can focus fully on a task for the allotted time and do something else in the breaks.
Time-control apps
These allow you to set a goal to not use your phone. “Forest,” for example, grows a virtual tree in your set time, encouraging you not to use the device until the tree has grown. If you use the phone too soon, the tree will die.
Other apps allow you to set goals for specific sites each day, such as the news or social media.
Conditions that affect concentration
Your environment may negatively affect your concentration. Common causes include interruptions from co-workers, distractions from roommates or family members, or social media notifications.
But it’s also possible for concentration difficulties to relate to underlying mental or physical health conditions. Some common ones include:
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
brain fog, which can result from a variety of health conditions, including allergic sinusitis, COVID-19, and other infections
concussions and other head injuries
untreated mental health concerns such as depression or anxiety
cognitive dysfunction or impairment, such as those that may result from neurodegenerative conditions
farsightedness and other vision problems, which can cause headaches
distractions such as social media, phone calls, and a busy environment
not getting enough sleep
alcohol consumption
medications and other drugs
Other treatment options
If these tips don’t help, consider getting a professional opinion. Something more significant than ordinary distractions could be affecting your ability to concentrate, even if you aren’t aware of it.
It may also help to start by talking with a therapist, especially if you’re feeling stressed or have noticed changes in your mood.
Many adults with untreated ADHD have trouble concentrating or focusing their attention for long periods of time. A doctor can help diagnose this or any other condition and help you get started on treatment.
The bottom line
Consider trying a range of approaches to see what helps improve your concentration.
Existing evidence suggests most of these tips may promote at least modest improvements in concentration for many people. They are unlikely to decrease concentration or cause other harm, so trying them shouldn’t have negative effects.
If focusing is very difficult, make sure to talk with a doctor. There may be an underlying reason, and it’s important to rule out brain injuries or other serious issues.