Attention

By guest expert Dr. Cynthia Green, Ph.D., a nationally recognized expert in brain health and president of Memory Arts LLC.

I was once asked if there is one thing that everyone could do to improve memory. Luckily, there was an easy answer. If we only paid better attention to things that we want to retain, we would remember them better.

Of course, improving attention is not quite as easy as it sounds. Let’s face it, life is full of distractions. After all, we have many things competing for our awareness. Think about how many times you’ve been interrupted – or have interrupted yourself – over the past hour alone. Perhaps you got a snack, checked email or took a phone call. In the time that I’ve been working on this piece alone I’ve had to answer the door, help my son edit a paper, and of course constantly check email so I don’t miss anything life altering (hey, you never know). On top of these tempting distractions, add other attention zappers, such as how we sleep, what we eat, if we are stressed or anxious – just a few of the lifestyle factors that may also mire our attention. Finally, aging can contribute to the problem, since as we grow older it can be harder for us to sustain attention. Rarely, however, do we consider how truly essential attention is to memory. So that we go around complaining that we can do difficult work tasks just fine but forget simple things, like brushing our teeth (yuck) or what we went into the other room to get.
Building attention can do wonders for your memory performance. Why? Well, consider for a moment what it takes to remember. First we have to learn, or acquire, things that we want to recall later. After all, if you want to know something, you first have to get it. And that acquisition process requires – you’ve got it – attention. You can start building better attention and focus by:

• Increase Your Awareness. Be aware when you want to remember something later. Then stop and focus your attention in that moment, so you more effectively get the information.
• Build Your Attention. Playing games that challenge your attention and focus can help build your attention capacity. Games, like those in Lumosity’s brain fitness training program, force you to stay focused and think quickly to do well.
• Pay Attention to How You Live. Daily factors such as fatigue, poor diet, anxiety, and stress can really drain your attention. Take the time to think about how things may be affecting your attention day to day. You can boost your attention and therefore your memory simply by leading a lifestyle that supports healthy attention function.
• Stop Overtasking. The human brain is still, well, human. There is only so much we can handle at one time. Protect your attention and your time by getting better attention habits.

For example, I recently set my email so that it only checks for new messages every 30 minutes. This gives me longer chunks of time without the distraction of messages, which invariably are NOT life altering. Put “Do Not Disturb” signs up at work when working on things which require concentration. Try rewarding yourself with a favorite distraction (a game, a trip to the water cooler) once you’ve completed a task.

In fact, now that I’ve finished this column, I think it’s time to refill my water bottle. So go forth and pay attention to your attention – it will help you remember better.

Dr. Green