Can't Concentrate

by: Mary Mihaly

"Focusing is one of my biggest challenges," said the marketing consultant. We were in a coffee shop when we should have been at our computers, working. "All day long, I have to force myself to concentrate". Everyone seems to feel mentally scattered these days kids, women in their middle years, stressed-out executives and grandparents, alike. Why can't we concentrate anymore?. We've brought it on ourselves, the experts say. We can't focus because we're sleep-deprived, nutritionally deprived, dehydrated, unmotivated in our work and fatigued from juggling too many responsibilities. But it's not hopeless. With few exceptions certain illnesses or chronic pain, for instance we can take steps to improve our concentration

 

• First, find the cause

For most healthy adults, finding the cause of diminished concentration is a process of elimination first you rule out the possibility of illness or infection. The key is to recognize a pattern of symptoms over a period of weeks or months. Have you noticed other physical symptoms, such as fatigue, weight gain or loss, sleeplessness (or sleeping too much), increased irritability, feeling cold when everyone around you is comfortable, and general malaise?

If you've noticed several of these symptoms, your thyroid could be malfunctioning, you might be anemic, or you could be experiencing depression. There are other possibilities all of which can affect your ability to concentrate. Help yourself by going to see your doctor. He or she can order blood tests to determine if a medical condition is causing the problem.

•  A lack of B vitamins

One of the most common causes of diminished concentration is nutrition; truly, we are what we eat. "Any vitamin deficiency can lead to difficulty with concentration," says Chris D. Meletis, ND, chief medical officer at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine. "And the entire B-vitamin complex family stand out as really important players”. Often, vitamin B-6 and B-12 deficiencies can lead to pronounced symptoms of forgetfulness." We also lose the ability to focus when we don't get enough thiamine (vitamin B-1) a deficiency that can result from consuming too much black tea, coffee, alcohol and other diuretics, which reduce the body's ability to absorb nutrients.

• Distractions abound

Myriad everyday occurrences cut into our concentration, too. The University of Texas at Austin has developed a handy checklist for students that is applicable to anyone who experiences difficulty concentrating. 

The college divides the culprits into:

 

External causes - too-comfortable chairs, television and music with words 

Internal causes - boredom, physical distractions (hunger, drowsiness), anxiety about the task at hand, daydreaming and personal worries

• Stress (as usual)

Meletis agrees that stress definitely affects mental function in healthy people. "When stress levels rise, they begin to short-circuit your switchboard in your brain," he says. "The human mind, as amazing as it is, can get overloaded, and it will reach a point where it can't juggle as many things as you want it to."

"Stress also leads to fatigue," he adds, "and without proper rest or when the body becomes overworked, the brain can falter. The files can get all mixed up or lost altogether."

• Food of Thought

One way to enhance your focusing abilities is to view the problem holistically. 

After ruling out illness-based causes, address other physical dimensions.

• Rest and replenish
• Drowsiness and hunger are no-brainers; if too little sleep and nourishment are creating concentration difficulties, take a nap and fix a bowl of oatmeal.
• Cut back the carbs
• Some people become drowsy after eating too many refined carbohydrates; if your body is sensitive to carbohydrates, cut back on the bread and rolls and have a little more protein and vegetables for lunch.
• Try Nature's sweets
• Refined sugar, after an initial energy surge, also makes many people mentally and physically sluggish; if you need energy boosts during the day, skip the candy bar and eat an orange instead.
• Bulk up on Bs
• To maximize thiamine (a B vitamin) levels and enhance your concentration, include thiamine-packed foods in your daily diet whole wheat, nuts, beans and peas, milk, lean meats, green leafy vegetables, avocados, cauliflower and spinach.
• Herbs and supplements
• Ginseng, available as a tea or food supplement, is said to improve mental efficiency and help prevent fatigue. Ginkgo biloba also is recommended as a memory and concentration aid for adults of all ages. There is some evidence that zinc and magnesium available as over-the-counter supplements and in many multiple vitamins also help mental clarity.
• Increase iron intake
• Anemia, most often caused by iron deficiency, affects memory and concentration because the brain is deprived of blood and oxygen. Eat iron-rich foods such as meats, seafood and broccoli cooked in ironware pots, and if a doctor recommends them, take iron supplements.
• Avoid aluminum

Dr. Meletis cautions, too, against using aluminum cookware and using aluminum cans. "There has been a suggested link to aluminum accumulation in the body and less than optimal memory," he says.

• Motivation is the Key

"The crucial and most fundamental factor affecting ability to concentrate is motivation," says Michael J. Hurd, PhD, author of Grow Up America! and host of the radio program, "Solutions, Not Excuses." He defines motivation as "the conviction that you have a good, objective reason to do something, connected in some way to a sense of rational self-interest."

You might go to bed early if you need to be alert for an 8:00 a.m. meeting, in order to meet important job or career goals. If tomorrow is a vacation day, however, you might stay up late, have a few drinks and read in bed until 2:00 a.m. As a result, you won't be in top mental form the next day, but neither were you motivated to be at your best.

Hurd agrees that nutrition plays a role in concentration, but, he says, "it's still not as fundamental as motivation in creating increased or decreased attention span. A good diet will help with everything, but does not provide you with a reason or motive to do something."

• It is the little things that count

Sometimes, say experts at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, it's the small details that keep us from focusing well. They've devised a checklist for improving concentration that includes:

• Minimizing external distractions - have all of your equipment handy when you begin working, be sure the lighting doesn't glare or cast shadows, and pick a quiet place.
• Minimizing internal distractions - clear out nonacademic thoughts and emotions that come from within.
• Organizing your time - use hours of peak alertness for work that requires the most concentration.
• Using a distributed practice approach - plan to work or study for two hours in three sessions, for instance, rather than one long, six-hour session.