Attention is necessary for navigating and interacting with the world, whether you’re driving a car with kids screaming in the backseat or trying to read a book in a coffee shop while someone is talking loudly on their phone.

However, we can only process a certain amount of information at once due to the limited capacity of attention. Because of this, it’s critical to have the ability to block out distractions that could cause one to lose focus on the task at hand.

To improve executive functioning—a component of attention that allows us to prioritize what we want to engage with and filter out unwanted interference—new research emphasizes the significance of regular meditation, exercise, and sleep.

How to Increase Attention Span?

Executive function

In the laboratory, we dissect attention into several distinct components that fulfill various functions. When you are trying to focus in a distracting environment, such as conversing while your favorite TV show is playing in the background, or when you are managing an impulse, such as restraining yourself from eating another potato chip, executive functioning comes into play.

Another aspect of executive functioning is keeping an eye out for distracting ideas, such as daydreaming. Many disorders, such as depression and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), have an impact on it.

You can increase the effectiveness of your executive functioning by practicing daily meditation, engaging in regular exercise, and upholding sound sleeping practices. Therefore, you might want to think about implementing these routine adjustments if you want to increase productivity and decrease impulsivity.

Meditation

One of the best strategies to enhance executive functioning is through meditation. People’s ability to block out distractions improved even after just five days of 20 minutes a day of meditation. As long as attentional control (focusing on a particular thing) was the primary goal, there didn’t seem to be a better way to meditate. In meditation, trying to let go of unwanted thoughts while concentrating on breathing is a common method used to elicit attentional control.

Research has also looked at yoga, which has components of meditation. However, although the yogis’ overall response time increased, yoga did not improve executive functioning, in contrast to other approaches whose main goal was attentional control. It’s unclear how long these benefits in attention last after meditation, but it’s certain that paying attention should be a regular part of life for anyone trying to enhance their executive functioning.

Exercise

For those over 18, 150 minutes of exercise per week to stay in good health. Additionally, this has a big impact on executive functioning. Based on various elements, such as how frequently people exercised, how hard they worked out, and what kinds of exercises they did, affected executive functioning. Compared to sedentary people, those who reported engaging in six hours of physical activity per week demonstrated better executive functioning. Furthermore, after participating in a two-week high-intensity sprint program, participants not only performed better on executive functioning tests than the control group, but they also made fewer mistakes.

After just four days, standing and treadmill desks improved other aspects of physical health, but they did not improve cognition to the same extent as other moderate- to high-intensity exercises. This implies that you must significantly raise your heart rate if you wish to experience those increases in cognition.

Sleep

It’s crucial to take your sleep quality into account as well since social and professional commitments frequently cause people to shorten their sleep cycles. While a small number of the review’s studies did find that lower sleep led to worse executive functioning, overall performance was worse. Certain attentional components were not affected by less sleep in the same manner as they were by exercise and meditation. Rather, it made people more prone to making mistakes and slower to react.

However the majority of the sleep studies that were reviewed involved keeping subjects awake for the entire day. This doesn’t accurately reflect how most people feel when their sleep is reduced. Future studies ought to look at the relationship between executive functioning and sleep quality. This information is particularly crucial for people who operate heavy machinery or work in environments where distractions could be dangerous, such as air traffic controllers.

We have no control over a great deal of our cognitive processes. Genes play a major role in executive functioning skills. But this review offers encouraging proof that you can improve your focus by making small adjustments to your daily schedule.

Thus, begin your meditation practice, increase your heart rate, and go to bed early if you want that extra edge!