Every day your brain is bombarded with billions of stimuli. They all are more or less relevant for your daily activities. That's why we have a filtering mechanism called attention focus. It's an ability to concentrate only on selected information which we find important. If not for that ability we wouldn't be able to do much in such a multitude of stimuli.

The filtering is starting in early stages of processing information. That's because the difference between how much is perceived and how much we can consciously process is so large. You usually don't think about such things as breathing or body temperature or heartbeat. Most of the time you don't know what is happening to your little toe. Now you do, because you turned your attention to it.

The fact that we don't have to think about such trivia all the time is a good thing. Thanks to that we can do more important things such as learning and work or having a hobby. At the same time these are activities that we find lack of attention focus the most troublesome.

One of the most common sources of problems is multitasking. For example when we're driving a car and talking to a passenger. Most drivers come to such a practice that conversation while driving doesn't seem to impair their driving ability. That is true when not much is going on on the road. But imagine driving through a small city with lots of crossroads, having complicated route and trying to multiply in your head or answering questions.

If we could multitask efficiently we shouldn't have problem with doing it all at once. But the reality is that 98% of people can't multitask. And it's easy to explain why. Think about attention as a resource. When we divide attention we have less of it for each action. It's like having a flashlight and splitting its beam - you still have same amount of light.

What to do when we have problem focusing on something? When work needs to be done and all kinds of things are distracting and irritating you?

First, start from removing as many distractors as possible from your environment. Turn off the radio, remove multitude of photos from your desk, if possible close your eyes and use ear plugs to calm down. Even if only for a minute or two, try to relax. Than organize a priority list and do one thing at a time.

Overall condition is also very important. To be able to concentrate properly having a good night sleep is very important. And unfortunately coffee isn't a solution. It makes you feel better, but our overall efficiency isn't going up. Even more- overdosing caffeine leads to hyperactivity disorder called "caffeic irritability" which can cause problems with falling asleep and heart problems.

Some of you are thinking right now that you can't get up in the morning without coffee? That was also studied and the results show that people who drink coffee everyday really need coffee. But only to achieve the same activity level as those who don't drink it at all.

What to do to improve concentration in long term? Don't count on energy boosters. While they're easy to use and quick in action, they might do more harm than good.

Let your brain rest. Forcing yourself to work extra-long hours will only fatigue you more and you won't success at anything while being tired. Remember that in the morning our mind is more efficient and easier to focus than after a sleepless night.

Proper diet also plays an important part in our ability to focus. When you're hungry you'll focus on how to satisfy that need rather than at the task at hand. Another thing is well balanced diet or supplementing yourself. Omega 3 acids are beneficial as well as minerals (magnesium) and vitamins.

Attention focus is one of the most important skills in life. And like with any other skill "practice makes perfect". Train your concentration and improve yourself. If you're interested in improving your attention focus as well as other mental skill visit us athttp://www.rapid-reading.co.uk