ADHD focus strategies are critical for both children and adults learning to manage their symptoms. Most any task demands some level of focus. This makes even the simplest of tasks that much more daunting.
This article reviews three helpful ADHD focus strategies. Use these strategies to reorient your thinking about task management and obtain better focus.
1. Focus on your Health
Successful ADHD focus strategies should start with proper health management. Manage your health well with using simple concentration tips such as:
- Breathe Deeply – Short quick breaths can create panic or anxiousness. Breathing deeply on the other hand gives your body a chance to pause and refocus your energy. When you find yourself losing focus, take a pause and breathe deeply and intentionally. You will find it calming in the moment. Additionally, it will give your mind a chance to reset and focus.
- Eat Healthier – As we’ve all heard many times, food is fuel for your body. For your mind to function and focus, you need good clean fuel, not junk. Skip the snacking on potato chips and eat an apple. Start your day off right with oatmeal and a glass of orange juice. Give your body and mind a chance by supplying them with the vitamins and minerals they crave. The more you give your body what it needs, the more you will see your focus, energy, and concentration improve.
- Exercise – Our bodies are designed to be active. Activity and exercise release endorphins which help to energize the brain and increase focus. Lack of exercise makes us tired, listless, and easily distracted. It's hard to be at the top of your game if you don’t exercise and prepare for the contest. Exercise increases your mind’s ability to focus.
2. Focus On Your Fun.
In order for ADHD focus strategies to work, you need to learn to make tasks fun. With making simple parts of your day more interesting, you can improve your and your child’s focus. Ways to infuse a little more fun in your day include:
- Make tasks into games – Let’s face it, tasks in themselves can be monotonous, and monotony can lead to distraction. In order to not slip into monotony, make tasks less like tasks and more like games. Anything can be made into a game. Think of Mary Poppins if you need inspiration. Make cleaning up a game, and you’ll find enough focus to have your house cleaned in no time.
- Add a beat to learning with music – Have you ever been told to listen to Mozart or Beethoven when you study? If you haven’t, you should give it a try. Research shows that music focuses the brain. This can be listening to Mozart, or it can be adding a beat or a clap for a child learning their numbers or how to spell. The music creates a game element to learning and improves overall focus and memory retention.
- Make your day a creative story – Your imagination can be a powerful tool. Learn to use it to keep your focus. When telling about your day, keep your kids or friends engaged by adding creativity into your regular routine. Especially for kids with ADHD, creative stories keep them guessing and more focused on the next twist or turn.
3. Focus on your Job
Don’t let stress in the work place get the better of you. Find the ADHD focus strategies you need to succeed in finding ways to improve focus at your job.
- Use Lists – Lists provide structure in the midst of chaos. Feelings of being overwhelmed or not knowing where to begin can lead to a drifting focus. Use lists as much as possible to narrow your focus. Lists give you set tasks in a set order to follow. With lists, you know where you began, can know where you are, and can see where you are going.
- Get Accountability – Don’t be the loner in the workplace. Ask your co-workers to help maintain your focus with little reminders throughout the day. This doesn’t have to be anything major. It could be just stopping in for a moment once a hour or once every two hours to check on your progress.
- Define a Goal – It's easy for your mind to wander when it doesn’t have anything to direct its energy. Give your mind a focal point to direct your progress. You can even make it a challenge or a game. With defining goals, your mind can focus on the end of the tasks instead of getting bogged down in the middle and loosing focus in the weeds.
Use ADHD Focus Strategies to Get Tasks Done
Adults and children with ADHD have a notoriously hard time focusing on tasks at hand. The solution to being able to focus better might simply lie in reorienting your thinking regarding some areas of your life.
To focus better be sure to focus more on your health, more on having fun, and more on managing adult ADHD at work. A combination of all these things can help you focus better and get more done.