Brain Functions | 8 Natural Ways To Improve Focus Now

August 13, 2018March 2, 2022 Anthony Conigliaro BSc 1478 Views

Not being able to concentrate can effect your progress whether its at the gym, work, or school. But, the good news is that we don’t have to suffer through the distractions. Through understanding how our brain functions, we can improve our cognitive functions like focus and memory. In this post, we’ll go over how we focus, ways our focus is disrupted and 8 ways to improve focus/attention.

What Is Attention?

Attention is a cognitive process that allows us to flexibly focus and maintain focus on information. This information can be presented through any number of ways, such as reading this blog or observing the world around you. However, maintaining your attention isn’t as instinctual as it may sound. Instead it can require a lot discipline. (1,2)

What Can Cause Attention Issues?

Sometimes its obvious why we can’t focus; it’s too loud, too bright, maybe you’re hungry, etc. But other times we can be oblivious to the real reason are concentration wearing thin.(3,4)

This could include:

Alcohol
Nutrition Deficiencies
Stress/Motivation
Information Overload

Alcohol:

Even if you don’t actually feel hung over, a few drinks you had may be part of the reason you cannot concentrate. Alcohol can impair your ability to get a good night’s sleep, and fatigue can make it difficult to concentrate. Additionally, even minor hangovers can impair proper brain function. Long term excessive alcohol intake can seriously affect your overall brain function. (5)

Nutrition Deficiency:

B Vitamins help your body convert food into energy. They also help you metabolize fats and proteins. All of this means adequate intake of B Vitamins means greater ability to get the most out of your food, and more fuel for mental focus. (6,7,8)

Likewise, low omega-3 levels have been linked to a variety of mental, learning and cognitive difficulties in a range of people. One particular type of omega-3 called ‘DHA’ (docosahexaenoic acid) is important for mental performance. Some research also shows low omega-3 levels have also been linked to difficulties in reading, numeracy, concentration and memory. Increasing DHA levels in these studies lead to a small increase in cognitive performance. (9)

Stress:

Stress, up to a point, can help concentration – it provides additional motivation and urgency to finish a task. However, excessive stress can have the opposite effect. Having too many competing priorities disrupts your concentration and can also lead to forgetfulness. (10)

Information Overload/Multitasking:

Multi-tasking can be like a fine art, but it can hurt your ability to concentrate on large complicated tasks. Interestingly, one study indicates the perception of multitasking actually improved performance when giving the same that other participants perceived as single tasking.(11) But other studies indicate that switching between tasks can result in us being less efficient and more likely to make a mistake. (12)

8 Tips To Improve Brain Functions and Focus:

Just like how we train our muscles to improve strength, you can train your mind to improve your ability to focus. First, however, you should prioritize correcting anything that may be directly causing your inability to focus. Then if you still struggle to concentrate check out the tips and exercises below.

Meditation
Exercise Your Mind
Exercise Your Body
Scheduling
Environment
Goals
Sleep
Supplements

Tip 1: Meditation

Meditation can help you keep calm and also has shown that mindfulness meditation can boost your attention span significantly. Research has shown that just 10 to 20 minutes of meditation a day is enough to notice improvements. Practicing mindfulness can involve learning how to meditate, but it can also be as simple as trying a deep breathing exercise. Start by taking several deep breaths while really focusing on each breath. When you feel your mind begin to wander, guide your focus back to your deep breathing. (3,4)

Tip 2: Exercise Your Mind

Mental challenges can help to create new connections in the brain, which makes it more effective and more resistant to memory disorders. So develop a new hobby, read a novel, learn a foreign language, or practice other cognitive trainings. (12,13)

Tip 3: Exercise Your Body

Researchers have found that students who engaged in moderate physical exercise before taking a test that measured attention spans performed better than students who didn’t exercise. The researchers found that exercise primarily helps our brain’s ability to ignore distractions. Physical activity has been shown to sharpen focus possibly because it can help trigger the release of chemicals in the brain that are thought to affect learning and memory. One report suggests that aerobic exercise in particular may improve immediate and long-term functioning in regions of the brain relating to attention.† (14,15,16)

Tip 4: Scheduling

Do the most demanding mental work during periods of peak mental energy. Most days, our peak mental energy will occur at roughly the same time of day. For most people it’s sometime in the morning, right after their first cup of coffee. For others it’s at night after everyone else has gone to bed. Figure out first what time of day tends to be your period of peak mental energy. Then arrange your schedule so you can get 90-120 minutes of work done during that period every day. If you can do just this one thing you will likely make more progress on your projects than the average worker. Then you can do the less mentally taxing and more socially engaged parts of your job or life during the periods of lower mental energy.†

Tip 5: Environment

If your workspace is distracting, consider ways you can change your workspace to optimize your attention, such tidying up. And if that’s not enough, consider changing your physical workspace by spending time working remotely. But if you can’t change workspace, a simple pair of headphones might help you create a cozy little bubble in the midst of chaos.†

Tip 6: Set Small Achievable Goals

Planning and organizing tools can also help keep our minds clear as we work. Below we have a some guidelines to help create your goals.

Be specific – Set specific goals, putting in dates, times, and amounts so that you can measure achievement.
Set priorities – When you have several goals, give each a priority. This helps you to avoid feeling overwhelmed by having too many goals, and helps to direct your attention to the most important ones.
Keep goals small – Keep the low-level goals that you’re working towards small and achievable. If a goal is too large, then it can seem that you are not making progress towards it. Keeping goals small and incremental gives more opportunities for reward.
Set performance goals, not outcome goals -If you base your goals on personal performance, then you can keep control over the achievement of your goals, and draw satisfaction from them.

Tip 7: Sleep

Healthy sleep puts us in the right state of mind to take in information as we go about the day. Sleep is also necessary for feeling alert and refreshed, which can improve attention and concentration. Being chronically tired risks making more mistakes and reducing the quality of our work. (17,18)

Tip 8: Supplementation For Brain Functions

As we mentioned above, being low in certain nutrients can cause difficulties in concentration. An addition to supplementing for those nutrients, there are products available to increase your focus as well. (19)

Life Extension Cognitex

Ingredients:	Daily Value:
SIBELIUS™: SAGE Extract	333mg
AuroraBlue® Wildcrafted Blueberry Complex	200mg
Sensoril® Ashwagandha Extract	125mg
Phosphatidylserine	100mg
Pregnenolone	50mg
Uridine-5’-Monophosphate, disodium	50mg
Vinpocetine	20mg

How To Take Cognitex:

Life Extension recommends taking two (2) tablets, preferably early in the day, or as recommended by a healthcare practitioner.

Customer Review By Layla: “I have been using this supplement for three years now and I am very pleased with the results.” Posted on 12/7/21

NOW Foods True Focus

Ingredients:	Daily Value:
Vitamin C	36mg
Vitamin B-6	12mg
Potassium	10mg
L-Tyrosine	800mg
L-Phenylalanine	300mg
Taurine	100mg
Grape Seed Extract	80mg
Potassium Ascorbate Powder	60mg
DMAE	45mg
Ginkgo Extract	40mg
CoQ10	10mg

How To Take True Focus:

NOW Foods recommends taking 2 capsules daily between meals and to store in a cool, dry place after opening.

Customer Review By Steven: “Freaking AMAZING results. I’ve dealt with exhaustion, depression and other life stuff that has just drained my brain of hope or energy to complete even simple chores, this new supplement has given me new life. I’m able to continue doing things i never felt like starting in the past! Definitely buying again.” Posted on 10/28/20

Black Magic Supply Brain Waves

Ingredients:	Daily Value:
Vitamin B6	10mg
Vitamin B12	1mg
Zinc Gluconate	5mg
KSM-66R Ashwagnanda	600mg
Lion’s Mane Mushroom	600mg
Cat’s Claw	500mg
Sixth Sense Matrix:	1,995mg
AlphaSize®
Caffeine
Bacopa
L-Theanine
Phosphatidylserine
N-Isopropylnorsynephrine
Vincpocetine
PQQ
Huperzine A

How To Take Brain Waves:

Black Magic Supply recommends taking four (4) capsules when extreme focus and brain gains are needed. However, due to extreme potency, one may wish to start with 1-2 capsules before progressing to a full serving.

Do not exceed recommended dosage in a 24-hour period.

Customer Review By Sonny: “This product works as advertised, I have used other nootropics in the past, but this product works the best, focused, complete energy and no crash at the end. Give it a try for self.” Posted on 12/3/21

Chemix Nootropic

Ingredients:	Daily Value:
Kanna	1g
Ivy Leaf Extract	1g
Catuaba Bark Extract	1g
Psoralea Corylifolia Extract	750mg
Lion’s Mane Extract	750mg
Stephania Intermedia Extract	500mg
Citicoline	300mg
Hordenine HCL	150mg
N,N-dimethylphenylethylamine Citrate	125mg
Higenamine HCL	80mg
Huperzine A	30mg

How To Take Chemix Nootropic:

Chemix recommends taking one full serving of eight (8) capsules with 8-10oz of water prior to exercise or for focus. Beginners may start with four (4) capsules to assess tolerance.

Customer Review By Brian: “I’m in a sales career, I’m more articulate and talkative on these. More aggressive and sharp with my conversation, which is helpful.” Posted on 2/11/21

Revive Brain+

Ingredients:	Daily Value:
Niacin	100mg
Vitamin B6	20mg
Folate	200mcg
Vitamin B12	500mcg
L-Alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine	600mg
Acetyl-L-Carnitine HCl	500mg
L-Tyrosine	500mg
Rhodiola Rosea	300mg
Alpha Lipoic Acid	250mg
Citicoline monosodium salt	250mg
Phosphatidylserine	100mg
Saffron	30mg
Pyrroloquinoline Quinone	10mg
Lithium	400mcg

How To Take Brain+:

Revive recommends taking five (5) capsules once daily or as recommended by a healthcare practitioner.

Customer Review By Charlie: “As someone who suffers with adhd even with prescription medication, this product as been able to help improve my focus as well as noticed my memory as also improved! Will definitely always have a bottle on hand!” Posted on 7/15/21

Wrapping Up!

This wraps up our post on Brain Functions and Focus. Thank you for reading! And as always, if there was something that wasn’t clear, another question you want to be addressed, or if you have another idea for a blog, Email Us!

Looking for more to read? Check out some of our other blogs!

Warnings And Side Effects:

Cognitex

Do not use if you are of childbearing age, pregnant or planning to become pregnant. KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. DO NOT EXCEED RECOMMENDED DOSE. Do not purchase if outer seal is broken or damaged. To report a serious adverse event or obtain product information, contact 1-866-280-2852.

True Focus

For adults only. Consult physician if pregnant/nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition. Phenylketonurics (PKU): This product contains L-Phenylalanine. Keep out of reach of children. Do not eat freshness packet. Keep in bottle.

Brain Waves

For use by healthy adults only, not recommended for persons under the age of 18. Do not use if you are pregnant or nursing. Keep out of the reach of children.

Chemix Nootropic

For use by healthy adults only, not recommended for persons under the age of 18. Do not take with prescription medicines without consulting your physician or pharmacist. Do not use if you are pregnant or nursing. Keep out of the reach of children.

Brain +

For use by healthy adults only. Not recommended for persons under the age of 18. Do not take with prescription medicines or without consulting your physician or pharmacist. Do not use it if you are pregnant or nursing. Keep out of reach of children.

Disclaimer:

†PLEASE NOTE: The intention of the information provided is for reference only. Furthermore, we are in no way providing medical advice or instruction. Instead, the information provided in this guide/blog is based on anecdotal information and available studies/reviews. While it is our goal to maintain and display accurate information, we can’t guarantee it represents the latest formulation of the product or information. Therefore, if you have any concerns, please visit the manufacturer’s website. Also, the information above is not a representation of our views at Same Day Supplements. Rather, these are the views and information provided by the manufacturers and users. The Food and Drug Administration has not evaluated these statements. Finally, the intention of these products is not to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or illness.