Unique Ways To Increase Focus & Visual Perception

If you’ve been reliant on your phone and other day-to-day distractions that people often see in modern life, you may have found yourself devoid of enough focus and attention to participate in things that require a lot of attention, like reading or learning. Using mobile phones and the internet rewards the part of your brain that processes instant gratification, leaving you disinterested in things that take too long to be rewarding, and that’s something that needs to be retrained.

1. Meditation

One of the main reasons you may be having trouble maintaining focus and concentration is because your mind is always filled with thoughts, racing so much that you can’t focus on just one precise thing. To counteract this, meditation might be the perfect option for you, and that's because, when you're meditating, you'll be trying to devote your focus to one particular thing, such as your breathing or the things around you. Whether it's mindfulness or some other form of Eastern meditation, you'll find that slowly, but surely, you slip into a restful state of focus, during which you can think about things clearly, and the main benefit is, each time you meditate, you'll be getting better and more focused, and you'll carry these benefits over to your daily life.  

2. Detaching From Social Media

As previously mentioned, one of the main reasons you may be struggling with maintaining both attention and perception is how often you're using social media, which has tiny texts and moving images that often lead to eye strain, as well as massive, frequent hits of dopamine that both overload your brain and decrease the concentration of dopamine receptors so that other parts of your life no longer provide the same satisfaction. This is why many people decide to go on regular social media purges since it's unlikely that many people will quit social media for good, but they are still able to take long breaks that last from days to weeks. 

3. Visual Training Exercises

If you’re interested in focusing more on improving your perception, the best option for you may be to practice visual training exercises, which take the form of digital or real-life object tracking, in which you’re tasked with following the direction of an object that’s moving in an unpredictable way. Focusing on an object like this for long periods has shown to improve focus, too, so you’ll be killing two birds with one stone. If you’d like another option, there are many resources that offer pictures that have slight differences, with you having to pick out minor differences, which is great for perception and focus, too.

4. Puzzle Games

Playing great puzzle games that you find online, like the Patterned app, or any puzzle box that you can purchase in stores, will allow you to pass the time in a fun way while ensuring you're working on your cognitive skills and focus. You'll need to be perceptive about the pieces of the puzzle you're picking up and keep a mental map of it all, which can be great for training your problem-solving skills and how long you're able to concentrate. Best of all, puzzles can be as short as you want them to be, allowing you to do them in your downtime if you're using an app on your phone. 

5. Drawing 

Drawing is encouraged for nearly all children throughout the world because of its benefits in increasing creativity, but it's just as important for adults since it allows you to focus on your surroundings and clear your mind while ensuring you're doing something creative. If you choose to draw real-life objects or landscapes, you'll find that you're getting more and more perceptive with each drawing as you master how exactly to pick the right shade of color or figure out minor differences from far away.

Conclusion

Focus and perception are two of the greatest qualities that everyone needs to have in order to attain success and prosperity, but the odds are stacked against you if you're living a modern lifestyle filled with the internet, social media, and instant gratification. However, there are many ways to retrain yourself and get rid of all of the negative effects these applications have had on you, and if you're able to accomplish that, you'll find life gets much easier and more rewarding.