Maintaining your Concentration and Enhancing Attention

 

If you have ever seen any sports movie, there are often times when a game is coming down to the wire. A quarterback may have to make a perfect throw or a basketball player may have to beat the buzzer. These athletes must maintain an incredible amount of concentration (to keep an eye on the target) and attention (to see the field and recognize different outcome possibilities) in order to make the best possible play.

 

 While each of these representations may not be everyday situations, they could in all likelihood be the situation you find yourself in at any given moment. It is then important as athletes and performers to be able to recognize the situation, to know what information is most important in that time period, and to ignore other thoughts that could possibly serve as distractions. If a quarterback sitting in the pocket loses concentration for even a second, he might be blindsided by an oncoming defender.

 

Consider that the cup you on your left represents your attentional capacity, or how much information you can take in at any given moment. Imagine that the part that is filled with water represents your current thoughts at this moment which are important to the situation. It may be the oncoming pitch, the position of the defense, or the weakness of the opponent you’re trying to take advantage of. The empty half of the glass is available for any new information that may be pertinent to you and the situation. If, even for you a second, you allow a thought such as people are watching or what if I miss, it will fill the cup with irrelevant thoughts and there will be no room for new relevant and important information. You might miss a piece of information that was extremely important such as the gun to start a race. This is why it is important to fill your glass with what is most important and keep the remaining space available for incoming, pertinent information.

One way to fulfill your cup and keep the open space available for incoming information are cue words. Cue words can be an effective strategy to consciously reset your mind and tell yourself what is important. Cue words, if used correctly, enable you to refocus and control your attention. To properly use a cue word you want it to be task related and attention grabbing that it almost sounds like a slamming door. Not in volume, but in the meaning of the word. Cue words may either be motivational (push yourself), confidence boosting (I Can!), or even instructional (elbows in). Whatever the chosen word is, it should have some meaning to you in that moment. A golfer might use an instructional word such as tight as a way to focus on proper technique. Your job now, given the information, is to find a cue word that gets you focused on the situation the fastest. To find the best cue word, consider the situation. If you want to push yourself in that moment, you might choose a motivational or confidence boosting cue word. If you want to focus on completing the task correctly, you might choose an instructional cue word. Overall, each cue word should have personal meaning and be strong enough to keep your attention on that task. After finding it, continue practicing it by repeating it any time you feel your mind start to wander and be distracted. This cue word may be useful when on the field, on the ice, on the court, or even in the classroom.

Matthew Jones

Bowling Green State University

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