How to Stop Getting Distracted
How to Stop Getting Distracted"
- Select a language for the TTS:
- UK English Female
- UK English Male
- US English Female
- US English Male
- Australian Female
- Australian Male
- Language selected: (auto detect) - EN
Play all audios:
By
Sari Harrar,
AARP En español Published April 06, 2022At 55, my focus started to fray. I had to ask my teenage daughter to stop chatting during tricky highway merges. I penciled “COUNT!!!” across my community orchestra music, to avoid getting
lost in long strings of repeated notes. I wrote multiple to-do lists and forgot new neighbors’ names. Turns out, I was completely normal and there was something I could do about the problem.
Aging shrinks the brain by about 5 percent between age 45 and age 60, says brain researcher Ted Zanto, associate professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco. Sounds
small, but it could help explain why the ability to pay attention and tune out distractions begins to decline before age 50. Around then, your brain also has to start coping with the full
catastrophe of midlife. Rebellious kids! Aging parents! Work! Money! Menopause! Throw in constant interruptions from our digital devices and “you might start feeling overwhelmed,” says
neuroscientist Denise Park, director of the Park Aging Mind Laboratory at the University of Texas at Dallas.
Luckily it isn’t all bad news. The brain has a wondrous plasticity, and you can help it adjust and refocus by taking up a few simple, healthy habits.
Get a move onCouch potatoes who started getting 30 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise — think treadmills and exercise bikes — four times a week improved their executive function, a 2019 Columbia
University study found. The volunteers in their 40s, 50s and 60s were the ones who got the biggest benefits. And scans showed that the cortical thickness in exercisers’ brains had actually
increased after six months. “It has convinced me to build exercise into my schedule,” says lead researcher Yaakov Stern, chief of cognitive neuroscience in the Department of Neurology at
Columbia.
Prioritize sleepInsomniacs have a tougher time ignoring distractions than normal sleepers, according to a 2019 Australian study, and the worse their sleep, the worse their ability to concentrate. According
to another study of more than 5,000 participants over five years, those who started sleeping less than six to eight hours a night demonstrated a drop in thinking skills equal to four to
seven years of aging, compared with study subjects who were still getting their z’s. To help protect your brain from such a slowdown, make a point of getting to bed on time, and get
treatment for any sleep disorders that may arise, such as obstructive sleep apnea.
Re-center with meditation
Trending News
Jenna Fischer & Greg Germann To Star In Steve Martin’s ‘Meteor Shower’ At The Old GlobeJenna Fischer and Greg Germann have been tapped to star in Meteor Shower, the new comedic play by Steve Martin that will...
Emily Zemler – Rolling StoneEmily ZemlerReporterEd Sheeran Celebrates India on Rousing Single ‘Sapphire’ The musician described the song as his “fav...
Danish village grounded in iron-age historyOn a Saturday afternoon in 1952, a group of peat-cutters from the Danish village of Grauballe made a gruesome discovery....
Phelps Sets 400 Record - Los Angeles TimesINDIANAPOLIS — You had to appreciate Michael Phelps’ exquisite sense of timing. After all, the 17-year-old from Baltimor...
Dr. Winifred brenchley, o. B. E.ARTICLE PDF ENJOYING OUR LATEST CONTENT? LOGIN OR CREATE AN ACCOUNT TO CONTINUE * Get immediate access to this article *...
Latests News
How to Stop Getting DistractedBy Sari Harrar, AARP En español Published April 06, 2022At 55, my focus started to fray. I had to ask my teenage daugh...
Church Activities Spark ComplaintI was 8 years old when we moved to the Palos Verdes Peninsula. My parents bought their lot in 1949 and we moved into our...
Universal Credit UK: Fresh hope £20 per week uplift will remain as MPs vote for extensionUniversal Credit payment changes were voted on today as Labour pressured Rishi Suank and the wider Government to keep th...
‘american dad’ executive producer/co-showrunner mike barker exits‘American Dad’ Executive Producer/Co-Showrunner Mike Barker Exits You will be redirected back to your article in seconds...
China’s payment duopoly may struggle to surviveLock This article is for SUBSCRIBERS ONLY. Alipay and WeChat Pay’s dominance of China’s retail payments was scripted ove...