The Saturday Book Review: How To Improve Concentration
Title: How to improve Concentration
Authors: Aditi Singhal & Sudhir Singhal with Bala Kishore
Publisher: Penguin/Ebury Press
ISBN: 978-0-143-42752-0
TNA Rating: ****
Ever Since the Human Race raced towards an era of competitiveness and excellence , the buzzword Concentration followed the effort like a shadow. Everybody found it to be the magic mantra which made the difference between Success and Failure. For students it was to be a tool to excel in studies.
The Authors Aditi and Sudhir who hold on to the Guinness World Record for teaching the largest Math Class and Bala Kishore a digital wellness coach got together to create a method to Master the Art of Concentration and saying No to distractions.
In their words "Our World is filled with distractions that demand our attention every few seconds. The constant stream of messages, notifications and pop ups on our digital devices hugely impacts our physical and mental health, making it difficult for us to concentrate on any task".
Concentration in Sanskrit terminology 'Ekagrata' means giving prominence to only one thought in the midst of many thoughtsFor others it also refers to as a method of controlling your mind at will. The book shows that achieving deep focus is not elusive With systematic training of the mind , we can clear away distractions , concentrate our thoughts completely on a single idea or task and accomplish everything with quality.
From ' Hearing + Attention = listening ' to train your mind, change your brain '... Brain is a wonderful 'tathastu' (wish granting ) machine ...the authors take and guide the students and readers through simple methods.
Wherever my attention goes, energy flows and wherever my energy flows, life grows. The relationship of Food and health, Sleep etc as an attention influencer, have been touched upon in detail. On the importance of keeping an eye on Distractions, they quote Steve Jobs ".
People think focus means saying yes to the thing you have got to focus on. But that is not what it means at all It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully". It takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus on a task after an interruption as per a study.
In their chapter declutter your mind , an interesting narrative is played out ' If I can change the way I look at things, I can change the things I look at '. The problems arising out of our getting drowned in the digital space has been given a lot of attention with aggressive solutions.
The present day youngsters fascination with their perception of being star multitaskers falls flat in the face of the authors ' Multitasking is a myth... The human brain just can't Multi-task'. A must read for students, professionals and all others seeking to declutter themselves from the huge distractions in our world of today.
(The author of this book review is a Lucknow-based businessman, Chairman, MSME Confederation of Micro, Small, Medium Enterprise UP and Co-Chairman PHD Chambers of Commerce and the Founder Chair of Confederation of Indian Industry-Young Indians.)
This Book Is Available @ Universal Booksellers
universallko@gmail.com