Concentration is directly linked to the learning ability of human beings and is considered as one of the most important senses of human beings. The concentration has been defined as the ability to direct one's thinking in the intended direction. Concentration plays a crucial role in the life of a student. A student with strong concentration power is able to pick up things more quickly, and it becomes really easy for the student to memorize facts related to his studies if he has a good concentration power. We all have the ability to concentrate some of the time. The thing that matters is that how effectively we are able to direct our concentration towards the intended task, it is not easy to possess full control over your concentration power as our thoughts are scattered, and our minds race from one thing to another. It is not easy to build a strong concentration power, to deal with such times, we need to learn and practice concentration skills and strategies. To concentrate, we have to learn a skill, and as with any skill, this means practice repeated day after day until we achieve enough improvement to feel that we can concentrate when we need to.

Attention, as well as memory, is the two mental skills directly related to our concentration power. In fact, many memory complaints have nothing to do with the actual ability to remember things. They come from a failure to focus properly on the task at hand. With proper concentration, it becomes really easy to memorize things easily. Concentration comes with attention hence the process of learning becomes a three-way process in which, memorizing depends upon concentration power, which further depends upon attention paid in by the person. Concentration depends upon a lot of other factors also:

• Personal commitment put in by the person towards a particular task or job. It is really hard to concentrate if a person is only half-hearted working towards the goal. This would not help, for proper concentration level you need to be determined and motivated, and put in your full potential towards the achievement of your goals.
• Enthusiasm for the task is another factor that would determine the concentration of a student or any other person trying to concentrate on any particular job. If an individual is taking full interest in his job or whatever he is being taught, then there won’t be any difficulty for him to concentrate. However if a job or subject seems to be boring and even candidate is not enthusiastic to learn in something new, then there is no scope of having a good concentration towards the topic.
• Skill and confidence at doing the task play another major role in the concentrating power of an individual. If a person has the skills to perform then he gains in interest in the topic and also tends to gain in confidence to do the job, which in turn boosts his concentrating power.
• Our emotional and physical state plays a great role in our concentration power. A dull state of mind can never favour high concentration power, also if you have any worry or tension then your mind is in not in a state to concentrate well on anything else as most of the time you would be thinking about your tension and the way to deal with your problem and finding a solution to your problem.
• The environment is a factor that is equally important in the process of concentrating towards a job or topic being taught. A student who is feeling uncomfortable inside the classroom due to any climatic or other reason cannot concentrate on the topic that is being taught inside the class. Too high room temperature or too low temperature can disturb student, if the furniture is really cold then half the time student would be disturbed by this thing and it becomes really difficult to concentrate.

Importance of Concentration

Concentration is one of the most important human senses. Of all our mental abilities focused concentration is probably the most influential one as it stands heads and shoulders above the rest for one very important reason. Concentration is the vital function of the human brain and mind. It would not be wrong to say that concentration is the master ability of the human brain that controls almost all the other mental abilities and plays the most important role in the learning process. Improving your focus as well as concentration has by far the greatest impact on our mental performance and our brainpower. The brainpower can be assumed as the collective performance of our mental abilities such as memory, reason, concentration, imagination, creativity, and intuition. Hence all the activities of our brain are closely linked to one another and improving one’s ability would directly affect all the other parts also.

Hence concentration towards your desired job is very important towards the learning process. Strong concentration power determines effective brain functioning, a brain with a weak concentration power is like weak management system of an organization. Like a weak management can never lead to some good profits, in the same way, a weak brain can never help you achieve your goals in an effective manner. On the other hand just as a strong management system leads to prosperity, a strong concentration of power gives you control over your attention as well as your brain.

Tips to Improve Concentration

Concentration is an important phase of the learning process. Concentration plays a very important role in the effective learning process. An important thing in the learning process is to direct your concentration power towards the intended task to gain some useful results. This can be understood by a small example of the sun-rays. When sun rays are scattered they won’t make difference, but if these are concentrated on one region then surely they would produce a heating effect if a large amount of sunlight is concentrated on a particular source. This is the power of the concentration. Some effective ways of improving concentration are:

• Pay Attention: State of your attention reflects the activity of your brain. Attention is directly related to the concentration and learning as well. It is better to pay attention to one job at one time, if your attention is scattered and fragmented on many things and places, then your brain activity is also scattered and fragmented throughout your brain and you are not able to concentrate well and pick up the facts easily. If you sustain your attention for long enough on one thing your brain will reflect that, shutting down brain areas not related to the object of your focus and activating the brain areas that are related to it. Remember if you want to improve your concentration power then always aim for one goal at a time. You may be a go-getter or you may be good at multi-tasking, but remember that learning is not like the other physical activities, and you need to focus your attention on one thing at a time to achieve some good results.
• Appropriate Environment: Another important factor that determines concentration power is to find an appropriate environment, no matter if you are trying to concentrate on your studies, job or any other work; the proper environment is must concentrate well on your goal. Generally, it is a good idea to eliminate distractions as much as possible while you are trying to concentrate. The proper environment is very important for concentrating well; you cannot expect a student to concentrate on his studies while listening to music high volumes in the same way you can also not do any work without proper work environment. Hence the environment becomes yet another important means to improve your concentration.
  If you are trying to concentrate on your studies, then it is advised to find a quiet area, such as a private room and also to avoid any kind of distraction in the form of television or laptop around your study table. Clear away anything you do not need and keep things organized to reduce stress and allow for better concentration. Taking small steps can help you a lot in the long run.
• Controlling Desires: To improve your concentration, it is very important to possess a control over your desires. Desire, which is one of the hardest forces to control, will furnish you with excellent exercises in concentration. By learning to control your desires you can harness your energy towards the desired path and help you affect some worthy decisions. By learning to control these desires, you can very effectively strengthen your powers of concentration. Once you start controlling your desires you tend to gain more and more control over your brain and it becomes really easy for you to assign your senses towards a particular desired task. Hence you are able to concentrate well on your studies, job or work, anything that you desire to.
• Reading: Another very effective way of improving your concentration is by reading. We all have a habit of reading something or the other. Many of us like reading a newspaper every day, many of us are addicted to some novel or fiction books or anything else. The idea is to read a couple of pages from the newspaper or a book and once you have read it you just pick up a pen and paper and note down whatever you have gained or learned from the extract. In this way, you tend to pick up facts in a faster way and as you keep on practising this thing for quite some time, you tend to have built up a strong concentration power.

Some Concentration Enhancing Techniques

Some of the techniques that can be used to enhance concentrate are:

• Staring at a Burning Candle: An easy way to enhance your concentrating power is by staring at the burning flame of a candle. When you are constantly staring at the burning flame of a candle closely, you tend to notice that even small movement of the flame which is the result of air in the atmosphere and picking up these small moves and changes in the intensity of flame enhances your concentration power.
• Sitting Still: You can also enhance your concentration by sitting still and noticing the involuntary movement of your body. Sit in a comfortable position and try to see how still you can keep. This may not be as easy as it seems like and you will have to centre your attention only on sitting still. The idea behind sitting still is to watch out if you are not making any involuntary muscular movements. This helps you in focusing all your bodily movements as well as energy towards your goal or in other words, this helps you to focus well on your aim. By a little practice, you will find you are able to sit still without a movement of the muscles for fifteen minutes. You must be relaxed completely. You will find this habit of relaxing is very good to improve your concentration power.
• Concentration on the Activities of your Body: Yet another very important and easy way to improve your concentration is by lying down still and thoroughly relaxes your muscles. Once you are in a relaxed state of mind, try to concentrate on the pumping of your heart and veins, try to feel pumping of veins in your brain. Do not pay any attention to anything else. Just focus on your system and try to feel the blood flowing through your body. After a little practice, you can actually feel the blood passing through your system. This technique improves your concentration power effectively as when you are trying to focus on your blood circulation and beating of the heart, you tend to gain control over your focusing power, which in turn determines your concentration power.