Focus and intensity are key components to staying alert when mastering a new skill or learning new information.
Many people think they can engage in an activity for hours on end and stay focused the entire time. Unfortunately, that’s not the way our brains work.
while practicing so you can meet your musical goals. Though many musicians want to practice for hours on end, it’s nearly impossible to remain focused for such a long amount of time.
According to Dianne Dukette and David Cornish in their 2009 book The Essential 20: Twenty Components of an Excellent Health Care Team, most teenagers and adults are unable to sustain attention on one thing for more than about 20 minutes at a time.
Twenty minutes! Think about that. If you’re trying to do something for an hour, you may be zoned out and completely wasting your time after about 20 minutes.
I’ve seen other sources that say 17 minutes is the maximum we humans can hope to really focus on one activity at a time.
So, whether it’s 20 minutes or even shorter, you may need to rethink how you spend your time when you really need to focus.
In this blog, I’ll be posting effective strategies for remaining focused when you need to. They’ll all be under the header “Increase Your Focus” so they’ll be easy to search.
