How to Turn Down the Noise in Your Life


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It's not plain old laziness. We're riveted by these electronic distractions because of the way we're hardwired, experts say: Our brains instinctively cue in to unexpected sights and sounds, a trait that has helped us humans thwart danger and survive for about 2 million years. Manufacturers and marketers know this fact well; that's why they keep adding flickering lights, insistent sounds, and other bells and whistles to computer monitors, cell phones, PDAs, and the like, in order to amp up the number of these attention-grabbing sensory shocks we receive — known as "jolts per minute."

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"The jolts make our brains release adrenaline, and we can easily get used to this heightened level of stimulation, but there's a price to pay for that," says psychologist and attention expert Lucy Jo Palladino, Ph.D., author of Find Your Focus Zone: An Effective New Plan to Defeat Distraction and Overload. "The more adrenaline we generate, the more we want, and high amounts of this hormone put us into overdrive, making us feel intense, worried, excited, angry, or afraid." What's more, because we get accustomed to these high adrenaline levels, we feel bored, sluggish, and restless when they drop off.

"Our days can easily swing back and forth between the two extremes, and over time, we lose our natural ability to stay in the zone of just-enough stimulation, in which we're both relaxed and alert — and able to get things done," says Palladino. But it's when you're in that just-enough zone — what she calls the "focus zone" — that you have the greatest capacity to manage your emotions, make good decisions, and reach your goals, all while feeling energized and on top of the world. Try these smart and very doable steps, and let them help you bring out your peak performance.

STEP 1: Tune in to your mind-set.

To increase your ability to focus, you first need to be aware of when you are, and aren't, in the focus zone — meaning calm, energized, and attentive versus overwhelmed or bored. "Once you become conscious of where you are at any given moment, you can do what it takes to move yourself into the focus zone and stay there," says Palladino.

Happily, there's a very easy way to gauge, and shift, your mind-set — using what Palladino calls your "adrenaline scale." Throughout the day, observe and then rate your mental state on a scale from 1 (the most relaxed you've ever been) to 10 (the most tense you've ever been). Then, make on-the-spot adjustments to get yourself in the 3-to-7 range. If you're feeling bored and sluggish, try revving yourself up by listening to fast music, taking a brisk walk, visualizing a car building speed, or giving yourself spirited commands like "3-2-1-Go!" If you're feeling overstimulated, on the other hand, you can help block outside stimuli and get into the present moment by calming yourself down: Take slow, deep breaths or repeat a phrase (aloud or to yourself) like "Easy does it" or "One step at a time."

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Nicole Lerario, 33, has used this technique daily since she left the New York City theater world a couple of years ago to study massage therapy in Ithaca, NY. When Lerario is in a lecture class and feeling understimulated, she imagines a pot coming to the just-barely-bubbling point — 5 on her scale. During a break, instead of lounging around chatting, she does 25 jumping jacks outdoors. "The fact that I'm consciously checking in with myself and changing my adrenaline level makes me feel not just focused but also more in control of my day," she says.

Sometimes, as hard as you try to move yourself into the focus zone, you might feel stuck in overdrive. That's likely because other forces are at work on your mind: Whether you realize it or not, your concentration is being hijacked by an emotion — for instance, a hurt feeling over a snide comment at work. Major clue: You find yourself mindlessly clicking through TV channels or Websites or flipping through catalogs you don't need. "It's easy to lose ourselves that way; it makes us forget tough issues that, deep down, we know we have to face," says Palladino. "But those unresolved conflicts generate stress chemicals, which rob our brain of its ability to concentrate and problem-solve."

To quiet your restless mind, try four-corner breathing: Using a square or rectangular object like a door or window, look at the upper left-hand corner and inhale to a count of four; move your gaze to the upper right-hand corner and hold your breath to a count of four; shift to the lower right-hand corner and exhale to a count of four; then finish at the lower left-hand corner and silently say, Relax, relax, smile, and do just that. Then repeat the exercise. You'll feel more clearheaded, so you can change your perspective on what's eating at you. Perhaps that snide coworker was just having a bad day — while you have every right to feel hurt by her comment, remind yourself that it's not personal.

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Sarah French, 28, of Phoenix, a stay-at-home mom, used to notice her mood plummet when she'd fall off her diet. And that gloomy frame of mind would throw off her concentration all day. So instead of obsessing over that extra cookie she scarfed, she started using the nonemotional phrase That's interesting! And if negative thoughts (such as I messed up) start monopolizing her mind, she tells herself, That's interesting! Look how I'm putting myself down. "Stopping, stepping back, and observing myself like this helps me clear my head, let go of things, and shift my mind to more important matters," she says.

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To suss out the hidden issues that might be sapping your concentration, ask yourself, What's really going on with me? If you're struggling to find the answer, think of a frank, wise friend and ask, What would she say to me right now?

STEP 2: Now, adjust that mind-set.

Just telling yourself, Don't worry, be happy won't do the trick, but there are effective ways to get your mind and mood to a better place. "While you can't change the way you feel, you can change the way you think, and that in turn changes the way you feel," says Palladino. Ask yourself, Is there anything I can do about my problem right now so I'll feel less tense/angry/worried/whatever? If there is, do it — or make a plan to. For instance, if your husband, leery of high gas prices, wants to cancel a holiday trip that really matters to you, schedule a time to discuss it with him in two days — and in the meantime, research ways to travel more cheaply. If the report your boss wants seems daunting, sit down and make a detailed list of the steps you need to complete. If you acknowledge how and when you'll resolve the problem, your anxiety level will drop and your brain won't endlessly mull over the issue, keeping you up at night or stealing your attention when you're trying to listen to your kids or finish up a work project on time.

You can also try asking yourself some probing questions: This thought that's upsetting me — do I absolutely know that it's true? Or, How will I view this five years down the road? "These questions provide a dose of perspective that will tame your unruly emotions by making them feel less intense, urgent, and dire," says Palladino.

Or substitute a positive thought for the negative one, she suggests. Just make sure your thought is stated positively: I'm going to make it instead of I'm not going to fail. Otherwise, your brain will tend to focus on the possibility of failure.

As part of her high-pressure job as an information specialist at a Seattle nonprofit, Nina Cindrich, 34, has to make presentations to senior executives, which she finds nerve-racking. So she has developed strategies to manage her energy level and calm her mind, allowing her to focus on the task with a cool, clear head. "After I've done a good amount of preparation — because that reinforces my confidence — I stop rehearsing two hours before the presentation and switch to a totally unrelated task, like catching up on email replies," says Cindrich. "I leave for the conference room with 10 minutes to spare, stop for some water, and once I arrive, I lower my nervousness by focusing on the people attending the meeting: saying hello, asking them about their work, connecting at a personal level. When I present my talk, I keep my anxiety in check by telling myself, I know more about this than anyone else in the room!

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STEP 3: Quit procrastinating.












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