I confess to being as prone to the distractions of the Internet as anyone else: I will start reading about something that interests me and disappear down the rabbit hole for hours (even days) at a time.

But my ability to focus on a single task has dramatically improved, and that one habit has changed my life.

While a few years ago I couldn’t sit down to work on something without quickly switching to email or one of my favorite Internet forums or sites, today I can sit down and write. I can clear away distractions, when I set my mind to it, and do one thing. and that changes everything: you lose yourself in that task, become so immersed that you pour everything you have into the work, and it becomes a meditative, transformative experience. Your happiness increases, stress goes down, and work improves.

I know that lots of people have trouble focusing one one task for very long, and so I thought I’d share a few things that have worked for me.

Focus Best Practices

There is no one way to find focus, but what works for me is to clear everything away and create a little space of tranquil focus. some tips for doing that:

• Close the browser and your email program. if you need to work in the browser then make sure no tabs or windows are open other than the one you absolutely need.
• Turn off all notifications. Trying to focus while something is notifying you of an incoming email or tweet or Facebook update is impossible.
• Turn off the Internet. Shut off your connection, unplug your router, or best yet, go to a place where the is no Internet (yes, those still exist). this is the absolute best way to find focus.
• Close all programs and windows other than what you need for this one task.
• Have a very important task to do. Not just “check email” but “write chapter in my novel” or “write that kick-ass blog post I’ve been planning” or “write that new Android app”.
• Clear your desk. No need to spend all day on this — shove everything in a drawer or put it in a box to be sorted later. Don’t fiddle with this now. in fact, don’t fiddle with anything — don’t worry about the perfect setup or perfect notebook for writing or the perfect anything.
• Plug in the headphones. if you have people around who might distract you, wearing headphones and playing some good, peaceful music is perfect.
• Use a simple program. For writing, I like plain text editors (TextEdit, TextWrangler) or writing programs that block everything out (OmmWriter, WriteRoom). No distractions.

Once you have this environment (and you shouldn’t spend more than a few minutes setting it up), get going on your task. do nothing but that one task. Don’t switch to another task. Having trouble doing that? Read on.

How to Increase Your Focus Abilities

If you can’t focus on one task for very long, don’t worry. That’s normal. our brains have been trained by technology and society to switch tasks often.

One way we’ve been trained is that switching to check email or blog updates or Facebook/Twitter is rewarding — we are rewarded with a little nugget of satisfaction in that someone has sent us a message (social validation!) or we have something new and interesting to read (shiny and bright!). Switching tasks becomes a positive feedback cycle that is hard to beat by single-tasking.

The way to beat that is to set up a positive feedback cycle for focusing. Here’s how:

1. Start small. You only need to focus for one minute at first. Clear everything away, pick your one important task, and just do it for one minute without switching. this is hard to do in the beginning but if you consciously focus on focusing, you can do it. It’s just a minute.
2. Reward yourself. the reward for focusing for one minute can be one minute (or 30 seconds) of checking whatever you want. Email, Facebook, whatever. Or get up and take a one-minute walk. Stretch, drink some water, massage your neck, enjoy your small victory. Empires are created with small victories.
3. Repeat. Keep doing one minute focus, one minute reward (or 1 minute to 30 seconds if you like) for about half an hour (15 of each). You’re done. Repeat that later in the day. Rejoice in how much work you got done! and notice how you’ve set up a positive feedback cycle for focusing.
4. Increase in small steps. Tomorrow, make it two minutes on, one minute off. Repeat that for 30 minutes, do it later in the day too. Feel free to go wild and do three focus sessions in a day if you like, but it’s not necessary.
5. Keep taking baby steps. I think you can see the pattern by now. Make it three minutes on, one minute off on the third day, then 4:1, then 5:1. When you get to 10 minutes, be crazy and take a 2 minute break. When you get to 20 minutes, take a 3 minute break. at 30 minutes of focus, you’ve earned a 5 minute break. and once you’re at 30 minutes, you can stay there. No need to become a monk.

Set up a positive feedback cycle for single-tasking focus and you’ll reverse the years of training your mind has gotten to switch tasks. You’ll get more important work done, and it won’t seem hard. You’ll find that focus becomes a form of meditation. It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing, and you can thank me by sending me a craft beer from your hometown.

Or buy my book on this topic — called focus — and I’ll use the money to buy myself a beer.

—Tweetle

—Bloggers: two days left to sign up for my newest A-List Bootcamp: The Art of Blog Seduction – how to Draw Readers to Your Awesome Blog (and how to create one).

Monk Mind: How to Increase Your Focus

Just to remind everyone what was up for grabs, JB Berns (celebrity trainer) just released his latest book, Do it or Age Quickly, where he shares 21 daily practices that only take a minute each to perform. Most of them are based on Taoist principals and all of them are natural.

(For more tidbits about this book, read my review.)

So who won their very own copy of JB’s book? Who will have the chance to learn exercises that will enhance their sex life, internal-cleansing techniques and other natural tips and info shared that will help them live longer, stronger and longer?

To be eligible as a contestant, readers were asked to share a healthy habit that they’ve incorporated into their routine within the last year. Almost everyone who commented did so and it’s with great pleasure that I announce today’s book giveaway contest winners:

1. Melissa
2. Leannae
3. Emmanuel
4. Penny

Congratulations, Ladies and Gent! Thank you for reading Live Lighter and participating in the giveaway contest. I hope you find some juicy and helpful practices in your brand new copies of do it or Age Quickly!

For any new readers, if you’re wishing you had of known about this contest before today, subscribe to our RSS Feed so you can stay abreast on all our future contest giveaways!

Have you read do it or Age Quickly yet? What did you think of it?

Do it or Age Quickly:60- second Practices to Live Better, Stronger, and Longer: A guide full of the wisdom my friend JB Berns has gathered from Chinese medicineduring his years of martial arts training and teaching.

Do It or Age Quickly Contest Winners!

Chemicals fill our grocery shelves and public water supply – all in the name of `safety’. Governmental regulatory systems approve them and urge scientists to play God, genetically modifying plants and animals without considering the potential, long-term damage it may cause over time and generations.

Although Alex Jones has been called a conspiracy theorist, he’s also a well-known journalist who backs up his claims. In this 15-minute video, Jones names some of the most dangerous chemicals found in our food and water supply, and believes it’s all been orchestrated by our governments as a population control mechanism:

If you read up on the latest health news, most of this information won’t be new to you. (We’ve blogged about several documentaries with this type of information before.) but for your friends and family who aren’t up-to-date, please send them this video to increase awareness and let them know there are options!

Jones ends this piece on a positive note: consumers are demanding poison-free alternatives and industry is responding. If everyone were to buy only products with natural ingredients, those in control would be forced to comply even more thoroughly to increased consumer demand.

Alex Jones is an internationally recognized veteran broadcaster, documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist. he calls himself a dedicated and aggressive Constitutionalist. he runs a news website, infowars.com, where you can catch his radio show and read his educational Prison Planet Forum.

Are governmental agencies really having a threesome with the food and pharmaceutical industries, or are these just conspiracy theories? What do you think will have to happen before the system moves from self-interest to genuine concern for public health and safety?

Government Control Through Food

When eating a late night meal or snack it’s important to factor in how easy it is to digest. a succulent filet of salmon with a side of grilled asparagus is an excellent choice, but may not sit well with your digestive system if eaten an hour or two prior to bedtime. That’s why I find that late night dining is an ideal time to focus on vegetable selections. One of our favorite veggie dishes is herb-roasted Roma tomatoes.

Tomatoes truly shined in the medical literature toward end of 2010. Several publications based on research conducted in Australia, Iran and Italy, pointed out that tomatoes and tomato components such as lycopene are valuable agents in the fight against heart disease. Evidence derived from an intervention study and two reviews report that tomato consumption impacts several cardiovascular risk markers including: apoA-I, LDL (“bad”) and total cholesterol, diastolic and systolic blood pressure and inflammatory response (AP-1, MAPK and NF-kB). (1,2,3)

The cardiovascular system isn’t the only one that benefits from tomato intake. Antioxidants and phytochemicals contained in tomatoes are currently being investigated as natural chemoprotective agents. Preliminary data indicates that lycopene, the predominate carotenoid in tomato, demonstrates antimutagenic properties against a variety of cancers including colon, lung, prostate and stomach malignancies. The research with respect to prostate cancer is especially compelling. a recent “multicenter case-control study” published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer discovered that high tomato consumption may lower the likelihood of prostate cancer by as much as 67%. Intervention trials examining animal and human models of prostate cancer are also beginning to reveal promising results as well. (4,5,6,7,8,9,10)

Healthy Fellow Herb Roasted Tomatoes6 Organic Roma Tomatoes2 Tbs. Org. Extra Virgin Olive Oil3 Org. Cloves of Garlic1 Tbs. of Org. Rosemary1 Tbs. of Org. Sage1 Tbs. of Org. ThymeSalt and Pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 350 °F. cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds, leaving only the “shell” of the tomato. Drain any excess liquid from the cored tomatoes by placing them face down on non-chlorinated paper towels. Finely chop the fresh herbs and garlic. Place the dried tomato halves, cut-side up, on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle or spray tomatoes with a thin layer of olive oil. Sprinkle the herbs and spices onto each tomato half. Salt and pepper to taste. Place into the oven for about 45 minutes, then turn the oven off and allow the tomatoes to sit in the warm oven for an additional 45 minutes.

Sage Tea Consumption May Improve LDL/HDL Cholesterol Ratio

Source: Int J Mol Sci. 2009 September; 10(9): 3937–3950. (a)

If you eat this dish on a regular basis and you happen to notice that your memory seems sharper and/or your mood is a bit brighter, there could be a scientific basis for your observation. Extracts of sage are known to support cognitive functioning in a way (cholinesterase inhibition) that’s similar to medications used to treat dementia. It’s fascinating to note that some of the benefits of sage, including improved alertness, mood enhancement and “quality of memory”, become apparent even if you just smell it! Naturally occurring chemicals in rosemary, carnosic acid and rosmarinic acid, are also documented as “novel neuroprotective agents”. and then there’s thyme. Carvacrol, a component of thyme, is showing potential in reducing anxiety and depression in animal models. (11,12,13,14,15)

We tend to prepare a large quantity, a dozen or so, of these roasted tomatoes so that we can enjoy them on multiple occasions. They keep well in the refrigerator for about week and tend to “disappear” long before that. If you’re wondering how we serve them, here are few of our favorite ways: we top them with goat cheese or a dollop of olive tapenade. They also work well as a main or side dish alongside eggs or a salad. Just know that including more traditional foods like this in your menu plan will not only keep your diet on track, but may very well improve your defenses against some of the most alarming health threats that we face in the 21st century. (16,17,18)

Be well!

Related Posts:

Roasted Tomatoes Recipe

All women want to look more beautiful, sexy, tends to be more healthy body than others. They keep different things in order to adapt. However, we forget that sport is the best solution for you is the fit. It also helps with weight loss, and always a perfect figure. Every woman wants a perfect and attractive figure to conquer the people and have a confident personality.

However, you should remember one thing that all the exercises are not suitable for the body. You need to find the exercise that suits you. You get to go jogging, cycling or swimming, just because someone said that is not a good habit for health benefits. This means that cause more harm than good, your body.

Search for a suitable training

It ‘very important, a good exercise to find information specific to the type of body. The best way to find a good exercise in weight loss, is to consult a nutritionist or health expert. It will offer a better program of weight loss, an excellent exercise in weight loss with proper diet and weight loss of other nutritional factors of all health programs for help.

Constant training and reasonable varies depending on the individual and their eligibility. As a rule, you should start slowly and build from there. An effective training plan slowly increase both the frequency and intensity of exercise each week safely. The search for a proper training plan is not enough. It is necessary to encourage diet and exercise to meet regularly to receive maximum benefits. If you find them useful for your health, then try to adopt as a habit in your daily routine.

An easy and popular to do something about the ability of active participation in games or other physical activities like sports. Deciding not to play your abilities or disabilities of a particular game. Before you begin, and later you will notice that you missed in games as well as aspects of health that will be after the adoption of this strategy as a game just doing exercises.

Read more http://www.pannipa.com/2009/08/23/the-best-advice-for-a-healthy-exercise-of-womens-health/