The Importance of Attention
February 19, 2023Have you ever analysed everything that your brain consciously maintains during a single day?
Or maybe you just lose yourself in time, surprising yourself by noticing that your day went by, and you didn't do what you wanted to do?
And of course, the classic, thinking about your to do list for today, and then something else comes to your mind. That cooking recipe that you were hoping so passionately to make this Friday afternoon, ended up being watching a series on Netflix, or watching a tutorial on You Tube...
Well, today I come here to tell you that it is not your fault, the reality is that human beings have learned to underestimate a matter as important as Attention.
You know, I often wonder if there is an emotional reason of why we act in this way or if it is simply an automatic effect of our brain together with our wonderful neurons, which leads me first to describe a little more about what attention is and its classification.
Attention is one of the most important characteristics of the human coefficient, because we could not retain and process all the information that is around us if we did not have it. Attention could be defined as a state of observation and alertness, which allows us to generate, select, direct and maintain an adequate level of activation for relevant information.
In other words, attention is a process that takes place at the cognitive level, which allows us to orient ourselves towards those stimuli that are relevant, discriminating against everything that does not interest us.
So, there are multiple types of attention, but here I comment on the best known:
- Internal attention: That ability to pay attention to one's own mental processes or other interoceptive aspects.
- External attention: attention captured by external stimuli and from the environment.
- Open attention: it is accompanied by motor responses that support and facilitate the act of attending, for example, directing the head towards the stimulus that we want to attend to.
- Covert attention: allows attention to stimuli without the appearance that the act is being carried out.
- Selective attention or focused attention: ability to select and focus attention on a single stimulus, discarding other irrelevant ones that may interfere with
process.
- Divided attention: ability to focus attention on two or more tasks at the same time. For example, driving and listening to music at the same time.
- Sustained attention: ability to maintain attention over time and respond appropriately.
- Visual attention: ability to attend to the stimuli that are presented in our field of vision. It is related to spatial aspects.
- Auditory attention: ability to attend to stimuli perceived through the ear. It is related to temporary parameters.
And well, it seems extremely important to me to become aware of our actions, more than anything, to work on all those thoughts, you know those enormous 60,000, that according to different studies we have throughout our day, of which 95% arise from automatically, being similar on consecutive days.
Now, personally speaking, this idea of regulating time to what interests us seems very important, organizing our tasks and at the same time our brain, which is frequently multitasking.
In fact, all you have to do is search on Google if you want to know tips to improve your attention, there are multiple activities from games like sudoku, one of my favorites, dominoes, chess, or even things as simple but important as listening to music, sleeping well, which by the way, is something elementary for regulating our attention, as well as doing physical exercise, or if you like a sport, practicing it, it also helps to constantly drink water, among many others..., you just have to find the method that best suits your lifestyle.
Currently there is a cognitive practice or technique known as "Mindfulness", which could be defined as: Consciously paying attention to the experience of the present moment with interest, curiosity and acceptance. Which in therapy is very useful since it helps to create greater self-knowledge in the patient, giving him a healthier life.
It is true that our thoughts are part of our "mental map" that, together with the beliefs, values, rules, and the meaning that we attribute to the different experiences throughout life, all constitute what makes us unique, different, and that determine our way of perceiving the world. And it's fascinating, isn't it? How suddenly you do activities, articulate movements unconsciously, like when you go to drink a glass of water, your own body's attention is focused on the weight of the glass and the movement of the hand, without However, it has become so natural that we do not always pay the same attention to it as when we read a book, for example, it is probably due to the fact that it is not something from which we have nothing to learn, and learning or the simple fact of obtaining something new to our lives is what brings about that genuine level of care
Let's speak with empathy for a while, because it is important to say that the interpretation of things will never be the same for any person, therefore something that can be unpleasant and very stressful; for others, on the other hand, it can be a challenge and the stress inherent to it, as an engine to overcome it. For example: public speaking, working in an emergency service, high-impact sports competitions, extreme sports... among many others. Each of these activities represents something different for each of us, at the same time that the attention we put into it creates a different result and it is totally valid, it is part of the beauty of living in a world full of so many possibilities.
And what do you think, do you have any comments?
I gladly listen to you! 😊
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