BBC随身英语｜如何专心致志地做事？

How to stay focused

When you were at school, were you ever told to stop daydreaming and concentrate? It was easy for your mind to wander if you weren't interested in what you were learning or if you had better things to think about. Staying focused can still be a challenge in adult life, but understanding how to do it, and knowing what is distracting you, can help.

Scientists have looked at what makes us procrastinate and found a number of ways to help us stay in the zone. One of the most obvious things is eliminating noise. Research by Science Focus magazine found silence is best for concentration, or a gentle background hum and coffee shop noise is great!

It also found turning off notifications on your phone, or switching it off altogether, removes a major distraction and helps us focus on the task at hand.

Another possible cure for a short attention span is brain training. Psychologists and neuroscientists are increasingly interested in our ability to knuckle down and have looked at what we can change inside our head to make us concentrate.

An article for BBC Future by Caroline Williams says that 'Attention Researcher Nilli Lavie of University College London has found that making a task more visually demanding… takes up more processing power and leaves the brain nothing left to process distractions.' So, keeping your mind busy might be the answer.

There are more practical tips to keeping your mind focused. These include making a list or timetable of the tasks you have to do, finding a workspace where you're not tempted to do other things, or chewing some gum! It's possible the movement in your mouth occupies parts of the brain that might otherwise get distracted.

But according to Science Focus magazine, distraction isn't all bad. 'If we were always so focused that we never got distracted, we'd miss potential changes, such as threats, in our environment. Distraction is vital for survival.'

词汇表
daydream [ˈdeɪdriːm] vi. 做白日梦，空想
mind to wander [ˈwɒndə(r)] 思绪飘走，走神，心不在焉
procrastinate [prəˈkræstɪneɪt] vi. 拖延，耽搁
stay in the zone [zəʊn] 保持专注，处于最佳状态
eliminate [ɪˈlɪmɪneɪt] vt. 消除，除去
background hum [hʌm] 背景嗡嗡声，背景噪音
notification [ˌnəʊtɪfɪˈkeɪʃn] n. 通知，通告
switch off [swɪtʃ] 关掉，关闭，切断（电源）
task at hand 手头的任务，当前的工作
short attention span [spæn] 注意力持续时间短，注意力短缺
neuroscientist [ˌnjʊərəʊˈsaɪəntɪst] 神经科学家
knuckle down [ˈnʌkl] 开始认真工作或学习，埋头苦干
visually demanding [ˈvɪʒuəli dɪˈmɑːndɪŋ] 视觉上有挑战性的，视觉要求高的，费眼的
take up 占据（时间、空间、精力等）
processing power [ˈprəʊsesɪŋ] 处理能力，运算能力
timetable [ˈtaɪmteɪbl] n. 时间表，日程表
be tempted to [ˈtemptɪd] 想要做，受诱惑去做
chew gum [tʃuː ɡʌm] 嚼口香糖
get distracted [dɪˈstræktɪd] 分心，分散注意力

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