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The fourth aid to concentration, is a very practical one: make a daily schedule. In the first place, such a schedule saves an inconceivable amount of time. Harrington Emerson, in his noted book, Twelve Principles of Efficiency, lays great stress upon the necessity and value of a written daily schedule. But what has this to do with concentration as applied to memory, you may ask? Simply this—your daily schedule helps to focus the mind, holds it steadily to one thing at a time and in the right order. Following a logical sequence tends to eliminate con-fusion.

It has been demonstrated in efficiency tests over and over again that time and energy are lost not so much on the operation itself as in passing from one operation to another. So in our mental operations, failure to move smoothly from one thing to another results in confusion. And when confusion comes, concentration goes. A definite daily schedule is a wonderful aid in keeping the mind on the right track. It often proves to be the salvation of those who have been unable to concentrate. Try it.

In order to keep it, utilize the third aid: right conditions. Now, it is true that a trained mind can concentrate under any conditions—in the roar and din of .crowded cities or the busy hum of traffic—in the midst of telephone calls or a thousand and one other interruptions. Some men can concentrate on a mental problem while walking down a Chicago street and never hear the roar of the elevated or see the hurrying throngs. I have seen men write on a crowded street car perfectly oblivious to the people about them, not even hearing their own stations when called. But these men were already masters of concentration, and I am addressing my remarks to those who have not yet learned how to concentrate…. Continue reading this brilliant article

The next step is to free the mind. Nothing is of greater aid to concentration. In fact, unless you are able to do this, concentration is impossible. When harassed by the three devils, hurry, worry, and f ear, the mind never has a fair chance to center on anything. ” Worry generates a poison at the roots of memory.” But in your period of relaxation, you have an excellent opportunity to free the mind—now is your chance to eliminate all mental handicaps and get ready for the race. Not only hurry, worry, and fear must be thrown overboard, but anything and everything that troubles you and disturbs your serenity and your peace of mind. Out they go ! You should not indulge in day-dreaming, either, or mental drifting. Clear the mental horizon; give yourself a clean slate to write upon when your hour of concentration comes. And when it comes, if you have availed yourself of these first two aids I have given, you will be, possessed of that rare thing, mental poise.

It may seem paradoxical that the first aid to better concentration refers to relaxation. But I have observed that some of the most intense intellects fail in their concentration because they never relax. Failure to let go between efforts is their chief stumbling block. They keep them-selves tense, nervous, ” keyed-up ” all the time, even when there is no need for it, thereby wasting nervous energy. They find it very difficult to ” let go “—to relieve the high-tension by a little natural, wholesome relaxation. Possibly they feel like the Irishman who was trapped on the fourth floor of a burning building. He fought his way to the window but was afraid to jump. The flames drove him on until he was hanging to the window ledge with his hands. His friends, in the street below, seeing the walls were about to fall, kept shouting at him to ” let go.” Finally, he growled back at them between set teeth—” How kin I let go when it’s all I can do to hang on? ” But we must learn to let go—to relax completely—before each period of in-tense concentration. Here is the working principle: Relaxation precedes perfect concentration. A delightful illustration of this point is given by Elizabeth Towne.

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“Concentration is the Most Important Intellectual Habit of Man.”

Not one person in ten thousand can really concentrate. Some realize that they do not know how—others drift along the line of least resistance and let their minds vegetate, apparently never suspecting their weakness or realizing that they are an utter failure at concentration. To Cori-centre—bringing all your mental force and faculties to bear steadily on a given center with-out deviation from that exact point—whipping into line all wandering fancies—stray ideas or thoughts that go off on a tangent—to hold steadily all your power on the central thing under consideration without an instant of wavering—that is Concentration.

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this is a test

Does this sound familiar? People have faith in what has worked for them in the past. It is very difficult to get someone to change behavior in this kind of situation. To be successful, you must make the “right” thing to do be the easy thing to do.

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In astronomy, the interstellar medium (or ISM) is the matter that exists in the space between the star systems in a galaxy. This matter includes gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, dust, and cosmic rays. It fills interstellar space and blends smoothly into the surrounding intergalactic space. The energy that occupies the same volume, in the form of electromagnetic radiation, is the interstellar radiation field.

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