Practice a daily visual training meditation by systematically shifting your visual attention: close eyes for 3 breaths (interoception), focus on hand at arm’s length for 3 breaths, look into the distance for 3 breaths, engage panoramic vision for 3 breaths, return to internal landscape, then focus on a crosshatch before starting work. This trains your system to adjust to shifts, improving transitions and focus throughout the day.
To relax and decelerate stress, expand your visual field without moving your head or eyes, trying to see more of the space around you, including your own body in peripheral vision. This covert technique releases a brain-brain stem connection, having a relaxing effect on your system.
To improve cognitive focus before work, place a piece of paper with a crosshatch at computer distance, then force your vision to focus on it for about 60 seconds, blinking as seldom as possible. This adjusts your visual and mental aperture, helping to rule out distractions.
Integrate short, even 10-second pauses into your day, especially during high attentional activities. These micro-breaks allow the brain to store information faster, decompress the system, and heighten focus when you return to activity.
Engage panoramic vision to become more alert, aware, and responsive, as it can increase reaction times about fourfold. This technique enhances situational awareness without tuning out, making you more effective in monitoring your environment.
Deliberately force specific, positive changes onto your nervous system through practices like visual training, rather than allowing passive consequences of modern living (e.g., excessive light at night, lack of sunlight/movement) to change it for the worse.
For effective learning and performance, balance periods of intense focus with deliberate periods of rest. Neuroplasticity, the nervous system’s ability to change, requires both leaning in with focus and leaning out to access rest.
Avoid excessive passive context switching, such as rapidly scrolling through social media, as the human brain is not evolved to contend with constant bombardment of new contexts. This practice helps prevent self-induced ADHD and improves focus.
Avoid constantly looking into the narrow “soda straw” view of your phone, as this drives attentional mechanisms and stress levels up. Instead, use micro-breaks or panoramic vision to allow your system to relax.
Be judicious in your use of focus and attention throughout the day, as constantly expending it on small tasks without breaks can deplete your capacity for deep work.
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