Help with concentration

[Lord Antares]

I've got a sudden chess tournament coming up tomorrow. I haven't practiced or studied, but I would still like to do well. I have identified that my most major issue in chess (and other things) is lack of concentration. It happens more often than it should that I have a good/better position then I blunder after a long game because I lose focus and just wait for the game to be over.

That's why I'm disproportionately bad at blitz (speed) chess as opposed to classical.

 

It's not just chess. When I studied for college, I would often just stare at the page for a long time not reading anything, because my mind tends to wander off too much.

 

Does anyone know of any good ways to boost concentration? Obviously, coffee would be one which I will be using. Are there any foods or beverages which might help me? Would an excersise help or detriment the problem?

Anything else?
Also, keep in mind that I won't be getting much sleep if that is of any relevance.

[Raider5678]

I've got a sudden chess tournament coming up tomorrow. I haven't practiced or studied, but I would still like to do well. I have identified that my most major issue in chess (and other things) is lack of concentration. It happens more often than it should that I have a good/better position then I blunder after a long game because I lose focus and just wait for the game to be over.

That's why I'm disproportionately bad at blitz (speed) chess as opposed to classical.

 

It's not just chess. When I studied for college, I would often just stare at the page for a long time not reading anything, because my mind tends to wander off too much.

 

Does anyone know of any good ways to boost concentration? Obviously, coffee would be one which I will be using. Are there any foods or beverages which might help me? Would an excersise help or detriment the problem?

Anything else?

Also, keep in mind that I won't be getting much sleep if that is of any relevance.

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[Lord Antares]

I have no time for this. The tournament is tomorrow and I'm not in the US.

[MonDie]

Exercise definitely aids cognition. The debate seems to be whether it is worth it.

 

The Influence of Exercise on Cognitive Abilities
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3951958/
Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Cognition, Academic Achievement, and Psychosocial Function in Children: A Systematic Review of Randomized Control Trials (#Discussion)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti.../#__sec12title
Fitness effects on the cognitive function of older adults: a meta-analytic study
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12661673

 

Firstly, cardio will boost bloodflow to your brain. Exercise boosts testosterone, and low testosterone can lead to poor concentration. Whereas exercise can induce temporary irritability due to the cortisol release via HPA activation, the endorphins only take an hour to kick in and IME it has a more long-term effect on serotonin. In my experience coffee can be boon or bang, accelerating my thoughts and scattering my thoughts, but the coffee is more beneficial if I am exercising. I jog, and it took me too long to realize that I could avert knee pain by focusing on my arm motions. Proper or not, I land on the ball of my foot moreso than my heel while making circles with my hands as if spinning a wheel.

 

Either exercise or tryptophan intake will benefit serotonergic activity.

 

Influence of Tryptophan and Serotonin on Mood and Cognition with a Possible Role of the Gut-Brain Axis

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4728667/

In addition, depleted serotonin causes cognitive impairments, with reports including deficits in verbal reasoning, episodic, and working memory, while conversely tryptophan supplementation has positive effects on attention and memory.

P.S. Unless it is light exercise, exercise the day before!

---

 

Excuse me for posting and reading after.

 

Exercise may not benefit attention in particular but rather spatial memory.

 

 

Thus, the hippocampus, a structure that has a fundamental role in memory processing is one of the main brain regions influenced by physical activity.

[...]

Findings indicated that higher fitness was associated with larger bilateral hippocampal volume, and greater fitness and hippocampal volume were associated with better spatial memory performance (59). In addition, hippocampal volume partially mediated the association between fitness and spatial memory performance. Given that the hippocampus demonstrates disproportionately lager degradation during aging, these findings suggest that aerobic fitness may be an effective means for preventing age-related cortical decay and cognitive impairment (59). A second study (61), utilized a randomized control design with 120 older adults and found that the exercise treatment group increased their hippocampal volume by 2%. In addition, the exercise group demonstrated higher levels of serum BDNF and improvements in spatial memory.

[Lord Antares]

Thanks for posting. It may be obvious that excercise would boost brainpower to some, but since it may make you tired, it wasn't obvious to me. Yes, I think the point about excercizing the day before is they key here because of that. What would qualify as a light exercise by the way? Is it just stretching, running for a bit and just some routine stuff like that?

 

 

In my experience coffee can be boon or bang, accelerating my thoughts and scattering my thoughts

 

Yes, I agree with this, but keep in mind I will be tired, so the net effect will still be beneficial.

 

Also, keep in might that the effect needs to last long. The games last for hours so something short-term might not help much.

I have accidentally procured some valerian root extract, along with something similar which contains valerian root.

 

Judging by the overview given by this page:

 

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-870-valerian.aspx?activeingredientid=870

 

It both seems that it might and might not help me. It says it boosts concentration, decreases attention deficit and relaxes, but at the same time it is used to cure insomnia, so I don't know how well it would work. Any experiences?

[J.C.MacSwell]

LA, why will you not get enough sleep? I would suggest you pace your time so that you can take very short mini-breaks and get up, pace or stretch. Just make sure you are aware of whether your opponents clock is ticking or your own. You can also stand behind your chair to analyse and shift your weight back and forth...a bit of movement can help, especially if you are overtired.

[Lord Antares]

LA, why will you not get enough sleep?

 

I have switched my work shift to the morning and I'm a late sleeper. These days I go to sleep at about 4.a.m. Of course, I have to go to sleep earlier but it does not guarantee that I will fall asleep earlier. I will try this valerian root + other stuff concoction. It is supposed to make me fall asleep easier and not wake up groggy in the morning.

 

 

I would suggest you pace your time so that you can take very short mini-breaks and get up, pace or stretch. Just make sure you are aware of whether your opponents clock is ticking or your own. You can also stand behind your chair to analyse and shift your weight back and forth...a bit of movement can help, especially if you are overtired.

 

I take smoke breaks as well so I might do that while I'm at it. The opening is my strongest stage so I will hope to be ahead on the clock based on my opening knowledge. Once I had more time on the clock than what I had started with and the FM I was playing against had something like 40 minutes.

[Velocity_Boy]

I've got a sudden chess tournament coming up tomorrow. I haven't practiced or studied, but I would still like to do well. I have identified that my most major issue in chess (and other things) is lack of concentration. It happens more often than it should that I have a good/better position then I blunder after a long game because I lose focus and just wait for the game to be over.

That's why I'm disproportionately bad at blitz (speed) chess as opposed to classical.

 

It's not just chess. When I studied for college, I would often just stare at the page for a long time not reading anything, because my mind tends to wander off too much.

 

Does anyone know of any good ways to boost concentration? Obviously, coffee would be one which I will be using. Are there any foods or beverages which might help me? Would an excersise help or detriment the problem?

Anything else?

Also, keep in mind that I won't be getting much sleep if that is of any relevance.

 

Positive Visualization. It's a form of meditation. You simply relax and close your eyes and imagine yourself doing well in the event you are worried about. Make dude you take your time and get the picture in your head nice and clear and accurate. Even over do it! Picture your frustrated opponent's crying in shame! Or bowing to your superiority.

 

On the morning if the tourney, positive self talk. Mantras which detail your brilliance.......I am a chess God...I am a chess God....Spassky was a moron.........Etc.

 

As a last hs and college athlete both those practices have helped me numerous times.

 

 

Good luck.

[J.C.MacSwell]

Sooo...how did you do?

[Lord Antares]

I'm on 1 out of 3 right now. Should have drawn the game today, but there were lots of tactical complications.

 

I intend to make it 2/4 tomorrow.