How to stay focused at any age

Just as you may not run as fast or jump as high as you did as a teenager, your brain's cognitive power-that is, your ability to learn, remember, and solve problems-slows down with age. You may find it harder to summon once familiar

facts or divide your attention among two or more activities or sources of information. These changes affect your ability to focus, so you may find yourself getting more easily distracted than you were when you were younger.

Get your copy of Improving Concentration and Focus

This instructive guide from Harvard Medical School offers practical, proven, commonsense strategies to recapture your concentration and maintain your brain’s alertness and fitness. Improving Concentration and Focus addresses four focus-hindering factors you can control. You’ll discover why multi-tasking can actually erode memory skills and learn ways to give your brain essential “downtime.” You’ll also learn what you can do to improve cognitive function and speed.

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Everyday tips for better focus

Applying some simple strategies to your daily routine can help you stay focused on your goals.

Make lists. Prioritize your activities with daily or weekly lists of things you want to accomplish within that time frame. For best results, limit your lists to a few key items and refresh frequently.

Set aside organizational time. Spend a few minutes in the morning and afternoon cleaning your desk and refocusing on what you'll be doing in the hours ahead.

Use smartphone tools. Apps on your phone can let you set up appointment reminders, mark deadlines, and highlight important days on your calendar. Be careful, though. Smartphones can also turn into a distraction. If you are among those people who can lose many hours on your phone, see "Find your phone-life balance" for strategies to take control.

Conquer clutter in your home and office. Creating space to keep your most important things easily accessible will save you time and effort down the road.

Reduce distractions. For example, this could mean moving your workstation to a quieter area in the office. If working at home, don't try to get things done while the TV is on or other activities are taking place around you.

Jot down ideas as they come to you. Make quick notes to remind you of things you would like to do, such as a meal you'd like to cook or a movie you want to see. Rather than letting yourself get off track, you can address these ideas once your more urgent tasks are accomplished.

Don't procrastinate. Dealing with emails, phone calls, and other demands as they come up can help prevent you from getting overwhelmed later on.

Be a clock watcher. Get a watch and get in the habit of using it. The more aware you are of time, the more likely you'll be able to avoid taking too long on a task.

Do one thing at a time. Multitasking is overrated. Instead, try to focus on completing one task and then move on to the next.

Be realistic about your time. The better you get at refusing unnecessary projects or other commitments, the less cluttered and overwhelming your schedule will become.

Use convenient financial tools. For example, online banking, bill pay reminders, and personal finance software can help you to organize your finances. Consider working with an accountant for taxes and other matters when needed.

Repeat new information. Saying things out loud and writing down new information can help you remember it.

For more information on conquering distractions and finding focus, check out Improving Concentration and Focus, an online guide from Harvard Medical School.

Image: © Johnny Grieg/Getty Images

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Improving Concentration and Focus

•	All about attention
•	Your brain: The inside story
•	Barriers to focus
•	Tips for better focus
•	Conquering distractions and finding focus
•	All about attention
•	Your brain: The inside story

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Lifestyle tips to help manage incontinence symptoms without medication

Urinary incontinence can be frustrating, interfering with your daily activities and disrupting your nighttime sleep. While it isn't always preventable, a few everyday changes can make a real difference. Try these lifestyle changes to help you achieve better bladder and bowel control.

Maintain a healthy weight. Excess abdominal fat can strain pelvic floor muscles, place pressure on the bladder, and interfere with the bladder's blood and nerve supply. Fat tissue itself may contribute to overactive bladder by altering the balance of chemical messengers between nerve cells. If you're overweight or obese, losing some weight can help a lot. On average, losing 10% of body weight produces a 50% improvement in both stress and urgency urinary incontinence in women who are overweight or obese.

Get your copy of Better Bladder and Bowel Control

Most people take bladder and bowel control for granted — until something goes wrong. An estimated 32 million Americans have incontinence, the unintended loss of urine or feces that is significant enough to make it difficult for them to maintain good hygiene and carry on ordinary social and work lives. The good news is that treatments are becoming more effective and less invasive. This Special Health Report, Better Bladder and Bowel Control, describes the causes of urinary and bowel incontinence, and treatments tailored to the specific cause.

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Don't smoke. Smoking nearly doubles the likelihood that a woman will develop stress incontinence, perhaps because it can lead to frequent and vigorous coughing. It also raises the risk for urgency incontinence in women. Nicotine itself has been independently linked to urgency incontinence, no matter the delivery method (smoking, vaping, etc.). Current or former smoking is also associated with several urinary symptoms in men, including urgency incontinence.

Stay active. Don't let fear of leaks keep you from moving. In the long-running Nurses' Health Study, middle-aged women who were most physically active were least likely to develop incontinence. However, high-impact exercises (such as jumping jacks) or specific maneuvers (such as a golf swing) can elicit leakage if you have stress incontinence, so you may need to wear pads or special underwear.

Cut back on caffeine and other bladder irritants. Caffeine is a diuretic that results in rapid filling of the bladder and a powerful urge to urinate, even when the bladder is not full. Drinking just two cups of coffee per day has been linked to a higher risk of urinary incontinence. Like caffeine, alcohol is a diuretic that can create the urge to urinate.

Minimize bladder irritants. Several foods have been linked to urgency incontinence. Carbonated drinks, the artificial sweetener aspartame (such as NutraSweet or Equal), spicy foods, coffee, black and green tea, and citrus fruits and juices cause urgency in some people.

By making a few simple but meaningful changes to your daily routine, you can gain better control over urinary incontinence and improve your quality of life. While it may take time to find the strategies that work best for you, even small adjustments can lead to noticeable improvements. Remember, you don't have to accept incontinence as an inevitable part of life. With the right lifestyle habits and guidance from your doctor, you can take proactive steps toward better bladder health and greater confidence every day.

For more on treating bladder and bowel incontinence, read Better Bladder and Bowel Control, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.

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Better Bladder and Bowel Control

•	Urinary incontinence
•	Evaluating urinary incontinence
•	Treating urinary incontinence
•	SPECIAL BONUS SECTION: Coping with urinary incontinence
•	Fecal incontinence
•	Treating fecal incontinence
•	Coping with fecal incontinence