Fighting absent-mindedness and inattention. How to deal with absent-mindedness

How often in the hustle and bustle of everyday affairs we forget about the little things. We won’t buy bread, we won’t take out the trash, we won’t look interesting film on TV. But from time to time this forgetfulness can cause serious inconvenience. Missed meeting phone call unanswered, forgotten birthday greetings. We blame our memory, although constant forgetfulness is not related to it. It's all due to absent-mindedness. Oddly enough, absent-mindedness has nothing to do with memory. But this quality is directly related to all your missed meetings, forgotten documents or undone work responsibilities.

Absent-mindedness and inattention can coexist with a good memory. They are usually associated with a lack of concentration. If a person is constantly looking for his keys, leaves for a meeting without the necessary documents, or forgets to call his colleagues back, then he simply cannot concentrate. And there may be several reasons for absent-mindedness. These include sleep disturbances, fatigue, dissatisfaction with monotonous work, and distractions. For example, you were about to turn off the stove after cooking dinner, but then guests came and the stove remained on. Sometimes the cause of absent-mindedness is the inability to concentrate, to gather at the right moment, the habit of being distracted and not paying attention to details.

If you understand that all problems are associated with banal fatigue, then just give your body time to rest. Often a change of environment or activity helps overcome absent-mindedness. Find a new hobby, a new hobby, visit a new place. Read a book or watch a movie. But sometimes this doesn’t help either; absent-mindedness becomes a way of life and becomes firmly entrenched in your everyday life. Then the following tips will help you.

How to deal with absent-mindedness

• Take short breaks in your work to realize what has already been done and what remains to be done. Before starting a new task, think it over, make a mental plan, understand what exactly you will need to complete. During such pauses, you need to protect yourself from any activity, just think about the upcoming lesson, about its progress.
• You need to focus on what you are doing. Forgetfulness is often the result of a lack of concentration. A person can do one thing, but think about something completely different. You can recall a historical anecdote. One day Einstein was walking down the street, lost in his thoughts, and met an acquaintance. Einstein invited him to visit, saying: “Professor Stimson will be with me.” An acquaintance noticed in surprise that he was Stimson. “It doesn’t matter - come anyway,” Einstein replied.
• Some things take a little time to complete. But we continue to postpone them and postpone them until later. So they can drag on for several days or even weeks. This behavior only makes you more distracted. These things need to be done immediately and usually do not require much preparation. Do them, then you can get rid of a small problem. It’s much worse if there are so many small tasks that have accumulated that it takes several hours to solve. So you can definitely forget something important. Use the 2 minute rule.
• Visual reminders are the key to eliminating inattention. Take a few items that will remind you of things to do. Place them next to you so that they are always in sight. This will help you remember what needs to be done.
• You can also use conscious associations. Come up with a connection between the setting and the case, the subject and the important task. As soon as you find yourself in this environment, you will immediately remember what needs to be done.
• Try not to create artificial conditions to distract attention. A cluttered desk, unnecessary office supplies, extra magazines - all this distracts your attention. This also applies to the computer desktop. Labels or photos that you don't need right now can distract you from your tasks. Moreover, if you cannot immediately find the folder you need, required document or a program shortcut, then you will also be susceptible to absent-mindedness and inattention.

Following these rules is a great way to get rid of absent-mindedness. You can stop forgetting about important things, miss meetings and other events.

Inattention, attention deficit disorder (ADHD): causes, symptoms, treatment

Distraction or inattention V everyday life It’s even difficult to call it a symptom, since more often it’s just a person’s condition due to fatigue or life’s troubles. When “everything is somehow piling up”, it is difficult to have a clear, bright head, quickly switch from one job to another and keep up with everything, so there can be absent-mindedness that is justified and explainable, and inattention that arouses suspicion.

Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), which we hear about more often from teachers and child psychologists than from pediatricians, concerns mainly younger children school age with learning problems. Along with ADD, the concept of “hyperactivity” is often used. In such cases, it is customary to talk about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the essence of which will be covered below, in one of the sections of the article.

Age, fatigue or “always like this”

Absent-mindedness - discord. But more often than not, we perceive it as one of the features or characteristic features of a person’s temperament. There are people who are inattentive in life, they often irritate colleagues and loved ones because it is difficult to reach them, they do not “get in” the first time, they have to repeat and repeat the same phrases. Others behave this way only at work, immersing themselves in it headlong, and some relax in a similar way at home, giving all their strength professional activities and not responding to requests from loved ones to help with housework or take care of the child.

There are many options, so let’s try to identify the main ones:

• In case of true inattention a person is so distracted from what is happening around him that he creates the impression of his complete absence at a given moment and in a given place. Usually in such cases neither facial expressions nor eyes express anything. Similar condition can happen to anyone after prolonged exercise, fatigue, sleepless night, monotonous activities. The person himself defines his condition as “confusion,” those around him say that “he is out of touch,” and experts call it prostration.
• Towards imaginary absent-mindedness include excessive concentration of attention on some own problem, which comes to the fore, eclipsing all others. Concentration on one thing, the inability to hear and understand the interlocutor, and solve other problems except one single one, is called imaginary absent-mindedness. It is typical for people who retreat into themselves to daydream and think or pursue a specific goal for a certain time (“goal hypnosis”), for example, this happens in professions that require special vigilance and concentration (drivers, pilots, dispatchers). Switching mental activity to foreign objects in such cases may have negative consequences Therefore, in order to perform his professional duties efficiently, a person has no right to be distracted by other matters. By the way, American scientists believe that driving a car is suitable for the prevention of Alzheimer's disease - constant concentration trains the brain and improves memory.
• Student absent-mindedness– is familiar to everyone who went to school. You don't need to know this by personal experience, even very diligent students could be affected by such absent-mindedness of a neighbor, who was distracted from the lesson, engaged in extraneous matters and interfered with children reaching for knowledge.
• Senile absent-mindedness, which overtakes many people who have been retired for a long time. With age, memory deteriorates, the ability to concentrate on specific things, clearly make plans and purposefully go towards the intended goal decreases. Memory impairment leads to the fact that some moments from this chain fall out, are forgotten, lost, which is why the productivity of all activities suffers. All sorts of things for older people move more slowly and often with mistakes, causing additional grief and even greater distraction of attention.
• Cognitive and selective inattention. Getting used to some constantly present things, sounds, situations, we stop reacting to them: we don’t watch the clock tick, we don’t count the beats of our hearts, we don’t pay attention to how the furniture is arranged in our own apartment. Knowing in advance where and what is located, we do not directly see the object that we look at every day and do not think about it. We won’t notice his disappearance right away either, although we can feel: “something is wrong”...
• Motivational-based inattention– a person tries to drive away thoughts and memories associated with unpleasant events, avoid communication with by individuals, ignore some places or roads.

It is unlikely that anyone has not caught himself inattentively, repeatedly reading a text he had memorized, or checking a work he had written in his own hand. Everything familiar, as a rule, falls away and thoughts go to the side. Simply because it’s not very interesting to delve into something that has been known for a long time.

Causes of absent-mindedness

Distraction of attention in most cases has reasons, including: serious illnesses You can put it in last place:

1. Physical and mental fatigue.
2. Lack of sleep.
3. A profession that requires performing the same type of monotonous movements or focusing on one object. Work behind the conveyor belt (monotony) and behind the wheel (all attention is directed to the road) weaken attention to the same extent.
4. Developed in the course of life, representatives of the scientific world have a habit of focusing on the subject of their scientific research and ignoring “earthly” problems. However, it should be noted that the memory of people engaged in science does not fit the generally accepted canons (the relationship between attention and memory), they, as a rule, have it well trained (professional memory), it’s just that a person considers something unnecessary and deliberately omits it, devoting attention to things that are of interest to him - gradually this approach becomes a habit.
5. Age. “Whether old or young” is a deficit of attention in both cases: old people can no longer concentrate on one topic for a long time, and children still can’t.
6. Strong anxiety prevents many people from concentrating, however, there are calm-blooded individuals who know how to control themselves in any situation.
7. Diseases (organic lesions, mental disorders, etc.).

Inattention and absent-mindedness, which appear to arise without cause and tend to progress, always require a search for a cause, after all, the inability to concentrate associated with fatigue always goes away quickly after rest, and disturbances in concentration, which have no explanation, are always alarming, since they often go along with symptoms and other signs of mental illness.

Attention deficit due to illness

It is difficult to imagine a person who is inattentive and absent-minded, but has a good memory. Typically, these categories are interrelated - With attention deficit, memory suffers. The terminology used by specialists does not always explain to patients the degree of impairment. Based on the reasons, the loss of the ability to concentrate on individual objects can have a different nature:

• Lack of concentration and therefore, a low ability to remember what is seen and heard is often characteristic of people who are said to be “on their own wavelength” or especially sensitive to unfavorable factors(fatigue, anxiety, lack of sleep);
• Rigidity(lethargy - difficulties in switching from one topic to another) often occurs in patients suffering from hypomania, hebephrenia.
• Instability of attention which is characterized by constant jumping from one object to another, so none of them remains in memory. Attention deficits are common in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and are a cause of memory problems and poor academic performance.

In principle, the causes of inattention and absent-mindedness are the same as the causes of memory impairment; these are various pathological conditions of the body:

1. Obstruction of blood supply and nutrition to the brain as a result vascular lesions(, etc.);
2. Tumor processes;
3. Mental disorders ( depressive states, schizophrenia, epilepsy);
4. of various origins ( , );
5. Sleep disorders (insomnia, sleep apnea syndrome);
6. Hypoxia;
7. Genetic factor;
8. Disturbance of metabolic processes ();
9. Lack of certain trace elements (iron, magnesium) or excess (lead).

However, if in the majority listed cases attention deficit comes as a secondary symptom (along with other, more significant signs), then regarding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children it plays a role that determines the diagnosis.

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a problem for parents and teachers

Neurologists call attention deficit hyperactivity disorder a violation of the functional abilities of the central nervous system. It is not difficult to guess that the development is based pathological condition lie predominantly neurological problems, the causes of which are complex and mostly incomprehensible to ordinary people, disorders (imbalance in the synthesis of neurotransmitters - catecholamines, serotonin, etc., genetic mutations, cortical dysfunction frontal lobes and reticular formation). In addition, the appearance of ADHD can be provoked by seemingly harmless factors:

• Flavorings, preservatives and others food additives, which nowadays abound in various “delicacies”;
• Medicines – salicylic acid derivatives;
• Excessive craving for sweets;
• Disorders of carbohydrate metabolism;
• Allergic reactions to food;
• Shortage of much needed children's body chemical elements(especially iron and magnesium);
• An increased level of such a representative that is, in principle, alien to the body heavy metals, like lead - constant contact with its compounds, which were previously allowed to improve the characteristics of automobile fuel, forms in children mental retardation and another severe pathology CNS.

ADHD is most common in junior school, where the path to diagnosis begins with extreme restlessness, inattention and absent-mindedness, which become the cause of poor academic performance.

A thorough study of a child’s behavior reveals the main symptoms of ADHD:

1. Instability of attention;
2. Memory impairment;
3. Low learning ability;
4. Excessive motor activity;
5. Incontinence in actions and desires;
6. Violent disagreement with personal defeats.

It should be noted that attention deficit always occurs in ADHD, and here increased mobility does not belong to the necessarily present signs of the syndrome (ADD without hyperactivity). In addition, sometimes a complicated version of ADHD occurs (neurosis-like or combined).

Manifestations of ADHD are noticeable to others

Due to the fact that with ADHD there is no significant damage to the brain, the symptoms will not differ in the severity of clinical manifestations.

Speech

To some extent (usually insignificantly), children suffering from ADHD, due to increased distractibility and difficulties in the development of intellectual abilities, experience a delay in the formation of language and speech skills (speech impairment). In conversation, such children show intemperance, they are tactless and cheeky, they easily interfere in the conversation of their classmates or a teacher with another student, inserting indiscreet remarks. They are not afraid of offending someone and do not even think about what might follow such behavior.

Coordination of movements

Impaired coordination of movements is mainly limited to difficulty performing fine work:

• Children find it difficult to tie their own shoelaces;
• They do not like to color and cut out pictures, since such activities require precise movements and are difficult;
• They say about such children that they are not at all athletic, it is difficult for them to follow the ball (impaired visual-spatial coordination), and attempts to learn to ride a bicycle or master a skateboard do not have much success.

Hyperactivity

Excessive activity, called hyperactivity, however, does not always occur with ADHD. In some children, activity is within normal limits or is generally reduced, which causes errors in the diagnosis of attention deficit disorder and untimely initiation of correction. But if hyperactivity is still present, then it is difficult not to notice a child who has it: he constantly turns around, cannot sit in one place, while school activities gets up from his desk in class and walks around the room. In children with ADHD, motor activity is usually aimless: the child is constantly climbing somewhere, running, cannot stop to play, and talks a lot.

It would seem that unrestrained mobility cannot be accompanied by drowsiness, but, nevertheless, such “perpetuum mobile” tends to sleep several times during the day - it’s just that these children often have problems falling asleep, and many also experience bedwetting.

Emotions

Emotions in the case of ADHD are poorly controlled: children are unbalanced, touchy, quickly become angry, and do not know how to accept even a minor defeat with dignity. Emotional disturbances almost always entail a change not in better side social relations. Unhealthy children, as a rule, negatively influence their peers, which causes problems with their parents and teachers - one impulsive child with irrepressible energy becomes too much, he interferes with everyone, bullies, and destroys everything in his path. Often children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder display aggression towards peers and adults. Especially to aggressive behavior boys are inclined.

Inattention

Attention disorder with ADHD it is noticeable both at school and at home. Lessons at school cause boredom in the child, which he tries to replace by talking with his neighbor at his desk (even during a test), some games or dreams. The diary of such a student is always replete with entries that have the same meaning: “he gets distracted in class and daydreams”, “disturbs his neighbor at his desk”, “is unable to concentrate and work independently”, “does not listen to the teacher”...

A similar picture is observed when performing homework– independent activity is difficult, and sometimes not given at all, so children desperately resist any work that requires mental effort. True, they react quickly to tasks, without even listening to their essence, and then just as quickly abandon the work they started. However, it should be noted here that by finding an approach to the child, managing to interest him and showing maximum patience, parents and teachers together can achieve considerable success in learning, and the performance indicators of such a student will not differ from the average.

Impulsiveness

In attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, attention deficit is almost always accompanied by impulsiveness, which significantly complicates the life of the child, and even more so for his parents. Carelessness, frivolity, carelessness, inability to calculate one step ahead the consequences of one’s actions, and, at the same time, the desire to show one’s courage, daring, and endurance often turns out in the most sad way (injuries, poisoning, etc.).

And yet, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is not always diagnosed with conduct disorder - this symptom alone is not enough for diagnosis.

It all starts in childhood

ADHD, as a rule, attracts the attention of others and, although the symptoms of the disease on which the diagnosis is based (decreased concentration, hyperactivity, impulsivity, difficult to control) appear before the first school bell (7 years), A child usually sees a doctor at the age of eight to ten. Parents in most cases consider their child to be simply super active, although behavioral problems have already appeared in kindergarten, and inattentive due to his youth, hoping that the school will help discipline him. In the first grade, everything is attributed to difficulties in adaptation, but then the child is required to have some independence, composure, and perseverance. All this is missing, academic performance is “lame”, behavior is extremely bad, communication with peers is impossible, teachers pose questions to parents...

50% of children diagnosed with ADHD in junior classes schools, join adolescence with the same problems, although the hyperactivity is somewhat subsiding. At this age, such children require special attention adults, since more often than others (successful) they show a tendency to drink alcohol, drug addiction, and substance abuse. Unable to settle down in children's team, they are easy to negative influence streets and are quickly joining the ranks of juvenile delinquents.

Unfortunately, no more than 50% of problem teenagers, with the help of adults, manage to leave their diagnosis in adolescence; many come with it in adult life poorly adapted, socially unadapted, without normal education and profession. Due to increased impressionability, temper, impulsiveness, and sometimes pronounced aggression aimed at the world around us, it is difficult for such people to make friends and family, so in this situation they often experience a number of personality disorders and the formation of antisocial psychopathy.

Diagnosis: ADHD

It is unlikely that in the absence of explicit somatic pathology absent-mindedness in adults will be a reason to visit a doctor. Usually, both relatives and colleagues get used to such a person, only occasionally becoming indignant at the inattention and absent-mindedness when he forgets about a request or does not complete an important assignment.

As for children, the reason for them to visit a psychologist and then a neurologist is the presence of the following symptoms:

1. Inattention, inability to concentrate;
2. Impulsiveness;
3. Impaired coordination of movements;
4. Hyperactivity;
5. Emotional lability;
6. Memory impairment, learning difficulties.

The first step towards diagnosis is:

• Examination by a neurologist who assesses fine motor skills and identifies neurological symptoms;
• Questionnaire with filling out a diagnostic card;
• Neuropsychological testing (assessment of the level of attention, intellectual abilities, performance in relation to long-term mental activity, etc.)

1. Behavior correction techniques;
2. Psychotherapeutic methods;
3. Neuropsychological correction.

Participation in healing process parents and teachers, who first need to explain that such children do not do anything “out of spite,” it’s just how they do it.

Of course, raising a difficult child is not easy, but one should not go to extremes: permissiveness due to excessive pity for a sick child and excessive demands that a little person is simply not able to follow are equally not allowed. You should always build a relationship with a difficult child with a positive, friendly attitude. Under no circumstances should you transfer your Bad mood and personal problems for the child, you need to speak to him softly, calmly, quietly, without shouting or prohibiting words like “no”, “no”, “never”.

Parents with problem children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder will have to:

• Adapt to your baby’s daily routine and strictly follow it:
• Make sure that the day goes by without fuss, overwork, or long periods of sitting in front of the TV or computer screen;
• Try to interest the child in some way sports games, go with him to the pool and for walks in the fresh air;
• Try not to attend events with large crowds of people, do not invite too noisy, cheerful (or vice versa?) guests.

It must not be allowed that primary classes To little man the label of uncontrollable, incapable, unsuccessful has stuck - everything can be fixed, it just takes time, which should not be rushed. Adults will need maximum patience, faith in success, support everywhere and in everything, so that the child himself believes in his own strength. If a difficult child receives help, understanding, and a kind attitude towards himself, then results, more likely, won't disappoint– here parents have a special responsibility.

Regarding drug therapy, then they try to apply it in last resort , if psychotherapeutic measures do not give the desired effect. Indications for prescribing medications - strictly individual. Of course, specialists use antidepressants, central nervous system stimulants, and others pharmaceutical groups medications, but you should still exercise caution with medications maximum caution– the child’s psyche is sensitive and vulnerable.

Video: attention deficit disorder - expert opinion

Video: hyperactivity and attention deficit disorder - Dr. Komarovsky

Video: lecture on ADHD and its treatment

Absent-mindedness is a thing acquired, not hereditary, so you can get rid of it with some effort. Experts give practical advice what to do with poor memory and absent-mindedness. By using them, you can overcome absent-mindedness and “put it on your back.”

What is absent-mindedness?

The classic absent-minded state is characterized by wandering attention, distracting a person from important, priority matters or plans. This condition manifests itself in the following:

• difficulty or even inability to focus on one subject or topic for a long time. Attention seems to wander extensively from object to object;
• lack of concentration in sensations and thoughts, they are vague and uncertain;
• powerlessness and relaxation;
• indifference and disinterest in what is happening;
• boredom.

Impaired attention and memory are very selective, unstable and have a small volume.

Understand the reason

The guarantee of victory in any battle is to know the enemy by sight. Therefore, in our case, asking the question of how to overcome absent-mindedness, you first need to understand why memory can become dull. One of the reasons is laziness, unwillingness to focus on business, which you don't want to do. The following reasons occurrence of poor memory: monotonous monotonous activity, chronic lack of sleep, physical and mental exhaustion. All this can serve as the beginning of inattention. If you do nothing for timely decision these problems, it can develop into pathological absent-mindedness. Another reason is psychological illness , which may be caused by brain damage. In this case, medical treatment is needed.

Need for treatment

Treatment for absent-mindedness depends on the severity of the disorder.

1. Internal factors. Organic damage brain The need for clinical treatment.
2. External factors. Overwork or illness.

In the first case, inattention is considered as mental disorder, which can even occur with a complete memory loss. Most often this happens due to depression or anxiety disorder. With this diagnosis it is prescribed drug treatment, antidepressants are prescribed or nootropic drugs. At the same time, a psychologist is provided with help to work through emotional situations, if any.

"Fluttering" attention

The second type of attention disorder does not require serious medical treatment. It can be called “fluttering” attention. It is typical for teenagers and older people. This type of inattention is observed in people who are overworked or weakened by illness. Their inability to flutter like a butterfly, switching from topic to topic.

U ordinary people This type is temporary, provided that such inattention is combated and the reasons that cause it. This pathology is affected by a temporary decrease in the mobility of nervous processes. In the case of the clinic, this occurs due to brain oxygen starvation or cerebral atherosclerosis. Most often this occurs in older people.

“How to get rid of absent-mindedness and bad memory? What to do?" - a frequently asked question from anxious patients, which they address to psychologists. They are concerned about whether the disease is serious, whether it needs treatment, and how to deal with absent-mindedness. Often this type of inattention manifests itself in the inability to concentrate and difficulty switching attention from object to object or from one type of activity to another. This type does not need serious treatment absent-mindedness. The cause may be simple physical, emotional or mental fatigue. In this case, it is clear what needs to be done. Just give your body a rest, perhaps even a change of scenery for a while.

Self-prevention

Here are some tips on how to deal with absent-mindedness and how to prevent it critical condition when you have to resort to treatment. War must be declared on absent-mindedness. Children need their parents' help in this area. People prone to absent-mindedness need to understand that this weak area needs to be worked on.

• Learn to live thoughtfully and slowly. Often the nature of absent-mindedness is vanity and haste.
• Monitor your thoughts to see if they are consistent; they need to be organized, stopping the fussiness in the head and directing the train of thoughts in one direction.
• You need to learn to do only one thing at a time. This is discipline.
• Fight the habit of living automatically. Train yourself to systematically put things in their place.
• It is easier to memorize difficult words with the help of figurative hints by association. Also, don’t be lazy
  “reminders” that will help you live in a more organized way, keeping the priorities of the important things.
• Don't overload your brain; Give yourself short breaks so as not to think about anything.
• Develop observation skills by turning your gaze away from yourself to the outside, establishing contact with the outside world.
• Vigilance is needed when a situation of haste, anxiety, or stress comes. Consciously say “stop” to panic or fuss, calm your mind and choose the right way out.

Everything will work out

If it is difficult to observe yourself, and absent-mindedness is not subject to self-control, then you should consult a doctor for a prescription. individual treatment absent-mindedness.

It is the responsibility of every person to monitor their lifestyle: am I able to relax, am I not being lazy in training my memory and attention, and developing self-control?

For more effective result It is important to find out the individual problem and try to deal with it instead of “fighting” with the consequences of the problem. Then everything will work out.

Author of the article: Laukhina Ekaterina

Absent-mindedness is the sweetest of vices, although it is by no means always safe. Focus on one thing is bought by distraction in relation to everything else. People who are passionate about their work are characterized by such absent-mindedness. The absent-mindedness of such people is most noticeable and striking. Oddly enough, it is this most harmless type of absent-mindedness that people tend to tolerate least of all. (S.V. Proleev. Encyclopedia of vices)

From the point of view of Russian morality, absent-mindedness has never been considered a terrible vice. It's kind of distinguishing feature personality, characteristic, as a rule, of people who are kind, honest and intelligent. Probably, in another time it would be quite possible to live and work with such quality. However, today, when speed and accuracy of actions determine the success of a business, absent-mindedness quite often harms us.

Fun fact about absent-mindedness

One day Einstein was walking down the street, thoughtfully, and met his friend. He invited him to his home:
"Come to me in the evening, Professor Stimson will be with me."
The friend was surprised:
“But I am Stimson!”
Einstein responded:
"It doesn't matter - come anyway."

If you have problems with absent-mindedness, you can consult a doctor, who will prescribe you special drugs. There are also home remedies:

1. Rest - good remedy from absent-mindedness. Don't use your computer or TV for a week.
2. Review your regime and nutrition. Maybe you don't have enough vitamins and minerals and aren't getting enough sleep?
3. Train your memory. For example, teach foreign words, poetry.
4. Use different reminders mobile phones and computers.
5. Try to dial telephone numbers on your phone manually, and not through an address book.
6. Drink basil infusion and eat citrus fruits. Eat 3 large apples every day.
8. Oils can also help.
At nervous tension, distracted attention, irritation:
Rosemary, lavender, lemon, patchouli, ylang, basil. Use for baths, massages and inhalations, to aromatize rooms.
With absent-mindedness and weakening of memory. Basil, mint, rosemary. You can carry a bottle of one of these oils with you.

If you can't find the right thing, don't despair. You need to calm down, sit in a chair, inhale the oil from the bottle and sit for 10 minutes. Then start your search again, which will certainly bring success.
In addition to the recommended three oils, you can add eucalyptus, lemon, cedar, clove, and hyssop oils. Main uses: room aromatization, baths, massage.

There are exercises against absent-mindedness:

1. For chronic lateness to work and meetings. Before an important meeting, set your watch forward 15–20 minutes. If you are late for work, as soon as your alarm clock wakes you up in the morning, move it to the time when you should already be closing the apartment door and focus on getting ready.
2. Train your attention. For example, if you are traveling in a trolleybus or car, remember the make, color and number of the car passing by, and in the evening try to restore everything you remembered in detail. So gradually you will learn to concentrate your attention on what you want.
3. Before an important task, try to calm down, sit or lie down for a few minutes, if possible, without thinking about anything.
4. Before going to bed, try to remember your entire day, hour by hour. Try to recall in your memory every little thing, every event and every action, yours and those with whom you communicated, whom you saw. Try to remember the names of people, phone numbers, your words and those of your interlocutors.
5. Nothing will teach you how to quickly and correctly react to what is happening as sports activities. Games such as football, volleyball, tennis, etc. help best.

Train yourself to constantly do at least some of the above and soon you will forever forget about your absent-mindedness.

Absent-mindedness is not due to bad memory person, but by a lack of attention to some everyday things that are so necessary at the time of recording information. Most unpleasant incidents with forgetfulness is associated with automatic actions. For example, we unconsciously lock a car door and then cannot remember whether we locked it or not. Or we salt the soup without interrupting the conversation with our neighbor at the table, and after a few minutes we grab the salt shaker again.

Attention is inherently unstable, so various mechanisms public life have the goal of preventing undesirable consequences our absent-mindedness. For example, when filling out a receipt, first write the amount in numbers, and then in words. Such repetition forces us to concentrate and avoid mistakes when writing the amount.

The fight against absent-mindedness must begin with a firm determination to pay attention to all your actions. This is quite easy to do if a person really suffers from the consequences of his forgetfulness. But if he sees nothing wrong with his absent-mindedness and does not feel the need for internal changes, then it is difficult for him to force himself to make an effort to learn new strategies to help manage his attention. First necessary condition to get rid of the usual automaticity of movements or actions - a pause. Switch your brain to conscious mode. This will help you look around and find visual clues. Before you go anywhere, stop for a moment and ask yourself questions: "Where am I going? What do I need there? Who should I meet and what should I convey? What should I take with me? Do I need to stop somewhere along the way?" either more or buy something?"

Make a few deep breaths and exhalations to calm down, and answer the questions posed. You will very soon discover how effective this technique is in the fight against forgetfulness. If you remember, it means you gave yourself time to think. Remember that haste is main enemy in the fight against forgetfulness and absent-mindedness.

The second principle of adjusting attention is the ability to focus on at this moment. In scientific terms, this means carrying out a mental process focused on solving a specific problem, without being scattered on other problems. Once you master this skill, you will become much more focused.

The third principle is immediate action. Whenever you encounter a minor problem that requires little time to resolve, do it immediately or make arrangements to do so at the next appropriate moment.

For example, review the information immediately after receiving it and take appropriate action: if you are the boss, call the right subordinate or secretary and give him the necessary instructions. Return the book to the library as soon as you are finished with it. Put the necessary thing in your briefcase or at the exit from the apartment, if you just thought about it or if it caught your eye. After the conversation or conference, make notes on the things that seemed most significant to you. Repeat to yourself the names of new acquaintances and remember characteristic features their behavior.

Remember that attention starts with prevention. Don't put off small problems until later and you will avoid many unpleasant consequences absent-mindedness. Sometimes you will have to hold a thought or idea in your head until you have the opportunity to write it down on paper. Without any hesitation, resort to simple repetition if extraneous interference distracts you from the desired thought. Visualizing the wanted item will help you better concentrate on it. A visual cue almost always helps. If necessary, pronounce the desired monologue until you find the right thing.

The fourth principle is anticipation. You can avoid distractions while working. For example, removing from the table all items that are not related to this work. With age, a person becomes more and more sensitive to outside interference. One of the major obstacles is the telephone. If you don't have an answering machine, you can ask your main callers to ring for example six or seven times before hanging up. During this time, you will have time to leave some hint to quickly return to the interrupted task.

It is much more difficult to prevent the appearance of “internal” interference, and it is not always possible to avoid it. For example, during a conversation, an unexpected thought or emotion knocks you out of your thoughts and you forget what you were talking about. First of all, don't panic and maintain your composure. An incident like this can happen to anyone at any age, and your worry will only make things worse. In this case, you can give up the initiative in the conversation to someone else, which will make it possible to restore a lost thought. If the latter has value for you, it will certainly arise again in the context certain situation. And if it is of no value, you can say goodbye to it forever.

For those people who are afraid of losing the thread of thought during a speech, the most the right advice will - do not deviate from the topic of the speech, although the latter often enlivens the speech and entertains the audience. To maintain interest in your speech in the audience, it is not at all necessary to present your thoughts in a strict logical sequence. If you can't quickly find your lost thought, take comfort in the fact that your audience has probably forgotten it too. Therefore, your task is to switch the audience’s attention to another subject. A good lecturer does this instinctively. The ability to improvise often works wonders.

Anticipating possible manifestations absent-mindedness, you can avoid them. You should be especially vigilant in situations that noticeably reduce attention: automatic actions, the desire to combine several actions, haste, excitement, stress, anxiety. Memory accidents are similar to traffic accidents. It is impossible to avoid all troubles of this kind, but a person can prevent most of them by developing life-saving reflexes based on anticipation, observation and conscious selective attention.

True, there are situations when concentration of attention is simply impossible. The most terrible of them is depression, in which dark thoughts completely take over a person’s consciousness. To match her - emotional stress, haste, disconnection from the topic, extraneous interference. In all these cases, we deprive ourselves of the ability to gather our thoughts and think through our next actions.

If you are tired, it is better to postpone performing difficult tasks and making serious decisions for a while. If this cannot be done, then it is advisable to resort to the help of such tips as an alarm clock or timer, notes left in visible places, reminders to neighbors, etc.

Emotions in to a large extent affect our memory. Both positive and negative emotions are literally “imprinted” into our memory. They select the most for us important information. Basically, we remember for a long time things and events that deeply touched, shocked, shocked, pleased or greatly annoyed us.

The functioning of the subconscious memory largely depends on the mood in which the information was recorded. For example, knowledge learned in a state of joy easily comes to mind when we are happy, and information that we wrote down in a depressed state is recalled in times of sadness. This circumstance explains the vicious circle of depression, during which only dark thoughts come to mind. By conscious effort of will, recreating a certain mood for oneself, a person is able to remember various life events associated with a given state of mind.

During an emotional upsurge, a person must pay double attention to his everyday actions, especially those that are objectively important. It is known, for example, that in a state of euphoria, a person driving can easily get into an accident.

Problems with attention often have roots in early childhood. It has been noticed that lack of attention in children is due to their hyperactivity. In adulthood, people who were hyperactive in childhood have reduced metabolic activity in the brain and, therefore, an increased predisposition to absent-mindedness.