The last few months have been extremely difficult for everyone and this pandemic has turned our world upside.  We are now slowly learning how to adapt to this new way of life, and none of us know if life will ever be the same.  Two major changes some of us are experiencing are tele-work and online classes.  As if it wasn’t challenging enough with our families, significant others, and pets at home to distract us, now many of us are trapped inside at our computer screen for the majority of the day finding it difficult to remain motivated and focused. 

I am currently a student at the Anderson’s School of Business and we had our opening residency last weekend. On Friday we started at 10am and continued classes until approximately 9pm.  Now mind you, we had multiple breaks, and the professors did an excellent job, but the switch to this new online format is very tedious and I personally struggled.  We proceeded with two more full days of classes and by Monday I was mentally exhausted.

I took some time to reflect on the past weekend and I asked myself what I could have done to remain more focused and productive.  I quickly remembered a tool I used in my undergraduate program for studying, brainwave entrainment. Please don’t be intimated by the name, if you break it down it simply means to entrain, or sync your brain into a certain brainwave frequency.  If you read my article on meditation, I gave you a quick background on brainwave states (Meditation Made Simple).   For a quick review, you have 5 brainwave states and you enter into these respective states dependent on your current activity and emotional state.  Delta waves are for dreamless sleep, Theta waves are when your brain is awake but your body is asleep (ideal for meditation), Alpha waves are known for relaxed concentration, Beta waves are for alert focus, and Gamma waves are used for information processing and learning.

Ideal brainwave states for concentration - When it comes to studying, there is some debate as to which brainwave state is ideal. The two I prefer are Gamma and Alpha.  Research shows that Gamma waves are supreme for learning new material and memory recall and Alpha waves work best for imagination, learning, memory and visualization.  As with everyone in this life, there is no one solution for everyone, so I suggest that you experiment with a few different ones to see where you find your best flow. 

How does it work - Brainwave entrainment is technique that stimulates the brain into a specific brainwave state by using sound, light or an electromagnetic field.  The pulses from these sounds or devices encourage the brain the align to a particular brainwave frequency (delta, alpha, beta, gamma, or theta).  One common type of brainwave entrainment is executed via music using binaural beats. With this technique the individual will play music through headphones and each ear receives a different frequency. Physiologically speaking, when your brain hears two different frequencies simultaneously it perceives or “hears” a third beat and that is the frequency that you brain entrains into.  For example, if you play 35Hz in one ear and 30Hz in the other ear, your brain will automatically subtract the two and perceives an auditory beat of 5Hz or a Theta brainwave state.  If that doesn’t make sense, don’t worry, just think of it in terms of the music leading your brain into the ideal brainwave state for studying. 

Where can I find binaural beats - There are multiple devices for purchase online, but I would recommend starting with music to see if this is an effective technique for you.  YouTube is an excellent and free resources where you can find thousands of free options.  Helpful keyword searches include: binaural beats for concentration and focus, brainwave entrainment for studying, cognition enhancer, and alpha/gamma brainwave states.

Tips:·    

• Experiment with different brainwave states to see what works best for you

• Give your brain and body at least 10-15 minutes when testing different types of music

• Before you being take a deep breath, relax and set the intention that you will remain focused

• Keep an open mind

I am open to any and all feedback.  Also, if there are any additional topics you would like to learn more about, please feel free to contact me directly.