10 Tricks for Paying Attention

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How to increase your focus

By Karen Pallarito

You’re late to work (again), behind on a project, or can’t remember the action points from the last meeting. If you’re one of the roughly 10 million U.S. adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it can be a constant challenge to stay on task.

Anthony Rostain, MD, professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, in Philadelphia, says you can get distracted by external stimuli like noise or internal stimuli like daydreaming; these different distractions require different coping strategies, he explains.

Here’s how to pinpoint your weaknesses and 10 strategies for getting the job done.

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