Focus & Concentration

What happens when you try to concentrate?

You may recognise more than one of these:

• I can’t get started. I know what to do, but beginning is unexpectedly hard.
• I lose my place. I reread paragraphs, miss instructions or forget what I was doing.
• I’m overwhelmed by what’s around me. Noise, lights or activity consume my attention.
• I get stuck on one thing. I can focus deeply, but changing tasks or being interrupted is difficult.
• My mind feels foggy or crowded. Low energy, worries or intrusive thoughts make it hard to think clearly.

A question worth asking: When does this problem ease? Think of a place, activity or time when focusing is easier. That can be just as revealing as when it goes wrong.

What might actually help?

If starting and finishing are the hardest parts

Consider ADHD-focused CBT. This is practical therapy for planning, beginning tasks, handling procrastination and getting back on track.

Evidence: In a trial of adults with ADHD who still struggled despite medication, 53 in 100 improved with ADHD-focused CBT, compared with 23 in 100 who received relaxation and educational support. This is improvement in overall ADHD symptoms—not a promise of 53% better concentration for everyone (Safren et al., JAMA, 2010).

Where to find it: Ask a therapist whether they offer ADHD-specific CBT rather than general counselling. Therapist directories include the BABCP register (UK and Ireland) and the ABCT directory (mainly US). Check the individual therapist’s experience with adult ADHD. These directories do not certify ADHD expertise.

If sensory overload is stealing your attention

Start with the environment, not an attention-training app. A quieter workspace, different lighting, written instructions and advance notice of interruptions may make tasks more manageable. An autism-informed occupational therapist may help identify what suits you.

Evidence: These are recommended adjustments for autistic people, but research does not give us one trustworthy percentage for how much they improve everyday focus. Their value depends on your particular sensory needs (NICE autism guidance).

Free guide: Autistica’s practical workplace adjustments.

If your thinking feels slow, particularly during depression

Ask about cognitive remediation. This is structured training with a professional to improve memory and flexible thinking and practise using those skills in daily life.

Evidence: In a trial involving 101 adults with major depression, participants receiving guided cognitive remediation improved on certain memory and thinking measures more than those playing comparison computer games. We cannot translate that into a reliable percentage increase in work productivity (Barlati et al., European Psychiatry, 2025).

Where to go: Ask your mental-health team whether they offer cognitive remediation or cognitive rehabilitation.

If worry, intrusive thoughts or trauma reminders keep interrupting you

Look for treatment for what is pulling your attention away. For OCD, that may mean a therapist trained in exposure and response prevention (ERP); for PTSD, trauma-focused treatments such as prolonged exposure, cognitive processing therapy or EMDR. These therapies have evidence for their respective conditions, but we cannot promise a particular percentage improvement in concentration (NICE OCD guidance; VA National Center for PTSD).

If you’d prefer something you can learn and practise

Structured mindfulness training may be worth exploring. Research specifically involving adults with ADHD suggests some improvement in symptoms and functioning; a trial of 78 autistic adults also found benefits in reported executive functioning. These findings are encouraging, but they do not establish that any particular meditation app works for these groups (Kim & Jung, Medicine, 2025; Pagni et al., Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience, 2023).

Where to find it: Ask a clinician or local mental-health service about a structured, adapted mindfulness course. Free general meditation recordings can be used for personal practice, but we cannot assume they reproduce the effects of the studied programmes.

A clinically studied digital option

EndeavorRx is a prescription video-game treatment for children with ADHD. In a trial of 8–12-year-olds with ADHD, 47 in 100 reached a defined improvement on a computer attention test, compared with 32 in 100 who used a comparison game. The same trial did not show a clear advantage on parent ratings of everyday ADHD symptoms. The current product is prescribed for eligible children aged 8–17, but the figures here come from the younger group studied in that trial (Kollins et al., The Lancet Digital Health, 2020).

Who it may suit: Eligible children with ADHD, as part of a broader treatment programme. These results do not establish benefit for autistic people without ADHD, adults, or people whose concentration problems arise from another condition. Availability and prescribing rules vary by country.

One thing to do this week

Pick one problem from the first section, and one change to try. Notice something meaningful: Did you start the task? Stay in the meeting? Return after an interruption? Finish without sensory exhaustion? You don’t need to produce a score. The aim is to discover what makes your day easier.

If changes in concentration are sudden, severe or associated with a worsening mental-health condition, seek a clinical assessment rather than relying on a focus tool alone.