Mental Concentration On The Road Saves Lives!

Distracted Drivers Need To Learn To Control Attention - Use These Powerful Brain Training Mental Concentration Exercise Approaches For Drivers

Did you know that you can use even a mundane activity such as driving a vehicle as a powerful brain training exercise that will improve your mental concentration, make you more relaxed, give you more self-discipline, lower your insurance rates by making you a safer driver, and save you money in gas expenses by removing the compulsive need for unnecessary speed?  I’m going to tell you just how you can have all that and maybe get just a little bit more joy out of life at the same time.

If you’re like many people with a hectic schedule, you’re very busy with a million things to do, and so you may feel that you have to finish half the things on your “To Do List” while you’re supposed to have your eyes on the road and your hands firmly on the wheel.   Perhaps you just get bored while driving and decide to occupy yourself with something other than being totally focused on keeping thousands of pounds of metal from hurtling into other solid objects at high speed.

A recent Hartford Drivability Survey found that more than 80 percent of Phoenix drivers perform at least one other task while driving. That’s scary. I say it is scary because when I’m in a vehicle on the highway, I’m actually engaged in mental concentration to the task at hand, which includes effectively scanning my surroundings, maintaining safe speed and distances from other drivers; you know, GOOD DRIVING. All around me, however, I’m observing distracted people, talking on cell phones, yapping mindlessly to passengers – TEXTING for crying out loud while running their big mouths to passengers even in the back seat – weaving all over the road, trying to get to the head of the line in Stupid People Heaven.

97.5% of the population stinks at multitasking, which means, most likely, you are putting yourself and other people in some degree of danger when you are not concentrating on the task at hand while driving an automobile, according to a 2010 University of Utah study (Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 2010). Oh, sure, you may THINK you are in that 2.5% of competent multitaskers, but that doesn’t matter on the road, because if part of your multitasking genius involves fidgeting around with your stereo when your eyes should be glued to the road in front of you as you speed along at 70 miles an hour, all the power of your multitasking skill can’t save you from eating the metal on the aft bumper of the semi ahead if you don’t see the fact that you’re about to rear end it.

There is nothing that you do in a vehicle that is more important than its safe operation. Music, make-up, useless conversations, texting, eating – these things can wait. Of course, you already know that. Some of us, however, are just habituated; so, here’s a potential reward in addition to keeping yourself and others safe on the road…

DRIVING AS A BRAIN-BUILDING MENTAL EXERCISE

Your brain is a Neuroplastic biological mechanism; that is, it makes itself stronger in reaction to your giving it challenging, unique learning activities, especially through mental exercise.

Mundane driving can be converted into an excellent mental exercise that will strengthen the intracellular connectivity of your brain, increase your personal and environmental awareness, give you increasing control over your thoughts and emotions, and give you access to a deep sense of pleasantness on the road that few people get to enjoy, because they are asleep at the wheel (caught up in thought) even when they’re not engaging in obvious distractions.

A BRAIN FITNESS APPROACH TO SAFER, MORE ENJOYABLE DRIVING

This method is an ‘Inside, Out’ practice of mindful driving that will kickstart your neural hardware and teach you more about the behavior of your attention, thoughts, and impulses while operating a vehicle.

When you drive, keep your attention fully ‘with yourself,’ on the fact that you are driving, and ACTIONS of driving. KNOW that you are driving; this through a willful act of mindful attention to the experience itself. Do not allow your attention to wander off into thoughts of the past or future or fantasy. Instead, continually realize that your hands are on the wheel, your foot is on the accelerator, your lungs are breathing; become aware of the feel of cloth on your skin, the flow of pavement oncoming and passing your forward view, the feel of the road as your tires move across it – in other words, “BE HERE, NOW!”

This mindful driving brain exercise is very challenging, because your brain will habitually seek to multitask in the form of mental chatter, self-talk, daydreaming, forecasting of coming events, and gawking at stuff around you that has nothing to do with the drive itself. If there are people in the car, you’ll want to let them know ahead of time that you’d prefer to not engage in unnecessary conversation because you’re experimenting with a brain-building mental exercise (or feed them a story that doesn’t sound so nerdy, but get them to shut up for cryin’ out loud).

As a helpful “ATTENTION TARGET”, be intuitively aware of how you’re breathing and the general feel of the tension level of your muscles, and feel free to inhale deeply and slowly and exhale at a comfortable rate to help relax tension in your body. This you can do without taking your eyes from the task of driving and the road ahead. In fact, your perceptual awareness will start to expand itself so that you can take in more of your surroundings without mindlessly turning your head everywhere like a bird.

YOU CAN START BEFORE YOU START UP!

Whatever you do, make sure that safe driving comes first. It wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to begin your initial investigation of this brain training technique by conducting it while sitting parked in your driveway. See if you can get yourself to be fully engaged in the act of sitting in the vehicle with your hands on the wheel and quietly perceiving the whole experience of being there. When thoughts arise to tug at your attention, simply decline to participate and bring your attention back to, say, the feel of your breathing or the feel of your palms on the steering wheel. By ‘FEELIN’ your way around the technique, you do not need to remove your vision from its required role of keeping a safe lookout.

When you’re comfortable that you can drive in this mindful, totally attentive mental state, then try it out on some back roads with little to no traffic or pedestrians. When you can comfortably navigate those, then you’re ready for the big time.

Remember, the word is ATTENTION. There is no place in this exercise for INATTENTION, so at no point can you claim that the effort to conduct it is somehow distracting you. The only distraction you’ll encounter is your old mental habits trying to retake their throne.

In all cases, engaging in proper acts of driving the vehicle is the number one priority!

A SECOND APPROACH TO TESTING OUT MINDFUL DRIVING

This is the ‘Outside, In’ method.

Because some of us are so new to brain training that even attempting it is frustrating, here’s a way to conduct an approach that will boost your mental concentration on the road.

Just DRIVE. Period. Maintain interest only on driving. Reject everything else unrelated to the safe operation of the vehicle – and that includes THINKING MINDLESSLY. Do not engage in mental chatter, nor should you fantasize or immerse yourself in thoughts of the future or past. JUST REMAIN INTERESTED IN THE ACTIONS AND EXPERIENCE OF DRIVING.

Your brain will go ballistic at this effort. WONDERFUL! That’s what you want. Let it complain and moan about how bored it is and how stupid the exercise is and blah blah blah. YOU KEEP YOUR ATTENTION ON DRIVING.

After a few hours of this, or a few days of commuting, you’ll find your attentional awareness starting to expand, and your task is to continue as you were, even when you begin to notice more about the feel and position of your body, your breathing, the feel of the vehicle on the road, and an eventual, interesting sense of ‘melding’ of experience, as though things are starting to flow more easily with you and your vehicle in relation to traffic and routes.

Athletes refer to this singular mental state of attention as, “THE ZONE.” You’re about to learn what that is.

If you get good at it, it will carry over into every aspect of your life, especially your work or career or business.

Much reward will come your way!

DRIVING IS NOT MUNDANE – USE IT TO BUILD MENTAL POWER!

As you’ve read, there’s nothing that is actually boring about driving, except that a habitually distracted mind does not want to stay on the task at hand.

By consciously directing your attention to the drive itself, you not only increase safety on the road for yourself and others, but you can improve your attention control skills, mental concentration, relaxed mindfulness, and, if you continue using driving as a mental exercise, your quality of life.