Meditation and sustained attention

Meditation has become increasingly popular in recent years.

It’s widely claimed to be a healthy practice for the mind, and if you’ve followed this trend, you’ve probably heard that many top business leaders include meditation as a regular part of their morning routine.

But how exactly can meditation benefit our performance and daily lives?

When it comes to mastering our mental energy, meditation may have the potential to help us sustain focus for longer periods of time and avoid drops in mental energy during stressfull times.

Today’s insights is mainly drawn from the scientific article: 

“Minds “At Attention”: Mindfulness Training Curbs Attentional Lapses in Military Cohorts”

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• The study in a nutshell:

• Takeaways:

• What they did:

• What the authors found out:

• What can we learn from this study?

The study in a nutshell:

In this study, the authors wanted to test if mindfulness training could help soldiers sustain their ability for long-term focus during the intense, stressful period before deployment.

They compared two types of short, 8-hour mindfulness meditation programs: one focused on practicing mindfulness meditation exercises (M8T), and the other focused on lectures about stress and resilience (M8D).

A third group received no training, and a civilian group was included for comparison.

After 8 weeks, only the group that focused on practicing mindfulness meditation maintained their attention levels.

The other military groups showed a decline in their ability to sustain focus.

👉 If you want to test your own ability to sustain focus, try our Stroop test here.

Takeaways:

🔋 Stress doesn’t have to cause less focus

While high-stress environments often negatively affect our attention, this study shows that structured meditation training can build mental energy and help sustain attention.

🧘 Short-form meditation works

Even a shorter training period - just 8 hours spread over 8 weeks - can help maintain attention during high-demand periods.

What they did:

The meditation programs were designed to be time-efficient, each consisting of eight hours of in-class lectures and training, plus a daily home practice of 30 minutes, spread over eight weeks.

In the M8T program, participants spent 50 % of their class time meditating directly, whereas the M8D group spent only only 12.5 %.
The M8D program focused primarily on lectures about stress, resilience, and the science behind mindfulness.

What the authors found out:

After the 8 weeks of stressful pre-deployment military training, the ability to sustain attention was only held stable in the group that practiced mindfulness meditation during the in-class sessions (M8T).

Both the lecture-focused group (M8D) and the no-training military group showed significant declines in the ability to sustain attention.

When comparing the no-training military group to the meditation groups, both meditation groups performed better, but M8T consistently outperformed M8D.

They made fewer response errors, had more consistent reaction times, and showed better awareness of where their attention was.

The group that did no meditation or military training, showed no decline in the ability to sustain focus.

What can we learn from this study?

First of all, this study shows that the intense demands of military pre-deployment can lead to measurable declines in the ability to sustain attention.

But what is interesting to us, is that practicing meditation can significantly lessen this negative effect of stressful work.

And interestingly, this effect was much stronger in the group that received more guided meditation during class, compared to those whose in-class training primarily focused on the scientific effects of stress and mindfulness.

Notably, the meditation-groups where asked to log how much time they spend on their at-home meditation-training, and M8T, who experienced the smallest decline in their ability to sustain focus, also logged more hours of independent meditation training than the M8D.

This points to a clear trend, based on this study: the more meditation training you do, the better you can maintain focus during stressful periods.

I find these findings incredibly intriguing because they show us a very tangible way meditation can positively impact our lives - especially for ambitious professionals.

When pursuing big goals, we all go through periods of heightened workload and stress. We can likely all relate to how such periods drain our focus and undermine our ability to perform at our best. Knowing that meditation-training can effectively buffer this negative impact is genuinely exciting.

Yet another reason to make meditation a part of your daily routine.

_{Disclaimer: The above is mainly based on the article “Minds “At Attention”: Mindfulness Training Curbs Attentional Lapses in Military Cohorts” by Amish P. Jha, Alexandre B. Morrison, Justin Dainer-Best, Suzanne Parker, Nina Rostrup & Elizabeth A. Stanley and aims to provide key takeaways and a condensed overview of its content. While the essence is drawn from the original article, some parts have been simplified or rephrased to enhance understanding. Please note that we at, OptiMindInsights or any other potential writers or contributors to our summaries, do not accept responsibility for any consequences arising from the use of this summary. The information provided should not be considered a substitute for personal research or professional advice. Readers are encouraged to consult the original article for detailed insights and references. The summary does not include references, but they can typically be found within the original publication. Always exercise due diligence and consider your unique circumstances before applying any information in your personal or professional life. We refer to the creative commons for reproducibility rights.}