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Find yourself getting continuously distracted by everything going on around the home when you’re trying to work? Use aromatherapy to stay more focused when working from home and see the difference it makes!
Staying focused is the key to being productive and getting things done when working from home. That’s easier said than done however, more so when you’re working from home, where distractions lurk around every corner.
One minute you are distracted by your kids squabbling over a toy. The next minute you’re not sure whether to be worried or relieved over the silence. Then you’re thinking about what you’re going to cook.
Meanwhile, your pet wants your attention and is scratching at your door. Yes, shutting a door doesn’t help much when you’re working at home.
You know that everyone managed when you went out to work every day but somehow that thought doesn’t help. Your nurturing instinct takes over when you’re at home and you’re constantly thinking about things you can do around the house.
Several hours later, you’ve spent most of the time with your thoughts wandering to what’s going on outside your home office door and only a few minutes actually working on that report.
I’ve been working from home for several years now. At first, trying to stay focused was a struggle. I tried all kinds of strategies. Some worked, others didn’t. I’ve put together a few things you can try to stay focused. Pick one that best resonates with you and give it a try for at least a week to ten days. If it doesn’t help, try another strategy.
The great thing about using aromatherapy to stay more focused is that it can be used in conjunction with all other strategies to stay focused. You don’t have to choose either-or. You can use aromatherapy for focus while experimenting with other strategies. The essential oil will keep working in the background helping you to get on with the task at hand without giving in to distractions.
How Aromatherapy Works to Boost Focus and Concentration
The best essential oils for focus and concentration are rosemary, basil, cypress, and peppermint.
When you look at this list, you will notice that they all have something in common. All of these essential oils have earthy or minty aromas.
Studies have shown that the aromas of certain essential oils activate parts of the brain that wake you up, re-center the brain and help you stay alert. They have a completely different effect than relaxing essential oils that work to calm you down and help you feel more relaxed.
Read more about Essential Oils And Their Aroma Families.
The key is knowing which essential oils are best for the purpose. As you will see below, the best essential oils for focus and concentration belong to the herbaceous, mint, and citrus families.
Essential oils with floral aromas tend to have more relaxing properties and may not be the best choice for this particular purpose.
Best Essential Oils for Focus & Concentration
Rosemary
An evergreen flowering shrub from the mint family, rosemary adds robust flavor and taste to all types of Italian dishes. But a little-known fact is that the herb’s aroma has fantastic focus-enhancing properties. The oil that is extracted from this herb has a more powerful aroma than the herb itself. It is also rich in molecules that are supportive and protective of our overall wellbeing.
Inhaling the aroma of rosemary essential oil offers profound clarity. It energizes our thoughts and helps us stay more focused. It also alleviates emotional stress that may be contributing to your lack of focus.
Basil
Basil essential oil has a refreshing herbaceous aroma that works very well to eliminate distraction and boost focus and concentration. It helps wake up all the senses allowing you to pay better attention to what’s in front of you.
Basil’s unique neuron-regulating properties make this oil a great choice for relieving stress and anxiety. If your distraction is caused because of nagging stress or anxiety, this is the oil to reach out for.Peppermint
Aah peppermint… you KNOW when you can smell this oil. It has a distinct spicy, minty scent that’s unmistakable. This distinct aroma of peppermint essential oil holds some powerful benefits from calming a throbbing head and overcoming fatigue to helping you get over that hangover nausea. It is also among the best essential oils for focus and concentration.
Feeling lethargic and distracted and in need of a stimulating boost to help you stay awake and focused? This is the perfect oil to reach out for at times when you feel your energy lagging and your mind wandering.
Peppermint essential oil works almost the same way that caffeine does but without the effects of caffeine. It can also help with headaches, so that is another bonus for those times when your throbbing headache is keeping you from concentrating on the task ahead.
Spearmint
This is another minty fresh essential oil that works great for boosting focus and concentration. Spearmint essential oil is rich in carvone, a chemical compound that contains potent energizing properties. This is what contributes to its well-known mood-enhancing abilities.
Spearmint essential oil has a cleansing, energizing aroma. When diffused, this aroma works to uplift your mood while simultaneously encouraging a sense of focus.
Grapefruit
Grapefruit essential oil has an uplifting and energizing aroma. This joyful scent eliminates negative thoughts and feelings and jostles you out of any type of complacency and stagnancy.
Its aroma offers great clarity and focus. This is the best essential oil for focus for those who prefer citrusy aromas over minty aromas.
Lemon
Lemon essential oil works in multiple ways to boost focus and concentration. Its ability to regulate serotonin and dopamine in the brain makes this oil very useful for easing stress, anxiety, and depression. The higher levels of serotonin and dopamine leave you feeling uplifted and energized. All of these reactions work together to help you stay more focused when you are working from home particularly during stressful times.
Bergamot
Bergamot is another citrusy essential oil that works great for this purpose. When inhaled, this aroma helps to clear mental fogginess, promoting focus and clarity.
With its positive, comforting, and uplifting properties, bergamot essential oil offers all-round benefits for mental health, particularly boosting focus and concentration.
You’ll be glad you have a bottle of any of the above essential oils to help you if you’re struggling to concentrate and stay focused when working from home.
If you already have a collection of oils, you can use a blend. Here are a few recipes that work well to boost mental focus.
Best Essential Oil Blends for Focus
Recipe #1
2 drops Lemon
2 drops Peppermint
Recipe #2
Recipe #3
10 drops Lemon
6 drops Basil
2 drops Rosemary
Recipe #4
3 drops Peppermint
2 drops Rosemary
2 drops Bergamot
Try these essential oil blends in your diffuser and let us know whether it worked for you in the comments below.
How to Use Essential Oils & Blends to Boost Focus & Attention
The best way to benefit from aromatherapy for focus is by diffusing your preferred oil from the options above. This can be done several ways.
Put a few drops of your best essential oil for focus in a diffuser and switch it on a few minutes before you get down to work. The aromas that are diffused around the room will help you stay in a more alert and focused state. If the room is large, either use a diffuser that’s designed for large rooms or else place your smaller diffuser on your work table.
Don’t have a diffuser? Top Rated Essential Oil Diffusers That Cost Less Than $25
Using an essential oil bracelet or necklace is another way to get the benefits of aromatherapy for focus.
If you feel you need a focus boost only occasionally and not continually, you may want to use a room spray with your preferred essential oil or blend for focus. The simplest way to create this spray is by adding a few drops of oil to water in a spray bottle. Just spray the room with this solution whenever you feel your attention wandering and need a nudge to stay focused.
You can also put a few drops of oil onto the hot wax of a burning candle and leave the candle somewhere in close proximity to your work table. Better still, buy an aromatherapy candle formulated with essential oils for focus.
If you are just starting out, you can simply choose any one of the listed oils. I would choose one based on which aroma I found most invigorating.
Save money on essential oils by buying a set of oils instead of buying individual bottles. Here you’ll find a list of the Best Essential Oil Sets from highly reputed brands.
Other Strategies For Boosting Focus & Concentration
In addition to using aromatherapy for focus and concentration, you should also implement other strategies that are known to help. While aromatherapy and essential oils are effective enough by themselves, creating the right environment is just as important.
Creating the right environment may involve doing all or some of the following:
Choose a bright, quiet space to work. Dark spaces tend to make you feel sleepy and it can be really difficult to focus where there is too much noise around.
Clear the surrounding clutter and keep your workspace clean and tidy so there are no distractions.
Meditate for a few minutes. Meditation helps clear the mind and keep it centered, which is the key to staying focused.
Do you have trouble staying focused or alert? Try any of the above essential oils individually or as a blend and let us know your experience in the comments below.
Disclaimer: This information is not intended to serve as medical advice. Please consult your physician before using essential oils. See Full Disclaimer here.
