Can’t Focus? A 20-Minute Workout Could Be the Reset You Need

Brain Fog: A new study published in Brain Communications offers a tip for people who often find themselves staring at a computer screen and struggling to focus on the work at hand. Researchers measured electrical activity directly in the brains of study participants before and after a 20-minute bike ride. They found that exercise ramped up high-frequency brain waves called ripples, which are associated with how the brain consolidates and retrieves information.

How to Do It: Instead of grabbing another coffee, get up from your desk and do 20 minutes of steady cardio. Any movement that gets your heart rate up will do the trick. You might even consider scheduling it right before working on that project that requires your full attention.

The Benefits: The study shows that just one workout can prime your brain for sharper focus and better information retention, which means that you could return to your desk much more prepared to actually get things done. And the more you push during your workout, the stronger those effects appear to be — in the study, those who rode with higher heart rates experienced a greater increase in ripple activity.