Stage 4: Rebuilding Focus
⟠Teaching Your Brain to Pay Attention to Literally Anything Else âŸ
By this stage, youâve begun understanding the sound, calming the reaction, and shifting the meaning. Stage 4 is where we start strengthening your âattention muscles.â
Not by forcing yourself to ignore tinnitus. Not by pretending it isnât there. But by training your brain to become better at focusing on what you choose, instead of what it chooses for you.
Think of this as reclaiming mental real estate.
âȘ Why Focus Matters So Much
Your attention is like a spotlight. Where you shine it, things get brighter. Where you move it away, things fade into the background.
Tinnitus often feels intrusive because your brain keeps shining the spotlight on it. This usually happens when the sound is tagged as âimportantâ or âweâre watching this carefully.â
The more you train your attention to move toward other things, the less time the spotlight spends on tinnitus. This is one of the key foundations of habituation.
Youâre not blocking the sound.
Youâre choosing what deserves your focus.
And your brain, over time, learns to follow your lead.
âȘ The Myth of âIgnoringâ
A lot of advice out there says, âYou just need to learn to ignore it.â
This is unhelpful for two reasons:
1. You canât force ignorance. Although many people seem to be born with an unlimited amount of it!
2. Trying to ignore something usually makes you focus on it even more. Itâs like when someone says, âDonât look at my terrible haircut,â and suddenly itâs the only thing you can see. Or when someone annoys you â you find yourself replaying the situation, analysing it, ranting in your head, sometimes even in the shower hours later.
But think about the people or things that donât bother you⊠You barely think about them at all. Thatâs how the brain works.
Tinnitus becomes easier when it moves from the âannoying person Iâm replaying in my headâ category to the âperson I barely notice walking past me in a shopâ category.
This stage isnât about pretending the sound isnât there. Itâs about becoming good at shifting your focus despite the sound.
You notice tinnitus briefly, then redirect your focus.
âš Again.
âš And again.
âš And again.
Each redirection is a tiny piece of neural training. And yes, you can absolutely use this skill on annoying people too â trust me, Iâve field-tested that one.
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âȘ The Skill Youâre Building: Flexible Attention
This is one of the most powerful cognitive skills you can develop. It helps with tinnitus, anxiety, stress, and even general wellbeing.
For us flexible attention means:
- noticing the sound without spiralling
- choosing something else to focus on
- not making the shift aggressive or panicked
- letting the change happen in a relaxed way
Itâs like training a puppy. With patience, repetition, and kindness, the brain learns beautifully.
âȘ Simple Focus-Building Practices
Nothing complicated. No special apps. No strict routines. Just real, practical habits that slowly strengthen your attention.
1. Anchor to the World Around You
Pick one thing in your environment and let your attention rest on it for a few seconds.
- A sound, a texture, a colour, a temperature.
- Not to block tinnitus.
- Just to remind your brain of the wider world.
2. Notice, Then Redirect
If you catch yourself listening for tinnitus, say in your mind, âNot needed,â and return to what you were doing. This trains the brain to reduce automatic monitoring.
3. Do One Thing at a Time
Tinnitus loves chaotic, multitasking minds. Slowing down and doing single tasks helps your brain filter signals more efficiently.
4. Add Absorbing Activities
You know those moments when you get lost in something and completely forget about tinnitus? Those moments are gold. They show your brain what habituation feels like.
Activities like:
- reading
- gardening
- cooking
- gaming
- puzzles
- walks
- deep conversations
- Being mindful
The more you engage your senses in something else, the more your brain naturally reduces focus on the sound.
5. Sound Enrichment (Not Masking)
Itâs not about blasting noise over the tinnitus. Just adding gentle background sound so your brain has other signals to work with. A calm sonic environment helps with attention redirection.
Personally, I love the human (non-AI) music created by Yellow Cherry jam. Here's their YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@yellowcherry_jam
âȘ The Goal Isnât Silence. The Goal Is Freedom.
This stage is not about getting rid of the sound. Itâs about reshaping your relationship with your attention so tinnitus stops dominating your mental space.
When your brain learns it doesnât need to monitor the sound, your awareness automatically drops. Tinnitus becomes more boring than uncle Jim talking about his special gravy recipe (spoiler alert, he uses gravy granules).
âš Then forgettable.
âš Then background.
And thatâs the direction weâre heading.
ă°
Stage 4 â What to Remember
- Ignoring doesnât work â guiding attention does.
- Your brain follows what you repeatedly focus on.
- The goal is not silence, but freedom.
- Attention skills get easier with practice.
Questions for stage 4
You can also download the PDF ebook version below â
1. What activities pull you into the moment naturally?
2. When you notice your tinnitus during the day, what usually triggers that moment? Silence? Stress? Boredom?
3. Choose one absorbing activity you can do for 10 minutes today. Write what youâll do and when.
4. Practice a single ânotice and redirectâ moment. Describe how it felt.
5. What environmental sounds help you feel calmer or less focused on tinnitus? Examples: rainfall, quiet music, ambient sounds, nature, fan noise.
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