
The Secret to Concentration: How to Increase Your Attention Span
Swimming world champion Angelina Köhler needs total focus for the few seconds a race takes; trainee air traffic controller Jan Peter Konopinsky has to hold concentration for hours where a lapse could cost lives; e-sports professional Dennis "Denninho" Malcherczyk trains daily to keep his reaction speed and recall sharp in the virtual Bundesliga. DW follows all three as they build the routines and environments that let them work at their peak, and interviews neuroscientist Dr. Henning Beck and mental coach Thomas Baschab as the pair observe the subjects and explain what is happening in the brain during deep focus. Psychologist Prof. Dr. Corinna Peifer of the University of Lübeck discusses her research into "flow," the state of complete immersion where time and surroundings seem to disappear, and how it might be measured and trained rather than left to chance. The film moves between competition footage, training sessions, and lab explanation, treating concentration as a skill built through specific conditions rather than a fixed trait.