By Dean Zatkowsky, coauthor, Two Billion Dollars in Nickels

Business meetings are almost universally hated for being lifeless, tiresome time-wasters, and at school, only the most dynamic teacher or professor can escape the "boring" label. For many of us, conference rooms and classrooms symbolize excruciating visits to purgatory, as we struggle to overcome feelings of distraction and boredom. But why is it so hard to sit still and concentrate?

We now know that contrary to what our parents, teachers and bosses have believed and taught for generations, concentration has little to do with sitting still. In fact, struggling to sit still presents a serious impediment to concentration for many people.

Researchers studying Attention Deficit Disorder have learned why the command to "sit still and listen" doesn't work; under-stimulated areas of the brain can interfere with our ability to learn and retain ideas.

When we try to shut down our other senses so we can "sit still and listen," for example, those senses seek stimulation, and that's why we are so easily distracted by a bird at the window, or the scratching sound of someone else's pen on paper. As Roland Rotz and Susan D. Wright explain in their book of the same name, we must Fidget to Focus. They study Attention Deficit Disorder, but I think their work applies to a much wider swath of the population.

Most people intuitively develop sensory and movement activities that help them focus. We simply misinterpret our own creative strategies as nervous habits: shaking a foot, stroking a beard, drumming our fingers, clicking a pen, chewing a coffee stirrer, or looking out the window. We now know these activities satisfy areas of the brain desperate for stimulation; rather than distract us, they allow us to calm down and pay attention.

Different people need different types of fidgety stimulation for focusing their attention, and knowing what works for you can make you a happier and more successful person. Some people need visual stimulation; others need kinetic activity. Any under-stimulated sense can cause our brain to wander.

Many companies and adult classrooms allow attendees to stand and move about during meetings, so long as they themselves do not become distractions. Schools have a tougher time acting on the Fidget to Focus idea, but the academic success of home school and charter school students reminds us that one size does not fit all, so new approaches to education are being tested all over the country.

Personally, I found the work of Rotz and Wright very liberating, as it explains the shaking foot that allows me to read for hours at a time, or the fact that as a student I could blast through my homework while listening to loud music, but found myself continuously re-reading the same paragraph when trying to study in the library. The authors explain that we can improve our ability to concentrate - and our productivity - by experimenting with strategies far from our childhood notions of "concentration."  I highly recommend the book.

Dean Zatkowsky, managing partner of Dizzy One Ventures, LLC, is co-author of The Entrepreneurial Investor: The Art, Science and Business of Value Investing, and Two Billion Dollars in Nickels: Reflections on the Entrepreneurial Life.