The Art of Focus Focus is the act of thinking and acting with attention and discernment. It’s the ability to choose a concentration and consciously devote our energy to it. This involves the thoughts we think, the emotions we listen to, and the things that we choose to do, even on the most microscopic level. The world we create around us is dependent on how well we focus and what we focus on. If our focus is sporadic, we create a sporadic environment. If our focus is centralized, our environment becomes a centralized point. In essence, we are what we focus on. This puts our fates and our futures in our hands to a pretty big extent. We can’t control everything that happens but we can control what we devote our time and energy to, which eventually sees results, whether we like them or not. The art of focus is all about cultivating the skills to become an actual active participant in our lives based on what we choose to think about and do. By choosing to make our focus conscious, we are capable of becoming more. We are able to weed out the unconscious forces and drives that hold us back. Here are some things you can do to cultivate the art of focus. Mindfulness Meditation
You knew by now this would be here by now, right? Mindfulness is the single most effective way to learn your inner self. By learning to be an observer of your own mind, you can start to identify, categorize, and pick apart what you feel, what you think, and why. Once you’re able to name what is going on inside your head, it’s much easier to take informed action on what you know about yourself. Outside of meditation, you can practice mindfulness as often as you remember by making note of your body, your breath, and any sensory perceptions you experience, such as sounds and physical sensations. This grounds your energy in your body, which helps you focus your mind. Unplug When Necessary Train yourself to only use screens at certain times. Limit social media, video games, and tv to moderate, scheduled usage. This will train your brain to stop using technology as a coping mechanism - only serving to divert your attention and waste your time. Give Your Brain What It Needs Proper diet, proper exercise, proper sleep. Period. Brain Training Deliberately train your brain by focusing on tasks that are hard to concentrate on at first.
For instance, you could read a book that’s outside your comfort zone or do some puzzle games that train your brain to think in new and interesting ways. Not only will this teach you to hold better attention in a difficult situation, but you’ll form innovative ways of thinking, which will help you in your creative endeavors. Declutter Your Space The less distracting stuff there are in your line of sight, the fewer opportunities there are for distraction. A minimalist life is a focused life. Don’t Multitask Nobody multitasks as well as they think they do. It’s inherently distracting. In the words of Ron Swanson, “Don’t half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.” Work Alone Get used to working alone on tasks that don’t require collaboration. While collaboration and shared workspaces can be effective, relying on them will end up hurting you. If you are afraid to focus, which does happen, reflect on why. Strive For Optimization... Prepare For the Nonoptimal
Optimize your working space. You need a decluttered, quiet room with all of your resources present and organized. However, sometimes you are forced to work in a nonoptimal environment. We live in a hectic, imperfect world. The key to balance is this: strive for optimization, but prepare for nonoptimal situations. Face your inner demons. An unexamined mind is our worst enemy. Our best intentions cannot be performed if we are held back by our own dark corners. Distractions are really just coping mechanisms. When these distractions take precedent for a long period of time, we eventually start to identify with these distractions and want to believe that these distractions will make us happy. Before you know it, life has passed you by because of these distractions. So, take some time to reflect on if your lifestyle and attention reflect what you really want in life. If you feel they are not aligned, then do what you need to do. Reflect, learn yourself, meditate, get a therapist. Get in the habit of free writing your thoughts and feelings often so you can check in with yourself as needed. Get your mental space right so you can move forward.
Some extra resources to check out: Binaural Beats You can find these for free all over YouTube. They are sound frequencies, usually with soothing music, that you can listen to with headphones. They tune your brainwaves to the frequency that matches them. They have them for sleep and meditation, but also for focus and creativity. I swear by these. Bonus points for listening to these with noise-canceling headphones. Try CBD! CBD was life-changing for me, personally. I have serious difficulties with attention that I constantly have to overcome, and I love to supercharge my day with specific CBD strains in combination with my specialty coffee. Which leads to... Bulletproof Coffee Believe me. Just get the whole set, make it to the proper measurements, and see how much of a difference it makes in comparison to regular coffee. It’s astounding.
More focus, more alertness, no crash, no jitters. Use the Pomodoro Technique The Pomodoro technique is great for procrastinators and inattentives alike. It is split into segments of 25 minute work times and 5 minute breaks. It’s a good way to train your brain to focus for short intervals with the promise of small breaks often. Try these out, then give me a shout.