We all know that you need to focus when you want to get things done. So, I thought instead of elaborating on this, I’d share with you the first lesson of our Regein Your Focus course.
Make good use of it.
Let’s see if the following scenario sounds familiar to you. You’re working on a project, and you get distracted. You brush off this distraction as a one-time deal, and you keep working. Minutes later, you’re distracted again. You shift over to another project, you get a phone call, and you remember you need to check some emails. Later on in the day, you realize you never got around to the first project you were working on.
You could chalk it up to distractions. We live in a digital world, and we’ve become activity addicts. If we don’t have our full attention on something, the outcome won’t be whole either. That could mean work, relationships, friendships, or health.
In order to give something your all, you need to prioritize your focus.
Focus is defined as the center of interest or activity. So, if you’re working on something and you’re not putting it at the center of your interest or activity, you’re not giving it your all. You’re placing it in a chain of orbiting priorities, and rather than giving it your 100%, you’re splitting up its importance with other revolving tasks.
Multi-tasking can be great. Some even claim it is sometimes necessary. However, multi-tasking still requires focus. It doesn’t matter if you want to live life as a multi-tasker or a single-tasker. Either way, if you’re going to get stuff done, you have to learn how to focus on the task at hand and refrain from distractions that break the focus.
Learning how to truly focus may seem difficult, but trust us, it’s worth it. Knowing how to focus is a crucial skill, and one which you will use for the rest of your life.
Day 1:
In today’s lesson, we’ll be taking a look at how being focused can benefit you, but also how losing your focus can be detrimental.
You’re probably familiar enough with the word, and you’ve invested in learning how to get a better sense of focus in your life. But why is it so important? Is it more important than other things, like speed or timeliness?
“More important” isn’t the right way to describe it, but it absolutely is essential.
Let’s take it from some of the experts.
Warren Buffet is one of the most successful investors in the world. He now sits as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and has lived a life of entrepreneurial endeavors and strategic investments.
Buffet has a 5/25 rule, which states that out of 25 things you’d like to achieve, your top 5 should be the only ones that get your focus. Otherwise, you’re derailing yourself from your main goals by splitting your attention among so many.
It may sound crazy, but at the end of the day, your concentration exists because you want to accomplish something. Because you have something to complete. Because you want to move on and progress with your life. It doesn’t take 25 steps to get there. Most of the time, it only takes 5. Focus on those 5.
Another trusty name is Bill Gates. If Bill Gates does it, we should, right? Okay, it’s not always a game of monkey see, monkey do, but in this case, we should all be following Bill. In response to the question, “What factor do you feel has been the most important in getting to where you’ve gotten in life?” Gates says focus.
This focus isn’t the same for everyone. For Gates, it began with computers. For you, it might be something entirely different. The critical takeaway is that focus is a necessary trait to have if you want to be successful.
On the flip side, a lack of focus brings a whole entourage of adverse side effects.
Think about taking a picture. You point your phone at an object (maybe a person or a meal – whatever works for your Instagram), and the first thing you do is grab focus.
An out-of-focus picture displays a lot of pixels, but nothing clear. You may be getting a lot of information at once, but you can’t quite discern what it is. Focus paints you a whole picture and leads you to results.
The same applies to your work ethic. If you’re not focused, you can’t get simple tasks done. Even worse, you can’t get big tasks done in order to reach your goals.
You’re probably aware of the feeling of losing focus. Sometimes it creeps up on you when you have major deadlines, and you begin to realize you’re juggling too many balls rather than concentrating on one at a time. Other times, you lack focus from the start. You’re working on something and you can’t seem to conjure up the motivation to get it done. You’ll welcome any and all distractions, and your focus seems to be on procrastination – and even that focus gets broken!
But let’s take a closer look at focus. We’re going to look at what happens to your brain when you lose focus.
There’s a system that is in charge of stopping movement in your body. This system, called the subthalamic nucleus brain system, goes hand in hand with fight or flight. Not only is it involved with the body, but it’s involved with your cognitive patterns.
What does that have to do with focus? That was a test – you’re losing focus! Keep reading, stay focused.
What happens is you are confronted with new information – an activity, a person, bad news, good news, etc. And when you get that new information, your body (or in this case, your mind) clears out everything else that is going on. Your mind stops doing all the thinking that it has been doing, and then it loses focus.
This may be great for situations of danger because it tells your brain to stop everything else and take in the new information so that it can act quickly. But in most cases of daily life and activities, it’s not a great thing. It results in the loss of your focus, and it ends up being a pretty constant thing throughout your day.
The good news is you can combat this. You can combat all your concentration issues, and we’re here to keep you focused on that path. It’ll take some time, but stick around, give us all ears, and we’ll tackle some of the best ways to deal with focus issues.
Now, let’s take some time to personalize the meaning of focus.