Finding focus in a distracted world can be difficult. With more devices and things to keep you constantly busy, focus seems to be lost. Focusing on a task, goal, habit, or project can help you get more done in your normal day-to-day routine. In today’s post, I wanted to dive into how you can transform your lack of focus into laser-like focus once and for all.
First off, what exactly do I mean by focus? Focus can be defined as the centre of interest or activity. When focused on an exam or test, you would solely be studying for your exam and limit the rest of the distractions around you, such as the TV, phone, apps, messages, phone calls, etc.
Focus is dying day by day. While online connections, apps, and games grow stronger, our daily focus dies. Focus is a very important trait for those looking to get big things done on a consistent basis. Whether you want to do better in school, launch a business, save money, or become healthier, focus will benefit you greatly.
The majority of your attention may be getting sucked away by social media and/or moving back and forth between tasks throughout your day. Time is an invaluable asset which you cannot get more of, therefore focus will help you utilize your time to the best of your ability.
When trying to gain more focus it’s a great idea to first find out where you can limit distractions.
Distractions are a huge part of why you can’t stay focused. The endless Facebook feed or the Instagram page will never ever end. It will continue to pull up new and exciting content to suck your attention each and every second. The more time you spend on their platform the more they succeed and you lose.
While it may not just be social media that’s distracting you, it can be anything else that grabs your attention and distracts you from the task at hand. It could be the ringing of your phone, a ping from a text message or notification, the TV in the next room, neighbours being too loud etc. Distractions are everywhere in life and you must know how to get rid of them and only sit down with one task at hand at a time.
Take some notes of how you spend your time each day. What do you want to get done versus what you actually get done on a given day? What do you do with your hours? Are you using your time productively by going to the gym or wasting it watching TV?
When you know what you do with your time you’ll be able to find out where the main distractions are in it. When you find out what these distractions are you can then focus on eliminating them completely or minimizing them as much as you can.
Task switching is what most people call “multitasking”. This is when you think you’re doing multiple things at once, this could be washing the dishes, watching tv, and being on the phone at the same time. Yes, you can do these things at once, but you’re not fully focused or doing all of them, you’re simply switching your focus from one task to the next and so on in an endless loop.
Task switching is not effective and wastes a lot more time than focusing on one task. When I write a blog, I set out about an hour to get down my overall topic and words down. I focus ONLY on the blog until it is fully complete. I don’t answer the phone, open other windows, or have anything else going on at the same time. If I did do these other things and allow distractions to grab my attention there is no chance I’d be able to get what I wanted to be done in an hour.
If you notice yourself task switching frequently throughout the day take note. Try to limit this “multitasking” day to day and focus on one given task at a time. Now, determine whether it was more beneficial to task switch or sit down with one thing.
You have approximately 6000 thoughts in a single day! Imagine trying to control all 6000 of these thoughts in a day… not going to happen. Although, there is a powerful technique that has been around for centuries that is proven and tested - Meditation.
If you want to live a focused life you must first become focused and centred with your mind. Apps like Headspace or Calm offer free plans which involve guided meditation through your phone or device. I have used Headspace for years and can’t recommend it enough!
CEOs, billionaires, actors, and professional athletes around the world use meditation daily to help them stay grounded and mindful. This technique will no doubt help you to be more focused.
Distractions are literally everywhere you look. Someone or something is always looking to distract you from whatever you are doing. Focus is a key component to living a successful life. Understand how you’re spending your time and what your daily distractions are. Try and limit multitasking - an ineffective way of getting things done. Instead, focus on one task at a time and see the true benefit of focus! Download the free app Headspace or Calm and start a free trial to guided meditation.
Thanks for reading today’s blog! I appreciate you being here and value your time. Have a great week and don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter!
Chris M Wilson
Chris M Wilson is a career coach, entrepreneur, blogger, author, creator, and doer. He is passionate about helping people leave the job they hate and jump into their dream careers!
Get weekly insights to live a happier, healthier, and more productive life.
