Below I share what 3 months of focus on being more focused taught me. Besides going meta ;-)
1. Deep focus feels good
Not at the moment of starting, but after completing a session, there’s a sense of intrinsic reward. Feeling good about completing the focused work block, regardless of what results it may eventually bring.
2. Focus for the mind is like muscles for the body
It needs to be trained and maintained. In a way, it’s like strength & endurance training for your brain. You won’t feel so strong at first but persistent practice will pay off.
3. Deep focus is energising in three ways
It’s energising during the task because when you get absorbed by a challenging task the friction which was there at the start lessens and energy flows more freely.
It’s energising after the task, because even if mentally tired, you’re left with that intrinsic reward of having completed something hard but worthwhile.
And it’s energising outside of the task, for your life as a whole, because when you’re focusing on demanding tasks and projects that are important to you, your life will take on a new meaning.
In order to focus better, certain behaviours, reframes, and conditions are useful. Below I share 7 of them and why each of them counts.
- Choose your focus carefully. Go for fewer things/projects rather than more (or you risk dispersing your focus). My multipassionate nature struggles with this, but I keep practicing, reminding myself that the fewer things I focus on the more attention I can give to each of those, and ultimately accomplish more. I reframe it as “there is a season for everything” and “completing things sequentially is more effective than trying to complete them simultaneously”. I resonate with Cal Newport’s concept of project overheads, i.e. the amount of work to do ON the project rather than IN it (communication about it, logistical and admin work for it) - overheads increase with the number of projects we have one simultaneously and can swallow our energy that could have been used to focus IN a project instead.
- Implement time blocks. A time block is a pre-set amount of time in your calendar which you assign to a particular task and during which you remove all distractions (phone, internet if possible, interruptions by people, environment, etc) and focus solely on the task at hand. If your mind wanders or gets distracted, gently bring it back to task. It’s a bit like meditation when thoughts come in uninvited - gently favour what you’re focusing on and keep at it, not resisting the distraction forcefully, not giving it any more energy than it needs, instead shift gently away from it and back to task. The key is to be aware, “ah look at that my mind just wanted to open up an unrelated tab/check my phone/…” and then choose to carry on focusing.
- Measure it/Track focused hours. Aim for a target of focused time every week. Set your time blocks, then track how much undistracted focused work you complete (in hrs per week). See whether your target is easy or hard to meet. Observe how you feel on weeks you meet is vs. weeks you don’t.
- Reframe focus as a practice and commit time to it, no matter how focused or unfocused you are during the time block itself. Often your focus will get unlocked after a little while of struggling with the task at first, it’s like wrestling with resistance, and once you’ve won the battle you enter a state of flow. Although flow isn’t guaranteed and shouldn’t be expected with every focused block, it does often happen, and it’s essential that we persevere through the initial (15minutes or longer) struggle, in order to unlock it. By sticking with our focused task, we teach our brain to do what we want it to do during those time blocks. And our minds are quite susceptible to repetitive suggestions!
- Cultivate undistracted focus as a valued practice in your life, giving time and attention to it in different domains of your life - work, personal development, creative pursuits, nurturing relationships, and wherever else you want. For example, be fully present with the person you’re with, no scrolling while you’re in conversation, and when you’re reading, read and don’t simultaneously glance at your phone. Make focus a natural way of being for you. In the same vein, say no to distraction. (Which leads me to the next point...)
- Detach yourself from excessive digital device usage. This alone will increase your ability to focus at will. The way most of us are using digital devices, consuming before creating, and replacing every moment of boredom with stimulation, is destroying our attention span and ability to tolerate creative discomfort (which is key when you aim to produce meaningful work that requires deep focus). Cal Newport makes an excellent case for a new relationship with digital devices and offers practical guidelines for how to do this in his book Digital Minimalism which I highly recommend.
- Ensuring adequate self-care (nutrition, sleep, movement, mindful practice, time in nature, etc) keeps us in good health, with balanced energy, a sense of grounded resilience and our ability to focus benefits tremendously from this. It’s hard to sustain a rich, focused life if we’re chronically sleep deprived, deficient in essential nutrients or dehydrated, and emotionally exhausted.
Which of these points resonates most with you? Which if these may you not agree with?
I invite you to share your own experience with focus (or the lack there of) with me in the comments or send me a message.
Wishing you deep focus & fulfilment,
Mojca
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I help creative professionals uplift their energy, increase their focus, and accomplish more meaningful projects through 1:1 coaching. Book a free consultation with me here.