Focus: A Beginner's Guide

Have you ever walked into a room and you just completely forgot why you were there for? Have you ever sat down to do something and then an hour later realized you had no idea where the time went?

Have you ever felt like being focused in the fast paced world we live in is nearly impossible. Well, you're not alone. I've definitely felt that way. And I think all of us have at some point or another. But focus isn't impossible for you. It can be done. In fact, you have to cultivate focus if you're going to do the best things in life.

So let's talk about focus. I think intuitively we all feel like we know what focus means, but I want to define focus as where the attention has been devoted. And I really early on here want to dispel a myth that you are excluded from the category of people who can focus because of your personality type or maybe because of a disorder that you have.

That's just not true. Now, yes, there are things about you that will impact the way that you focus, but you can focus. Absolutely, you can focus. And I want you to think of focus as a muscle that needs to be worked out. And what happens is so often we wait until we need to use it and then we are discouraged that we're weak, but we're not really practicing it any other time.

And so we're not ready to focus when we really need to focus. So if you can think of it as a muscle, you're working out and think of the practice you're putting into it, just like going to the gym and improving something about yourself physically only this is in your mind. Then I would say the first thing you need to do is just start practicing.

And a key here is to be easy on yourself, right? Go into the practice understanding that it's not something you've mastered yet and being completely okay with that some of the time. The way that we approach focus is we wait until we desperately need it because we've got something really important to accomplish and then we can't focus very well.

We feel like we're failing internally were hard on ourselves and all of this creates a loop that really it makes it even harder to focus. So start by practicing focus on things that are not super high value. Maybe take some time on your lunch break or in the evening in practice. Focus in on a thought, on an activity, or on a conversation with another person.

And what I mean by this is just make that time intentional. So that you set aside time where you're going into this, knowing that you are going to put aside distractions and you're going to focus on this thing. It doesn't have to be for a very long period of time. Start small. Give yourself five minutes to focus on something just uninterrupted and zeroed in.

And if you practice this over a period of time, I guarantee you it's going to start getting easier. So exercise that ability to focus and be careful about multitasking. I think we all know by now that multitasking is, you know, risky in terms of you don't get much done when you're trying to multitask. Sometimes, though, our focus does need to be divided.

However, I think we really need to be intentional about when and where that is going to be the case. So for example, if you were in a social environment and you were in a crowd of people all talking and chatting, you are going to have a lot of external stimuli and probably focus in allowed area. Like that is going to be difficult, but you expect that because that's what the environment is for and you probably don't go there and try to set up and do important deep work while people are constantly talking to you and laughing and asking questions.

So just multitask intentionally so that when you need to do important work, you're ready to set aside the other tasks and focus as somebody who's a photographer and has worked in video. You know, when we talk about focus, I think of an image and I think of the fact that almost any time you run across an image, there's going to be an area that's in focus and there's going to be areas that are not.

You almost never find an image where everything is in focus all at one time. And the same is true with life. You may be focusing on a task, but there's still things happening in your peripheral, and you can't always help that. In fact, that's just life. So those things can be there. They just need to remain out of focus.

You have to be okay with letting there be things present that are not in focus. And that's really hard for some of us. In fact, I think that's one of my biggest struggles is because I feel like if it's present, I should be giving it attention. So be really careful about multitasking. Be willing to leave things in the environment that you do not give your focus to let them stay blurry.

It's totally okay. And then later you can readjust your focus to them. Here's something that's really helped me, and that is meditation. Now, I know some of you are probably rolling your eyes at that. Like I tried meditation and, you know, it was it was cool, but it was difficult. And I didn't I didn't really enjoy it. Meditation especially if you're not used to it, can be really frustrating, actually, because sitting down and being still isn't something we're taught to do very often.

But that's part of practicing focus. And if you can build that discipline of being motionless, of being quiet, and of just being present with your thoughts instead of acting on them, it may help train you to calm some of that anxiety of feeling that you always have to respond to those stimuli, whether they're in your head or outside of your head.

Because, I mean, everything is coming at us all day long, right? We're in a fast paced world with notifications and things happening, and sometimes it feels like we're required to give all of those things a response. And in meditation, what you're asked to, depending on the type of meditation in one similarity, is that usually you are being mindful, you are being still and quiet, you are not responding to the external stimuli or the internal thoughts in your head.

And you know what? When you do that, sometimes it feels like you have a tornado in your brain. And my suggestion to you is it's okay, let there be a tornado in your brain. You don't have to fix it. That's part of cultivating focus, is that you can't control everything, but you can choose where you're going to dedicate your attention.

And then the last thing for today I want to encourage you with it's your phone. You know, I was going to go here, right? So I was looking at research from like back at  and in , surveys found that % of people admitted that notifications were leading them to procrastination and decreased focus. % of people and that individuals wasted nearly  hours of work time a week just checking notifications on their devices.

That's crazy. Think of all the cool things you could learn  hours a week. You could learn an instrument. You could learn a new skill.  hours a week. Just checking notifications on your devices. That's crazy. And I would say there are two solutions here, right? One is that you can turn your phone off when you're doing something.

I know this might come as a surprise to you, but there actually is a power option on your phone and it powers off. Probably you haven't powered it off in a while. Most of us don't. But you can. You can totally do that. So power off your phone or turn off your notifications. How many of those really are necessary?

Do you need those notifications? There are very few apps that should have your attention. I don't leave my notifications on for my emails. I'm going to pull up my computer and check them when I need to. I don't want emails coming straight to me at any time of day, and neither should you. Don't allow the world full access to your life, to your brain, to your focus.

And don't be discouraged if you're not able to focus...