“Your life is controlled by what you focus on” “Ignore the noise, focus on work.” - Tony Robbins
Introduction
There are so many motivational quotes about Focus, but what exactly is the focus? Focus is a mental talent that allows people to start a work without procrastinating and then maintain their attention and effort until the task is finished. Focus enables people to pay attention despite distractions and setbacks, as well as to maintain the effort and energy required to achieve a goal. However, many of us find it difficult to focus on a single job; in the following parts, we'll look at the reasons behind this and how to overcome it.
Why are we struggling to maintain focus?
While maintaining attention is critical, many of us find it difficult to do so. Let's look at some of the reasons for this.
Stress
Sure, working on a deadline gives you a temporary boost of energy, but oftentimes it becomes very difficult to keep up with them. There can be other factors too that contributes to your stress level, this brings us to our second reason.
Multitasking
“You can’t focus when you aren’t paying attention.” Your brain can only think about one thing at a time, to multitask, your brain must toggle back and forth between tasks that undermine productivity.
Sleep
Yes, sleep has a very important role in concentration. When you are sleep-deprived, you are too tired to work. Lack of sleep has an adverse effect on the brain’s ability to focus. According to Itzhak Fried, MD, Ph. D., of the University of California at Los Angeles, lack of sleep affects your mental performance as much as being drunk!
Diet
Your brain needs fuel to function, which it obtains from the food you eat. Your brain is a high-performance organ that requires a lot of energy, oxygen, water, and nutrients to function properly. What you eat has a big impact on how well your brain performs all of its activities, including focusing.
Movement
People often tend to sit more, while working, while thinking, while doing anything. This restricted movement also affects the ability to focus. Scientifically, this reduces the release of happy energy-giving neurotransmitters.
Distractions
Technology is one of humanity's greatest achievements, but it comes at a price: if misused, it may drastically impair our capacity to concentrate. The information on social media is designed to draw users' attention, but it is up to us whether we succumb or not. Surprisingly, even if your phone is turned off, having it around impairs your ability to focus, solve problems, and think creatively.
The work environment isn’t right
The place where you work has a major impact on how focused you can be, now if you are working on a presentation and you choose to sit somewhere in a mall, you are bound to lose your focus. But if you sit in a quiet garden near nature under very little noise, you’ll feel encouraged and calm and the same presentation would be completed in no time. We’ll talk about this in the upcoming sections.
Lack of engagement
When a person feels that whatever they are doing is not worth it, or it’s boring or very overwhelming it becomes hard for them to focus.
Health
Your capacity to focus is influenced by both your physical and mental health. Many prescription medicines used to treat these and other diseases can have an adverse effect on your ability to concentrate. Cholesterol-lowering medicines, prescription sleeping pills, chemotherapy, and drugs that begin with the letter "anti," such as antihistamines and antidepressants, are among the worst offenders. The "anti" medications work by inhibiting the function of acetylcholine, a brain neurotransmitter that helps you focus, learn, and stay mentally aware. If you feel you have an undetected ailment or are taking any medications that may be impairing your ability to concentrate, talk to your doctor about it.
How to improve Focus?
Now that we know some of the reasons why we cannot focus it’ll be easier for us to determine what are the things and habits we can inculcate in our daily lives in order to improve our focus.
Meditate
Meditation puts your brain in the alpha brainwave state which helps in enhancing focus. It relaxes your brain and allows you to think clearly.
Say NO to Multitasking
Try to engage in activities that require intense focus like learning a new language, playing sudoku, learning a new instrument, or simply creating art.
Sleep well
During your sleep a lot goes on in your brain, it is engaged in forming new brain cells, consolidating the day’s memory, cleaning, repairing, and reorganizing itself. However, it is not always convenient to get 7-9 hours of sleep, taking a nap can fill the gap. A 20-minute power nap can effectively increase your focus, alertness and leave you productive for the rest of your day.
Improve your diet
Your diet should look more like the Mediterranean “real food” diet and less like the American “processed food” diet.
Reduce or eliminate sugar intake as sugar negatively impacts your ability to focus. It fuels brain inflammation which is linked with poor concentration.
Mind your Caffeine consumption, more than you are accustomed to can leave you a jittery mess, and too little will have your head on your desk — neither extreme will help you focus.
Stay Hydrated. Your brain is 73% water, even 2% dehydration can impact your ability to focus.
Take a deep breath, allow the oxygen to reach your brain.
Engage in exercise
Start your day with at least a 10-minute workout, it does not necessarily have to be a gym workout, it can be any mild less intense exercising. The goal is to get your body moving and increase the energy supply.
Say “no” to clutter
If you are too dependent on your electronic devices, take active measures to take back control. Mute and put your phone out of sight thereby creating a phone-free zone. Shut off notifications, uninstall addictive useless apps.
Set up your work area with the least possible distractions
If possible, increase your interaction with nature. Viewing nature scenes induces a state of relaxation, not only viewing but even listening to music that includes the sound of nature enables focus and a good mood.
Discover a sense of purpose
Try to discover the sense of purpose, break large projects into small chunks and each time you finish the task give yourself a reward.
Keep your physical and mental health in check
Take care of your physical as well as mental health. Seek appropriate treatments to ensure less damage.
Use techniques like making lists
Create to-do lists, set small daily goals.
Allow yourself to take breaks
Take frequent breaks, overworking can severely affect your focus and in turn undermine your productivity and mood and may also cause burnout.
Conclusion
It's not easy to master your focus. You can dominate your brain and boost your focus by ensuring that your brain is properly fuelled and stimulated, as well as avoiding distractions wherever feasible. When you apply these strategies, keep in mind that it will take some time for your focus to improve; it is a progressive process. These suggestions are lifestyle adjustments, not a quick fix for a problem. You must deliberately make these lifestyle adjustments in order to improve your focus.
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