Stay on Track: Essential Tips for Enhancing Your Focus

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” – Stephen Covey

Why is focus important? 

The ability to focus is foundational to personal and professional success.  It enhances productivity, improves the quality of work, reduces stress, and facilitates goal achievement.  Additionally, focus supports better learning, mental health, relationships, and decision making. Cultivating focus is a worthwhile investment that pays dividends across all areas of life.

Where do you struggle to focus? 

Some common areas where people have trouble focusing are in work tasks, reading and learning, household chores and organization, creative activities, and listening.   Which is challenging for you?                                                                         

What hinders your ability to focus? 

What happens when you attempt to concentrate on that?  Common focus problems include digital and environmental distractions, mental fatigue, unclear goals, multitasking, stress and anxiety, lack of interest, and poor time management.  Identify the primary obstacle for you.

What can you do about it?

Here are some things you can do to improve your ability to concentrate:

Improve Your Lifestyle: Keep your brain functioning optimally by getting sufficient sleep, eating a healthy diet, staying hydrated, exercising regularly, and managing stress.

Train Your Brain: Engage in brain-challenging activities like puzzles, reading, and learning new skills.  Brain Coach and author Jim Kwik offers many resources for this. His book Limitless is one of my favorites.

Make a Plan: Decide what task you want to focus on.  Break larger tasks into smaller, manageable steps.

Schedule It: Allocate specific time on your calendar for this task, treating it like a very important appointment. 

Eliminate Distractions: Turn off notifications, use noise-canceling headphones, find a quiet workspace, and declutter the area.  Let others know you need uninterrupted time.

Take Regular Breaks: Work for a set period and then take a short break.  Stretch or move around during breaks to refresh your mind.  Try the Pomodoro Technique: Set a timer for 25 minutes and work on a single task until the timer goes off.  Then take a 5-minute break. Repeat as needed.  After 4 rounds, take a longer break.

Practice Mindfulness: Keep your mind engaged with the current task.  When you notice your thoughts drifting to what you need to do after this session, shift back to the task at hand.  Keep a notebook handy and use it to jot down thoughts that come up that you can address later.  Read my blog about Mindfulness.

Try EFT Tapping: If you’re overwhelmed about where to start or if your mind is racing when you are attempting to focus, try EFT tapping with me in my video on Focus.

You’ve got this!