“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates

Do you zone out easily or struggle with focused attention?

I used to struggle with focusing my attention. I get easily distracted by seemingly anything: my thoughts, my mobile phone, books and television shows, the rabbit hole of google research when looking for answers or curious about something, by my pet, etc., you name it.

I had a very restless mind, too (or what the Buddhist would call a “monkey mind”). As a result, I didn’t want to sit still with my racing thoughts because it was difficult and painful. To make me feel better, I would always keep myself busy but not necessarily doing what’s essential, or would significantly add value to my life. Being busy and a workaholic can be good for professional progress (albeit short-lived and causes burnout), but not necessarily for personal fulfilment.

At some point, I thought I might have ADD/Attention Deficit Disorder. Having difficulty focusing affected my productivity and relationships and made me feel guilty and anxious about wasting time, opportunities, and ultimately, my potential.

I found myself asking: What could I accomplish, how would I feel, and what would my life be if I can improve my focus and concentrate on what matters when it comes to creating a thriving life?

Because of this problem, I studied ways to improve my focus and found the following tips to be most helpful. Hopefully, all of them, or at least most of them, will work for you too.

Why do we need to focus?

We usually associate focus with learning and accomplishing tasks or goals. It turns out, it also benefits both our personal and professional life:

• Focus allows us to build rapport, form meaningful connections, and have healthy relationships

All meaningful interactions with another person require focus. For instance, if we’re not paying attention to what the other person is saying or doing, how can we connect and respond appropriately? Suppose we are constantly distracted (for example, by our mobile phone or television) while conversing with someone — how do you think that makes the other person feel? Most likely, that person will feel offended, disrespected or unimportant.

• Focus is needed to be Emotionally Intelligent (EQ)

Empathy, self-awareness, and self-management are all fundamentals of emotional intelligence that require focusing on our own emotions and the emotions of others. Strengths in these areas increase our life and career success and fulfilment.

• Focus helps us become good leaders (at home & work)

Apart from helping us become emotionally intelligent, focusing our attention on what’s necessary to accomplish meaningful goals is vital for both leadership and succeeding in our career (whether your career is being an amazing mother or a corporate leader – or both!).

• What we focus on shapes our reality

Do you usually focus on your weaknesses, what’s going wrong in your life, or a negative comment by someone that hurt you? Or perhaps you might be spending too much time focusing on negative news that creates fear. If so, most likely, you’ll feel depressed and dissatisfied with yourself and your life.

However, if you spend your time focusing on your strengths and what you love about yourself and your life (even while acknowledging the presence of the negatives), you’ll feel more contented, hopeful, and motivated. The latter creates a positive reality.

• Focusing on what’s essential enables us to create a thriving life

What is essential to you? Is it being healthy, having happy relationships, a fulfilling career, and making a positive impact? Whatever you value, when you look at your daily actions, is it focused on what’s important to you? Focusing on what we highly value is essential because a thriving life is created by our daily actions, not something that randomly happens.

How about multitasking?

Multitasking, especially in the workplace, is often being revered as an essential skill to do a job well or be more productive. However, although our brain can multitask, it’s not advisable, and we can’t do it effectively. Our performance deteriorates when our attention is split between tasks, and as a result, we commit more mistakes. Furthermore, multitasking causes mental fatigue and stress that is detrimental to our wellbeing in the long term. Unless necessary, refrain from multitasking and focus on one task at a time.

Tips to enhance focus

1. Accept that it’s challenging to focus, at least at first – it’s biological

Think of it this way: we have two minds – one called “bottom-up” (from the lower part of our brain), the other one “top-down” (from the neocortex, our brain’s topmost layers).

The bottom-up mind is involuntary and automatic, therefore faster. It’s also intuitive, impulsive, and driven by emotions. It also executes our habitual routines. Whenever we act out of habit and reflex, it’s our bottom-up mind at work.

Top-down mind, in contrast, is voluntary and effortful, therefore slower. It’s also in charge of self-control and can overpower habits and emotionally driven impulses when needed. It allows us to become self-aware, to plan and to reflect. Whenever we act with willpower, voluntary attention and intentional choice, we are using our top-down mind. Examples are concentrating on what we’re reading or studying, having a deep conversation with someone, and whenever we choose to focus on the beauty of a sunset.

With two opposing minds and a brain that wants to conserve energy as much as possible, most of the time, our bottom-up mind wins. Focused attention, especially tasks that require a long duration of deep focus or concentration, costs our brain energy.

It is challenging to sustain concentration because it’s not reflexive; the brain needs to exert more effort (the release of certain neuromodulators in the brain adds to this feeling of challenge and discomfort). Because focusing takes effort, it’s not easy. So don’t beat yourself up if you can’t focus right away.

However, the more we practice and repeatedly perform a new routine or task, the easier it gets. Because it now becomes a habit (and thus automatic) that gets taken over by the bottom-up circuitry. The two minds (bottom/top mind) or systems’ goal is to help our brain get optimal results with the least effort. Because of this goal, the brain distributes mental tasks between them.

2. Daily deliberate practice

 This brings us to the next tip, which is to apply deliberate practice daily.

Focused attention is like a muscle that needs to be used to develop, grow and not wither. Hence, practising to focus or concentrate daily — one task, one goal or interaction at a time is important. Doing so strengthens our “focus muscle” through neuroplasticity (the brain’s capacity to rewire, strengthen and build brain circuits for the skill we are practising).

3. Use positive emotions

Given that it’s challenging to focus, we need to feel motivated enough to exert effort and practice. Further, negative emotions such as fear and frustration can make us procrastinate and self-sabotage.  Positive emotions not only help us stay motivated but can make the endeavour feel rewarding.

Do you feel more motivated when you’re happy? Most likely, yes.

A part of our brain called the nucleus accumbens (which is associated with motivation and reward) activates when we are happy. Being part of the reward circuit in the brain, it is rich in dopamine. It thus promotes desire, positive feelings and fuels our drive and persistence in striving toward our goals.

While we also need negative emotions, cultivating more positive emotions daily can energize us, help us persevere, and focus better because it feels rewarding.

4. Remove distractions in your physical environment

Apart from using positive emotions to stay motivated and focused, lessening distractions in your physical environment also enhances concentration. For example, decluttering the space where you work and removing any possible cause of distraction can have a calming effect on the mind and make it easier to concentrate.

Other sensory distractions in our physical environment include phone notifications from social media, email, and other apps. I find that turning off unnecessary notifications such as from social media helps me focus more.

5. Practice daily sleep hygiene

How do you feel when you’re sleep deprived? Do you find it easy or difficult to pay attention, concentrate or focus? If you’re like most people and me, it isn’t easy.

While consuming caffeine may help us focus in the short term, it is not a healthy long-term solution. Chronic sleep deprivation is detrimental not just to our overall wellbeing but also to our ability to focus. During sleep, our brain repairs, heals, and regenerate itself for overall health and cognitive functioning, including alertness and attention.

6. Meditate and be mindful

Have you tried meditating? I remember the first time I tried to meditate – it was so hard that 5 minutes felt like forever! I felt so uncomfortable but still showed up on my mat and tried it over and over every day. Eventually, it became easier and easier for me to sit still, focus on my breath, and be at peace with my feelings and thoughts.

From a cognitive neuroscience perspective, meditation is a form of attention training that involves focusing on one thing: the breath. During meditation, when the mind wanders, we notice it then bring our attention back to the point of focus (the breath). Then we keep our attention there (at this point, the prefrontal cognitive control circuits, part of the “top-down” system, take over). Concentrating on one point of focus during meditation is the fundamental attention builder applicable in other activities.

This attention training enables us to become mindful or aware of our own thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, present moment, and surroundings. And when we are mindful, we can disengage when we are emotionally distracted (for example, feeling distracted due to anger after fighting with someone). Mindfulness can also prevent unhelpful rumination and obsessive thoughts, allowing us to let go of these distressing thoughts and worrying and shift our focus on the present moment.

Meditation is not the only path to developing mindfulness. Any activity — such as walking in nature, gardening, cooking, yoga — that promotes mindful concentration can help. What’s important is to put the time and energy to practice being in the present moment and paying attention to our thoughts, feelings, and ultimately, our life.

7. Check for any underlying medical condition

Attention Deficit Disorder/ADD or ADHD is not the only medical condition that has a negative effect on attention or focus. The autoimmune disease that I have apparently can cause ADD-like symptoms such as difficulty focusing. I used to have terrible brain fog, making it hard to articulate thoughts and remember things, making me feel dumb. It was only when my condition improved and stabilized that the racing thoughts, brain fog, and difficulty focusing improved (it didn’t go away, but it became easier to train my mind to be still through meditation and daily practice).

So if you’re persistently experiencing brain fog, difficulty focusing and other symptoms that don’t improve even after applying these tips, I would suggest that you look into any possible medical condition that could be causing it.

8. Take a break: recreation and creative expression

Like a muscle, focused attention can be strained and fatigued. Hence, we need to embed breaks, recreation, and even creative expression in our practice.

Furthermore, being able to disengage our attention from one thing and move it to another is healthy and vital to our wellbeing. Not being able to do so can cause chronic anxiety, such as in the case of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/OCD.    

So go ahead and indulge in creating something just for the sake of expressing yourself. Or explore and do something fun without any specific goal or focus; just do it for the sake of enjoyment. Paint, dance, sing, play – do whatever it is that gives you joy and gives your mind a rest. It’ll be good for you, your mind, and your soul.

key takeaway

Focused attention benefits us both personally and professionally. It affects our relationships, career, daily activities, and essentially, every aspect of our life. It even has the power to shape our reality. When we focus our attention on what’s essential to us, we can create a thriving and meaningful life.  The great thing is, focused attention is something that we can develop through training. With effort and daily practice, coupled with other strategies such as getting quality sleep, cultivating positive emotions, decluttering our physical environment, and mindfulness meditation can help us become more focused.

Now it’s your turn

1. Reflection: Do you find yourself having difficulty focusing? How does it make you feel, and how has it impacted your life?
2. Action Step: Try the tips discussed and see what works best for you.

Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment below and let me know your thoughts on this topic, or share any additional tips.

References

Goleman, D. (2013). Focus: The hidden driver of excellence. Bloomsbury

Maté, G. (1999). Scattered minds: The origins and healing of attention deficit disorder. Penguin

The Neuroscience Academy, Think: An introduction to cognition