Motivating Yourself: Focus

Has this happened to you? You start with a goal in mind—say, lose that extra 10 pounds—full of enthusiasm and drive. You draft an exercise and diet plan. While you’re at it, you realize you’d like to tackle organizing your mess of a desk. While filing papers together you find a random one that details plans of a get-together with some friends and think it would be nice to touch base. You pick up the phone/get online and get in touch with said friends to pin down a date. At the end of the day, you feel even more unsettled than when you first started.

            It’s an exaggerated example, but it clearly underlines the need for focus when running after a particular goal. Focus is immeasurably more challenging in this day and age of social media and instant gratification. Think of focus like a high-energy laser fueled by our passion, and fired with pinpoint accuracy right where it’s needed. Focus allows us to be more efficient in doing tasks to hit our goals. Focus allows us to think in and around challenges to the desired result.

There are two important things to remember in using focus:

One, focus on what you want. Focus on the desired result. It sounds simple enough, but it’s too easy to derail your thoughts instead to the obstacles surrounding the goal or what you don’t want. Think about your goal and keep your attention there.

Two, see in your mind’s eye the result you want. If you have a weight goal for yourself, see yourself doing your exercise and diet plan, then weighing yourself and hitting your target weight. Keep your thoughts positive and encouraging.

Focus is a learned skill, but there are many ways to cultivate it. Here are some suggestions:

·        As with any new skill, start small. Do a single task first. Or pick something from your to-do list and do it. Gradually you can build up to doing larger, more complicated tasks—but for the moment, take that baby step.

·        Once you’re done, take a break. Give yourself permission to do anything you like—stretch, check your email, etc. Set a timer so you have one to two minutes of doing whatever you want before getting back to work.

·        Minimize distractions. On your desk, remove anything that can derail you from your task. Plug in headphones with soothing music to drown out any ambient noise. If you work on a computer, turn off your social media or even your browser in the duration it takes you to finish a task.