Being able to focus in a world of ‘shiny objects’ is difficult to do these days. A ping here, a ding there – notifications have taken over our lives.
What if you could get back your focus and actually do what you really want to do? Distractions are convenient, but your focus must be intentional if you want to reach your goals.
Internet & Social Media
One thing you can do is turn off any notifications that you have on. There may be some that you need as a reminder, but for the most part, they are just a signal for your attention.
What happens as soon as you hear that chime? You stop what you’re doing and you put your focus on that thing. Whatever it is, it’s probably not that important, but you don’t want to miss anything. Everybody wants to be the first to get the breaking news.
Is it worth losing your focus over? What could be more important than working on your plan?
Like potato chips, you can’t eat just one. It snowballs into a full blown hour of scrolling social media and looking at celebrity gossip. This is what a pretty little sound does to your attention.
Discipline Your Focus
Secondly, you could simply build your discipline. You don’t have to look every time something happens. Distractions are all around us, but we choose to allow it to steal our concentration.
After your concentration is gone, it’s very hard to turn back and get on track. The best thing to do is to ignore it in the first place. Don’t take a peak, or even look for five minutes. Keep working away and finish what you started.
Practice staying in rhythm and locking in to what’s in front of you. The more you let a distraction interrupt your attention, the more you have to start over and build your momentum, again and again. Ultimately, nothing gets done.
Attention Seekers
Third, personal relationships can also deter your focus from your goals. People will demand your time and attention, just to make them feel good. Most times, they really don’t want much of anything or they just don’t have anything else to do. They simply want you to provide them with entertainment.
It’s okay to say no. Don’t be afraid to cut a conversation short if there’s something more important that you’d rather be doing. Wasting energy and focus leads to wasting time and we all know that you won’t get your time back.
Other times, people will cause drama to break your concentration in order to give them your attention. Some people actually crave attention and can’t live without it. It’s sad, but true. Don’t let that type of person become dependent upon you and take away your power.
Keep Your Focus In Check
When focusing, nothing should pull you away from your task. Make it a productive habit to ignore the distractions that fight for your attention. It’s hard to be successful when you have weak focus.
Turn off the notifications and practice the art of ignoring those pretty sounds. There’s no secret or trick to making it go away – just reinforce your mindset with discipline and you’ll be more productive!