By Kellen Lounsbury
Have you had a hard time concentrating lately? Focus can provide us with better productivity, connections to details, and even increased quality in our work and life. It is a core element of a greater structure, without focus we can’t do much of anything for long or at all for that matter.
Because of this focus is an essential element that caters to all avenues of our lives. If we truly want the best for ourselves, then we should continually cultivate it in all of our endeavors. So many people say that they lack the focus, or that they have a hard time focusing on a task. This is because our focus is something that must be trained.
You may have heard the saying, that the mind is like a muscle, our focus is very similar in this sense. Focus is a byproduct of the mind’s functionality, and by strengthening the output of our attention, we can use it as a tool in our everyday lives.
Everything Is Connected
As previously stated, focus connects to all aspects of our lives, and each one of these tasks is different. Some may be our relationships and other projects that we are working on. When we strengthen our intent, our results become heightened and more profound.
Leonardo Da Vinci one of the greatest polymaths, artists, and inventors understood this. He famously says, “Develop your senses- especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”
― Leonardo da Vinci
This was one of the reasons that Da Vinci could make such critical and crucial adaptations because he saw the connections between them. This goes the same for us in our everyday lives, that while it might not seem like it, much of everything we do and how we do it is connected in one way or another.
This can be explained much like a puzzle. Every jigsaw piece has a unique shape, some have rounded edges, some have sharper edges, some are larger than others, or even smaller. Though all of the pieces touch each other to complete some bigger picture. When you first unbox this puzzle, it looks like a mound of random pieces and shapes, but if you look closer each piece has its place in the bigger picture. It’s only by balancing and focusing on the present, that we get an understanding of where the picture is going. This gives us clarity to make sense of the colors on the fragments. We can tell by the green pieces that they might be the grass, and maybe the orange and reds are the horizons, though it is the blue pieces that tend to take time, they can be the sky or even the water, and this may take longer to figure out. That is why having patience and maintaining your levels of focus through the puzzle is what keeps you moving forward into this bigger picture that might not be able to be explained right away.
If you want to finish this puzzle most efficiently, you must pay attention to the process and details equally. These two elements are like tipping scales, that when maintained, create a place for us mentally to zero in on the task and find our flow state.
To see how all these connections are made, we must focus on the details within the bigger picture, because there is too much going on both levels to be seen with attentive detail, it helps to balance both worlds and take the whole situation into account, rather than one or the other. When we fluctuate between laying these pieces down, and actively standing back and seeing if there are other pieces we may have missed, we are balancing the scale.
Paying Attention To The Details
This concept matters because it carries over to every other area of your life. If you start to build a habit where your focus is easily broken, then it will affect every other area of your life.
When you need to get your work done, it will be twice as hard, and when you try to even follow the passions that you have built your life around, they will feel like work. Focus is the thread that holds together the structure. It is quite literally your level of engagement with whatever task you're doing. This is why your focus matters, it’s not just the process but the actual retainment and quality of acknowledgment that you put into whatever activity or process that you are undertaking.
Many aspects tend to play a role in how your focus may be affected. That is why attempting to learn how to focus in an environmentally controlled manner could help you learn how to also slowly use these skills in real-world settings.
It is wise to work on your focus in the early stages in an environment where it is easy to concentrate, no noises, no distractions, just you and whatever it is you are working on. As time goes by, this environment will become so comfortable that you may be able to focus with all the noise, and distractions. Though the best way to get to this point is to start small and work into it.
I have stated before that we are creatures of habit, the more and more we do something, and if the conditions are right, we eventually adapt and become better at it. This also goes for our emotions in these moments. Make sure that whenever you are in this space, working on your focus, you also monitor how you are feeling emotionally. Understand how your emotions fluctuate, perhaps you're more focused when you're happy. Maybe you are an athlete and when you use a certain emotion, you focus even better, whatever that emotion is, utilize it in a way that works for a positive outcome.
It should also be noted that we are much like living chemistry sets, amazing creatures that go far and beyond purely being objectively measured. Though there are necessities that help the known physiology and processing of what goes on inside of us. It is wise to treat your body with healthful foods and activity.
Make sure that you are getting adequate nutrition & hydration for your specific body type, activity levels, genetics, etc. The brain is first and foremost an organ, and it is also connected to the gut via the Enteric Nervous System (ENS). This connection is made up of a hundred million nerve cells, and within this system is where serotonin is produced, and 95% of it is found. This is the neurotransmitter that helps regulate emotions, anxiety, and more. (Hadhazy, 2010) A healthy brain starts with healthy lifestyle habits, this only enhances your focus.
This also goes hand and hand with movement and the ability to use other means to help us focus. While it may not seem like it, Exercise is also another important aspect, because it increases blood flow to the brain. By having this increased blood flow the brain is provided with biological resources that help it function at its best. Get moving before you need your moments of focus, and you will find an increased flow state.
There are also moments where we just simply need to walk away, take a short break, it is possible to focus for so long with a task that it can create mental burnout, and to rejuvenate these areas of the brain, we need something fun, relaxing, creative or even emotionally captivating. Take a short 5-7 minute break and see if it helps, sometimes the creative outlet is sparked by the most unsuspecting measures, even that within the realm of focus.
Applying Your Focus
Whatever it is that you face today, start by bringing yourself to the present and giving all of your attention on that single moment. Like previously mentioned, our focus must be trained. This can be done by gradually increasing the duration of our attention, and under what intensity we place our minds. Start with focusing on a project for 20-minutes, taking a 5-minute break after the full 20 minutes. Do this three times for a total of 60 Minutes of focus, and 15 minutes of rest. The next week brings 20 minutes up to 25 minutes, and 5 minutes of rest. Keep using this focus until you have found a place that feels right to you. What matters most is that you do this every few days, ingraining it into the mind, and making it easier and easier to do.
Don’t look at your phone, don’t watch TV in between, dedicate yourself fully to that moment and channel your intent into the process. If your goal is to read a chapter of a book, then turn everything off, sit with that book, and start reading and slowly as you advance into this process, start realizing how much reading has been something you wanted to take-up as a hobby. Read with pure intent, and pull from the words in that book, have a conversation with the pages, and your thoughts between the lines.
Take the time today to practice focus as an essential core element in your life. This will make you ultimately stronger and able to achieve more in whatever it is that you are looking for.
References
Goodreads. (n.d.). A quote by Leonardo da Vinci. Retrieved 5AD, from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/112565-principles-for-the-development-of-a-complete-mind-study-the
Hadhazy, A. (2010, February 12). Think Twice: How the Gut's "Second Brain" Influences Mood and Well-Being. Retrieved May 15, 2020, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gut-second-brain/
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