Are You Focused?

Getting things done is difficult: how often do we feel that we've worked really hard, and yet we have little to show for our time and energy?

We all know that there are so many distractions around us nowadays, but yet it's so difficult to stay away from our phones, because so much of our life revolves around them. Many people either procrastinate (delay things) or they cannot maintain focus and concentration, In either case, motivation and self-belief can be eroded.

Traditionally, we are told to create plans and to organise our time better, to work at our best time of day and to start with more difficult tasks. These are very sound ideas.

But let's add an idea from Mindfulness: in Mindfulness, we are taught to do things deliberately, with our full attention, but without strain. Even just sitting, eating or breathing can be done more deliberately, while we clear our mind of anything else and focus more on the one thing we are doing.

We can apply this point to anything, in order to get better concentration and results. Do things with full attention and we forget to wonder what our phone is doing or what we are missing. "Full attention" can mean noticing the sound and feel of our laptop keyboard, noticing the form of the words we are writing, observing how we are sitting and how our body feels as we write. We give everything related to the task attention and value.

Even where you do nothing, do it deliberately, so that you rest and give your mind the chance to reflect.