How to Avoid Losing Focus?

In today’s world, being able to focus is almost like a superpower. You rarely see anyone who’s able to concentrate on a single task for hours. And the individuals who are able to focus, to nobody’s surprise, get so much more done than other people. There are many areas where you could benefit from better concentration. Whether it’s for school, studying, work or a hobby. If you are able to focus you can get your desired results faster. So today I’ll explain what’s holding you back from focusing. And I know you’re procrastinating this very moment by reading this post. But I’ll try to make it worth your while.

So grab a pen and piece of paper. Make sure to write down a few points about whatever you learn in this post. This way you’ll get the maximum value out of your procrastination session.

Let’s get started.

We have two types of focus.

1. Scattered focus and
2. Directed focus.

Scattered focus is broadly distributed attention. This is your typical multitasker, trying to do many things at the same time. Cleaning the house, while talking on the phone while cooking dinner. Or someone who’s trying to focus on one thing, but they keep thinking about something else at the same time. And this what most people do. They divide their attention towards many different things. The problem with this type of focus is that your brain is extremely bad at switching between multiple things at once. You see when you switch from one task to another, it’s not an instantaneous switch. Instead your brain has to load the context of whatever you’re doing into your working memory. When you’re constantly shifting your attention from one thing to another, you’re forcing your brain to load and re-load context over and over. Essentially you end up wasting a ton of mental energy switching back and forth, leaving you exhausted without getting much done.

Now on the other side we have directed focus. You achieve it by directing your attention to a single action, while ignoring everything else. This is what you should aim to achieve and it’s how high-achievers direct their focus. They concentrate on one thing at a time, like a laser beam. And do that thing to the maximum of their ability while disregarding all other stimuli.

So what can you do to avoid scattered focus?

It’s simple. We should follow these things for avoiding losing focus.

1. You should aim to remove all distractions and avoid any stimuli which could potentially harm your concentration. Let’s say you have 5 units of focus available at any time. That means you can use those 5 units in any way you like. For ex you could use them all on studying, thus achieving directed focus there. Now let’s say someone enters in your room, while you’re studying and tells you that dinner will be ready in 45 minutes. Even you were super concentrated and even if that interaction only lasted for 10 seconds, your attention is now divided. Dinner will be now on your mind and your focus will not be good as it was before. One of the focus units was used on that dinner, taking it away from your studying session. It’s now going to take some time before you’re able to fully regain your focus and you’ll end up wasting your mental energy in the process.
2. Now the funny thing is you’re most likely carrying a similarly distracting mom with you all the time. Your phone. This tiny device is the biggest anti focus machine there is. It rings, it vibrates and whenever you get a new notification it makes a sound. The beep is all it takes, to take your mind off the thing you were supposed to be concentrating on. But even if your phone is on silent, you’re very likely to take a quick look at it, whenever you feel bored. Thus dividing your attention. Of course this doesn’t mean you should throw your phone away or anything like that. Instead I’m simply suggesting that whenever you want to concentrate on something, you put it somewhere, where you know it won’t disturb you and you won’t be able to look at it. That being said, cellphones aren’t the only thing that divide your focus. Anything can do that, but your phone is probably the biggest contributor. The point is to become aware of the possible distractions and to avoid them.
3. Another thing that could be affecting your ability to focus is your Physiology. This is something that is not considered often. However if you want your mind to function optimally, you need to take care of your body. It’s been shown that getting 7–9 hours of sleep, leads to a better ability to focus during the day. Also, exercise is also something that should be done on a daily basis. Thanks to the release of Dopamine, Norepinephrine, Serotonin and other neurotransmitters, your ability to focus on difficult tasks improves. By exercise, I don’t mean going out and running a marathon, but a short walk around the block is already sufficient. Bonus points if it’s a walk in nature.
4. Hydration is also very important. You might have noticed that when you wake up in the morning you can’t really think straight right away. One of the reasons is because you hadn’t drank anything for over 8 hours, so you’re mildly dehydrated.
5. Your diet plays another big role in your performance. If you’re indulging and stuffing your face with unhealthy food or drinking soda, you’re doing your brain a disservice. Food that is high in sugar content leads to brain fog and the inability to concentrate. You might want to look into some healthier alternatives. So if you want to focus easier, make sure to take care of the body.

These things play a crucial role in maintaining a healthy body.