Like much of the millennials and gen z’ers, I find it difficult to focus these days. With all of the alerts and new media bombarded into my periphery, it’s no secret as to why I find it difficult to just sit down and do one thing. It seems like everyone I talk to claims they are self-diagnosed with some form of ADHD. To those that have it, I feel for you. To the others that simply can’t focus, I got news for you — you can do better.
Heck, I can do better. If you’ve followed my posts (all 15 of my subscribers), then you’ll note that I had quite the streak of writing every single day. In terms of my ability to zero-in on tasks and focusing, I’d say that during those streaks (while still very exhausted) I felt focused and organized.
What it does for the brain
When you write, it requires that you zero-in on the task at hand. There simply can’t be that many items for you to have to handle when you are writing. It’s a screen (or paper) and you. This is great for building the right neural pathways for focus. That’s right, FOCUS is its own neural pathway. You hear about things like “flow state” which has many substantial bearings in science, but that’s a problem if you NEED flow state in order to focus.
You need to be able to operate without it. When you’re “feeling it” that’s great, but you can’t be a complete unproductive mess when you aren’t.
What it does for your life
As a founder and an attorney, time feels ever so fleeting in my day. I wake up early at 5:30/6 am and try to get a head start on everything. Whether it’s working out or sending out emails. When I’m unfocused, it feels like I’m driving a stick shift and just all over the place with gear selectors. I go fast, stop, slow, fast, slow, fast. It’s abrupt and annoying to do so.
I’m surely stating the obvious, but my day feels a lot better when I know I’ve been able to focus in on tasks. Much of the time, my anxiety comes from the fact that I feel out of control during the day, whether from ad hoc phone calls or just constantly being messaged and people wanting my time.
Create the right environment
Sometimes I work in the office, sometimes in a coffee shop, and occasionally I work from home. It’s fascinating when people I know prefer to work from home. I don’t really see the allure. I want to keep a separation of church and state for my own wellbeing. I don’t want to associate a spot on the couch with where I had to bang out a new agreement or 20,000 lines of code.
For me, restrictions are key to a good focused environment. If you know that your phone distracts you, then keep it in your bag. Create barriers between you and your distractions or (if possible) remove those distractions altogether.
Reward yourself
We’re all human (I think) so we should take advantage of our own biological architecture. For better or for worse, we are programmed to respond to rewards. For me personally, work has been the rewards, so I have to constantly search for other things to trigger this mechanism. Whether its buying a particular snack or a new golf club I’ve been eyeing, I keep those purchases in mind. I’ll often make a wishlist of items (this includes items that I actually need) and set a task against those items so that I know “If I want to get X, then I must complete Y”.
It always starts with day 1
Much like new years resolutions, I’ve stopped committing to every single day posting a new article. This time around, I’m just going to try to be as best as I can be with writing as a way to maintain my health and focus. Since I’m posting publicly, we’ll see how well it goes.
I’ve said this in other posts, but you should keep yourself accountable every single day. Every day is an opportunity to start a streak. If you get off the streak, then start the streak again. Don’t let one unproductive day ruin your week. It’s too easy an excuse and too often not indicative of your progress.
