Focus

 Losing focus is one of the biggest problems of this day. We all have the same twenty- four hours in a day but what we make out of it is what makes us different. Some use time judiciously as if it's the only asset they have while some waste it on menial matters. Having enough time to do a task is not the only thing needed to do it effectively. For being efficient one needs to focus on the job at hand. With so many distractions around us, especially in the current WFH situation, attaining focus does not come easy to many. Attention spans are constantly reducing. Most of us have access to means that provide us with instant gratification. A side-effect of being constantly rewarded is a growing impatience and distracted way of living.  It is said that once distracted, it takes around 23 minutes to regain the same level of focus. What should the solution be then?

Focus comes naturally when one does something sincerely. Sincerity comes from within. One doesn't try to achieve it. It's what you want to do. Focus eludes those who do their jobs thinking it's their duty. Because when one does something as their duty it is something that they have to do to gain some reward in return and not something that given a choice they would naturally do. Ask yourselves, what would you like to do if you had enough wealth and security. Is what you would do in line with what you are doing currently. The answer to this will tell you whether you are doing something sincerely or doing it as part of your duty.

It is okay if the answer to the question above for most of your work is duty. A whole lot of the population lives a distracted life being split between doing what they have to do as their duty and what they really wanted to do. We need security to live life in order and it is only practical. If you are doing something thinking it's your duty, do expect to be distracted. Be aware of this truth and don't set yourself unrealistic expectations and beat yourselves up for not meeting them.

So what do we do now? We can't run away from our duties. We have to face distractions. But we have targets to meet and work to complete. You got two choices here:

One, live in isolation. This is the most common and effective way to fight distraction. Identify the things that are taking away your attention and remove them from your environment for the period that you are concentrating. People who follow this tend to keep their phones out of reach or try app blockers or turn off their internet and so on. This out-of-sight, out-of-mind strategy does seem to work well for some. But no matter how much you try to get away from the physical stuff, one cannot escape one's thoughts. So I suggest that if thoughts are limiting you note them down on a piece of paper. Tell yourself that you will act upon them later.

But making oneself work by deriving of things that one wants to do is like asking a prisoner to read and giving him no other choice. We are our prisoners restricting ourselves from what we desire to do so that we do what is needed of us. We seek security in being something that we are not. But the truth is that nothing can give us more security than being true to our true selves. It is said that what you do when you procrastinate is what you should be doing in your life.

The second method is to try and find a meaning to whatever you are doing in a way such that it inspires your being. Be very clear about why you are doing something. It could be the security that the job provides. Think about why you need that security. What will you not be able to do if you didn't have that? It always helps to have a higher cause for any action. If you can think of ways your work will help someone or act as an inspiration, it always gives one more reason to do the same.

Focussing on the work that you do as your duty builds knowledge but focus on work that you are truly inspired to do builds wisdom. And with the collective wisdom of humanity, glorious things are built.