4 Strategies for Elite Focus
One of the main separators amongst people is their ability to focus. This will affect both the amount of work that gets done and also the quality.
Think about these two questions:
How well are you able to concentrate on a given task?
How long are you able to sustain this concentration?
The thing about focus is that it can be improved if you are intentional about it. Think of focus as a muscle. Each time that you are working on it you are strengthening that muscle. Here are 4 strategies to develop elite focus:
#1: Do one task at a time. For productivity, it is far better to put all of your attention into one task. Work on this task until you have completed it or have worked on it for a given amount of time. When you are multi-tasking in doing tasks you are actually task shifting. This means you are switching your attention from one task to another. Each time you switch your attention you are wasting time and not allowing yourself to go into deeper thought. When you put your attention to doing one task your productivity increases as well as the quality of your work.
#2: Eliminate distractions. When you are working on one task at a time it is essential to eliminate as many distractions as possible. There are more distractions now than there have ever been. Our cell phones are the biggest ones. Other major ones include our computer, emails, coworkers, family, and friends. Each time you get distracted your mind has to then refocus on what you are doing. This is wasting valuable time and limiting how deep you are able to go into what you are doing. A great way to limit distractions is to turn off notifications. Go through your apps and turn off as many as you can. Turning off social media notifications is particularly helpful. Only checking your email at certain times is another way that you can eliminate distractions. A third way is to set clear guidelines with the people that may interrupt you while you are working.
#3 Focus on the Big 3. The big 3 are physical activity, nutrition, and sleep. All three of these will have a major impact on your ability to focus and your overall health. If one of these is lacking then it will have a serious impediment on how well you can focus. The goal with these three isn’t to be perfect but instead to focus on progress.
#4 Practice meditation and mindfulness. A great way to increase your ability to focus is through the practice of meditation and mindfulness. In doing a single focused meditation, you are bringing your attention to a focal point. This may be the breath, your heart center, third eye, a mantra, or an object. Then any time your mind wanders, noticing it and in an accepting and non-judgmental way bringing it back to your focal point. By practicing this you are training your mind and increasing your ability to focus. Mindfulness is living in the present moment. It is bridging your awareness to whatever is arising at this moment. Such as if you are eating to bringing your attention to each bite and sip. As you are intentional about being mindful you will notice it becoming a lot easier to concentrate throughout the day.
Being able to focus allows you to get more accomplished while still keeping the quality high. This allows you to spend more time with the people that matter most and allows you to do the things that you enjoy!
