Understanding Focus in Life
Focus is integral to accomplishment and execution in life. It falls into the same category as ambition, motivation, leadership, and other driving forces behind becoming successful, but it does not necessarily get the attention that it deserves. Often downplayed, the role of Focus can sabotage an individual’s ability to be productive.
This means you must focus on achieving something or succeeding in your endeavors. But before we go into that, let’s first look at what Focus means.
Focus is starting a task promptly and maintaining attention until completion. It is an ability to pay attention to what one is engaged in and avoid distractions that impede the work one is trying to do.
Focus is so important to getting anything done that you can’t think without Focus. When you hear about things like perception, memory, learning, reasoning, decision-making, and problem-solving, you know that none can be done successfully unless you focus.
On the contrary, a wandering mind will make you less effective in your work, and your productivity will suffer. It will also compromise the quality of work, giving you less than optimal results. Not to mention that you will also waste time whenever your mind drifts off. These are the tangible consequences of a lack of Focus that we often overlook.
Why do people suffer from a lack of Focus?
Sometimes, a lack of Focus may be a matter of interest. Take your everyday to-do list, for instance. Not everything on the list might be interesting to work on, but it needs to get done anyway for you to move ahead. In these instances, you may be trapped doing something you couldn’t care less about. Your only obligation may be the feeling that you need to get the job done to move on to other things. Not such a great motivator, but that’s reality; in the real world, things need to get done to make way for different things.
It is only natural that your mind drifts off in these situations. You might excuse yourself from doing a task by claiming it’s not urgent or necessary or that you have better things to do. But any way you dress them up, they are all just excuses for procrastination.
This brings us to another aspect of Focus: procrastination. Procrastination is the biggest hurdle in attaining good Focus. When you use procrastination to get out of things, you are saying that you don’t want to do a particular task, that you are secretly hoping that it will just go away on its own, or that you will eventually feel motivated to do it.
With so much going on, it is no wonder that Focus gets sidelined and never surfaces to the forefront.
And while a lot more can be said about procrastination, we will cross that bridge when we come to it (in a later chapter). For now, procrastination is the granddaddy of all excuses and will never let you focus properly on any given task.
How can you counter a lack of Focus?
Moving on, while you may know what stops you from focusing (think procrastination), you may not know how to tackle this problem.
So, here’s some help:
• Address WHAT needs to be done
To make Focus work for you, you need a clear goal, which you can call a grounded purpose towards which all your efforts are directed. With this reference point, you can apply all your skills and decision-making to get the job done right. But with this crucial factor missing, you may as well go on a roller coaster ride. Clear goals are not just a part of the process but the foundation of Focus.
It is these clear-cut goals that define what needs to get done.
Clear-cut goals also stop you from derailing and prevent you from going places you never intended. Pick out a typical day and think of all the fifty or so things you need to do. With your mind divided and scattered, trying to deal with all fifty simultaneously, you will likely not get much done. On the flip side, you may neglect to do some of the more important ones as you think about everything else instead.
This is a point where Focus can save your day. Using Focus, work by eliminating and prioritizing your goals. When you learn to prioritize your goals, you spend your time more meaningfully; the important stuff gets done first, and the not-so-important later on.
Filtering out such time-eaters also helps you regain control over chaos, and you no longer feel you are wasting time.
• Address WHY something needs to be done
Clear goals combined with a sense of purpose resolve dilemmas quickly. This sense of purpose also verifies why something needs to be done.
People are naturally more motivated when they have a reason to do something. With that reason in mind, you will feel more inclined to perform better to get the desired results. A sense of purpose will also fine-tune your Focus as you want to get the best results out of your efforts.
• Also address WHEN something needs to be done
This one ties in with prioritizing your goals to get important things done first. Timing your actions can simplify daily life.
Setting a timeframe keeps you focused and frees up time for other tasks.
Successful time management lets you take control of your life rather than follow others. You also accomplish more, perform better, and become more successful at what you do. Added perks include a sense of satisfaction and peace of mind. These are the rewards of good Focus and effective time management.
However, whether it is prioritizing goals, finding a sense of purpose, or practicing time management skills, none of these can be achieved without good Focus.
Types of Focus
Having established that the ability to focus is a critical element for success in all aspects of life, let us now examine the different types of Focus you need to develop to achieve that success.
Inner Focus
This is the most common of all types. Inner Focus is an individual’s ability to block distractions, focus on the present moment and task, and stay calm under pressure. This focus type develops a person’s intuition, gut feeling, and good decision-making. The implication for this Focus is that it should not be focused on selfish motivation but rather on improving oneself for career and life.
Establishing inner Focus lets you focus on your goals and manage your schedule.
Focusing on others
Not everyone masters this type of Focus as it goes beyond what you are doing and demands that you attend to what others are doing and saying instead. This type of Focus is especially important in workplace situations or teamwork scenarios where your output is affected by others’ input.
This Focus should be positive, constructive, and transparent. While this focus type is tied to professional settings, it equally applies to personal and social contexts, including online with social media.
Outer Focus
Outer Focus goes beyond paying attention to other people and demands attention to your surroundings. Adaptability and flexibility are paramount in today’s ambiguous world, driven by social media, divisive political views, and changing reality.
Outer Focus is based on peripheral learning and allows a person to think strategically. It also enables adaptation to external circumstances as the environment around you evolves.
Finally,
Focus can allow you to be free and for critical thinking, which will open your eyes to new frontiers and ways of doing things to help you and others grow and mature. This is the start of a short series on Focus in 2025.
