Focus is something that you only notice the lack of acutely. When you are completely focused on a task, you barely stop to think how well you are faring at it, instead you are just so engrossed in doing it well. But when you are not able to focus, you start procrastinating, leading to lower levels of productivity and higher anxiety in the long run. There can be a number of reasons for this lack of focus which may be plaguing your work. In order to be able to increase your focus and make it razor sharp, you first need to identify your own particular reasons for lack of it.
These reasons can range from anything like lower nutrition levels, too many things on your ever burgeoning to do list to just simply lack of an appropriate amount of sleep. These are some pretty benign reasons but can prove to have far reaching ramifications on your focus. With our ever dwindling attention spans, it is the need of the hour to find ways to improve our focus to be able to do our tasks in a much better way. If you would like to know more about these, then just keep reading!
- Compartmentalise Your Life:
Multitasking may seem like a great way to get everything done well, but our brain is not built in a way to be able to take on too many tasks all at once. This gives rise to the feelings of overwhelm and anxiety. This is why it is extremely important to compartmentalise your life into different parts. And make it a point to not think about other things while you do one particular task. This can seem easier said than done especially if you are in the habit of doing too many things together. The more you train your brain to stick to one particular thing at a time, the more it will reward you with focus and productivity.
- Note It Down:
Trying to remember everything that you have to do at a particular time can put too much stress on your brain. This can actually prove to be quite counterproductive as the more things you pile on to your brain to remember, the more things it will tend to forget. The best way to deal with this situation is to always keep a rough notebook with you to write things down as soon as they come to you. You can also use the notes app on your phone for this purpose if that seems like a much more convenient option for you. This helps to serve a two fold purpose. One is that you will not forget anything important, and second, you will be able to get that satisfaction of ticking off things from your list once you have completed them.
- Learn To Breathe In Stressful Situations:
Despite all planning or compartmentalisation, stressful situations can arise at any time in your life. If you can not avoid them from occurring, you can at least fix your reaction to them. Firstly, prioritise what urgent thing you need to tackle and go on from there. Taking a few deep breaths can also help in releasing some of the stress and make the situation seem much more manageable. You can also regularly take our Maxcalm capsules which help to naturally improve focus and reduce stress.
- Actively Practice Focusing Exercises:
While it is good to not overload your senses with too much stimulation in order to increase your focus on a certain activity, it is equally if not more important to actively practice some focusing exercises in order to hone your focus even further. Activities like meditation are a great way to calm yourself as well as to improve your concentration levels. What meditation essentially does is that it trains your mind to focus on one particular thing at a time. This will help you to build essential life skills like dealing well with stress and everyday anxiety in a much more constructive manner.
- Plan Things Well:
There are two aspects to this point. Planning can help you to reduce worries as well as uncertainties, but overplanning can actually prove to be counterproductive. Planning things well is one of the best ways to be prepared for any eventualities and keeps you focused on what you plan to achieve in the long run. But this can prove to be a problem when things do not go according to the plan that you have set. The best thing to do in such a case is to detach yourself from the outcome. It is important to realise that not everything will go according to you in life, there are a lot of contingencies which are completely out of your hands. Know that and accept it to be fully focused on the right things in life.
- Do Not Stretch Yourself:
It is no surprise that you will not be focused when you are not at your absolute best. Engaging in things like sleeping less or taking on more work than you can actually realistically handle can be extremely detrimental to your focus in the long run. It is important to remember that your focus will remain only as good as you and your mental health. It is important to balance things in your life in a much better way so that you do not feel overwhelmed or stretched too thin.
- Reduce Distractions:
Reducing distractions in your daily life whilst you are engaging in something important is one of the best ways to improve your focus and hence your productivity in the long run. If you cut out the things that distract you, you will also notice better and faster results. But it is not always possible to completely shun all distractions from your life, but what you can do in such a case is to minimize them so that they do not hold so much allure for your mind when you are working seriously.
Improving your focus permanently should not be an insurmountable challenge for you. It should instead mean that you just have to work a lot harder to incorporate the points mentioned in this article in your daily life. Do share this blog post with people who may be suffering from reduced focus at the moment in order to help them.