Two Ways To Develop Focus

Our society in America is full of distractions.  There are so many competing messages that if you don't make an active effort to control your focus, it can be hard to develop.  We are also a society and generations that have been raised to distract ourselves from discomfort.

Some people use food, exercise, or drugs, to distract from reality.

Largely, focus is about closing out any and all distractions to give your undivided attention to the one thing you need to accomplish.

This sounds easy enough, but in reality it can be quite challenging.  The easy part is shutting off the TV, radio, phone ringers, etc.   The difficult part is in focusing and shutting off your thoughts.

How often do you get side tracked because a random thought pops up about something you need to do.  Maybe it's about a birthday party that you need to take the kids to, or your brain spits out a solution to a key problem you are facing at work.

Whatever, the problem is you need learn to use your mind on purpose.

Meditation can be helpful here.  In sitting quietly and focusing your attention on your body's natural breathing patterns you can develop the ability to quiet those random thoughts.

Here is how to do it:

          Turn off all things that might make noise, this includes phones.
          Sit quietly, in a chair, or on a pillow on the floor (be careful not to get too comfortable, you need
               to stay awake!)
          Leave your eyes slightly open, you can close them if it's more comfortable.
          As you sit, listen to you natural breathing.  Do not force your breath.
          Sit like this as long as you can.

At first you will probably have difficulty doing this.  Your body will fidget and your mind will come up with thoughts to distract you.  When this happens, recognize that this is your mind fulfilling the distraction habit you have created.

By recognizing the thoughts and letting them go, you will slowly train your mind to know that these thoughts are valuable, but not so important that it needs to interrupt your thoughts.

Another way to help keep your mind from randomly tossing out ideas is to write things down when they come to you.  Keep a calendar or schedule that will allow you to capture anything you need to do. This includes if you need to pick up milk, or drop the kids off at a birthday party next week.  As things come up, you need to get them out of your head.

Just like the meditation, this will take time.  Your brain needs to recognize that you are doing this and trust that it works.  In order for that to happen, you will need to keep track of these things and follow them for at least a month before your brain will shut off the distracting reminders.