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Working without focus wastes a lot of time. If you want to succeed in life, you need to be able to concentrate. Here are tips on how to focus on a goal.
Read also: 11 Goals For Your Early 20s Bucketlist
Read also: 9 Success Lessons From Classroom Of The Elite
What does focused mean?
First things first: What does it even mean to be focused?
Being focused means directing all of your attention to a certain task.
Someone who is focused achieves work at a high quality and in less time because their mind stays on the task to the exclusion of all other distractions.
You’ve heard many people say that nobody can truly multitask; what we see as multitasking is quickly switching your focus from one task to another.
That’s not entirely true. Multitasking is possible if one of the tasks you act on can be done mindlessly. For example, brushing your teeth or tying your shoes are tasks that require barely any focus at all because you’ve got them deeply imprinted into muscle memory.
Therefore you can direct the vast majority of your focus onto another moderately challenging task simultaneously.
This also makes one thing very clear: The more challenging a task is, the more intensely you need to focus on it to get it done.
Why can’t I focus?
The overlaying reason is, plainly said, a lack of practice.
Or rather too much practice with the wrong thing.
We practice being unfocused every time we switch apps when we are bored, when we reach for our phone while waiting in line, and when we search for memes while trying to study.
We’ve practiced our lack of attention so much that we’ve become incredibly good at it.
So it’s not surprising that we struggle so much when trying to stay focused.
We are simply not used to it.
The following tips are supposed to help you start building the skill of focus.
But ultimately, you must keep practicing it as much as possible for it to become easy.
Tips on how to stay focused
1. Make it a clear priority
Many of us have long to-do lists and always complain about how there isn’t enough time in the day to get it all done.
But the truth is, there is plenty of time in the day. But, curiously, a minority of successful people get much more done than most in the roughly 16 hours we have at our disposal.
Why is that? What are they doing differently?
Well, first and foremost, they set clear and unwavering priorities.
If they declare meditation a priority, they get it done no matter what other spontaneous tasks present themself that day.
Sacrificing their priority for the day doesn’t even cross their mind. Instead, they sacrifice the things that are low on their list of priorities (e. g., finishing that series or cleaning out the wardrobe).
If you want to be able to focus on a goal, the first thing you need to do is declare it an unwavering priority for the day.
2. Have a notebook near to dump all stray thoughts that distract you
Just because you’ve set your priorities straight doesn’t mean you won’t encounter stray thoughts related to other responsibilities.
Staying focused on your current task can be incredibly difficult if you suddenly remember that you must prepare something for the next day.
The best method to deal with these unwanted mental intrusions is to write them down.
Writing a quick note will calm you down and release the thought from your mind as you know you’ll be able to remember it later.
3. Clear your mind before you get started
Focusing on a goal while your mind is running a million miles an hour about what happened during the day is a lost battle.
You need mental clarity for any focus to happen.
Meditation can help you to clear your mind. Even as little as five minutes can go a long way. Also, the better you meditate, the quicker you’ll be able to clear your mind.
Furthermore, yoga and walking through nature can also get your mind to slow down enough to stay focused later on.
4. Avoid your usual distractors
You know yourself the best. What are the things that usually distract you from your goals?
For example, if you tend to get really obsessed with Anime, you should consider not starting a new Anime until you’ve accomplished the goal you are focusing on.
In the end, you need to decide between what’s more important to you: Short-lived fun or focusing on what you want.
5. Listen to binaural beats, lofi or white noise
Binaural beats, lo-fi tracks, or white noise can help you focus while working on a task.
They are especially useful if you pursue your goal in a noisy environment.
However, at least for binaural beats, you need to wear headphones, which will hinder you from thinking aloud.
Simply find what works best for you.
6. Surround yourself with reminders of your goal
You know the saying: Out of sight out of mind.
The opposite is true as well. The more reminders you see of something, the more this thing will occupy your mind.
This also makes the difference in how entrepreneurs view the world vs. ordinary people.
The latter complain that they never come across good business opportunities. At the same time, the former surround themself with books, podcasts, videos, and people who remind them to look for opportunities everywhere; therefore, entrepreneurs find them everywhere.
You should use this principle for whatever goal you are pursuing.
Make sure to surround yourself with books, podcasts, videos, and vision boards on the topic. Have a reminder of it wherever you go.
7. Visualize your goal as you fall asleep
Our mind uses dreams to process our experiences of the day.
If you think about and visualize your goals while falling asleep, your mind will spend more time going through this information at night.
And throughout human history, many great things such as famous songs and important discoveries have been prompted by dreams.
So make sure you use this tool as well.
8. Schedule free time
Maximizing the focus on your goal is important. But it also takes a lot of energy.
Therefore you need to have downtime, or your focus will crash when you need it the most.
So make sure to include a bit of space for mindless activities in your day.
9. Focus on your WHY
If the WHY is big enough, humans can accomplish next to anything.
We see it repeatedly when refugees flee a war-torn country or when a mother saves her child from an impossible situation.
The greater your WHY, the less discipline and motivation you need to focus on a goal.
Of course, we inevitably have to pursue many moderately exciting goals for us at best.
But even then, you can improve the situation a lot by clearly pointing out your WHY whenever you struggle to stay focused.
That’s it. Do you have any additional tips on how to focus on a goal that you’d like to share with your fellow boss babes?
If you are determined to up-level your focus in life, comment ‘FOCUSED!’ down below.
Until next time, Felicity Seeker!
