Who doesn’t feel a little frazzled these days? With so many distractions, options, information and noise coming at us, it’s amazing we are able to focus and get work done. In a recent article on “How to Train the Brain to Focus” by Paul Hammerness and Margaret Moore, they share three ways we can start to improve our focus.
Tame your frenzy. Frenzy is an emotional state, a feeling of being a little (or a lot) out of control. Frenzy is often underpinned by other emotions, anxiety, sadness, anger, etc. These emotions cause the brain to go into “fight or flight” mode. Positive emotions and thoughts have the reverse affect. They relax the brain and enable it to engage in increased functionality. The authors give some scientific data to support this and suggest that you “try to improve your balance of positive and negative emotions throughout the day. Notice when your brain gets “hijacked” or fixated in negative thoughts or patterns. Most of all, do things that increase positive emotions – breathing, exercise, meditation and getting enough sleep.
Apply the breaks. Distractions are always lurking: wayward thoughts, emotions, sounds and interruptions. Fortunately, the brain is designed to instantly stop a random thought, an unnecessary action, and even an instinctive emotion from derailing you and getting you off track. What can you do? To prevent distractions from hijacking your focus, use the ABC method as your brain’s brake pedal. Become Aware of your options: you can stop what you are doing and address the distraction, or you can let it go. Breathe deeply and consider your options. Then choose thoughtfully: Stop? or Go?
Another option I liked was to institute “distraction-free meetings” where everyone is expected to contribute and offer thoughtful and creative input, and no distractions allowed.
Shift Set. While it is great to be focused, sometimes you need to turn your attention to a new problem. Set-shifting refers to shifting all of your focus to a new task, and not leaving any behind on the last one. Sometimes it is helpful to do this in order to give the brain a break and allow it to take on a new task. What can you do? Before you turn your attention to a new task, shift your focus from your mind to your body. Go for a walk, climb stairs, do some deep breathing or stretches. Even if you are not aware of it, when you are doing this, your brain continues working on your past tasks. Sometimes new ideas emerge during such physical breaks.
Distractions are a part of life yet so is our ability to choose what we do, when and how we do it. This week watch the distractions that keep you from being focused and productive. If you find you need a little more focus, remember you, and only you, have the ability to “tame the frenzy, apply the breaks and shift set.”
