If you think intelligence is enough to succeed, you are probably wrong.
Because our society is becoming a culture of addiction to distraction, the ability to focus and stay focused is henceforth the n1 skill to develop. Unfortunately, companies and technology keep building products based on our mind weaknesses to influence our decision and retain our attention longer. Therefore focusing is really challenging.
The problem is that with a poor ability to focus, you need more time to achieve results so your life goals are delayed, your motivation deteriorated, your self-esteem pulverized and so on…
Sad story when we know that your brain is a strong machine that can achieve miracles but we accept to let it die little by little, becoming the guy of the 99%.
Or maybe not, maybe with a few efforts you will be able to achieve your dream goals. After all, successful people always talk about the right mindset anyone can apply. So I gathered for you the most powerful tools and mindsets to stay focus hours and achieve crazy results in ridiculous time.
TAME YOUR ENVIRONMENT
The flow is a state of mind reached when you are so absorbed in what you do that you start to loss the notion of space and time. This state is so powerful that as long as you are in you can’t stop what you do and sometimes will spend the night on it. By experimenting the flow, you become highly productive and can stay working hours without feeling tired or bored.
However, the flow is really fragile and most of us experiment it just few minutes. When your flow is disturbed and interrupted, it takes in average 23 minutes and 15 seconds to reach it again. According to Gloria Mark, who studies digital distraction at the University of California, Irvine.
This is why we will start by optimizing our workspace to be fruitful to focus.
Our brain is constantly analyzing thousands of things in our environment, most of them unconsciously. If he detects a potential danger, he will higher the level of stress and focus on the threat. It’s a really useful survival ability that can put us in particular state just based on a stimulus. For example, seeing food will put you in a hungry state, seeing a notification will put you in curious state… Of course all of those triggers are bad for your working session, and the more they are present in your environment the higher chances are to stop working every 5 minutes. When you know that it takes 23 minutes and 15 seconds to refocus you understand better how a toxic workspace can destroy your life.
Make a list of all the signals that attract your attention while you are working and treat them one by one until you are in peace. Clean as much as possible your workspace so your thoughts don’t find bridges to think to something else than your work.
CHALLENGES & TIME PRESSURE
What’s the difference between “This morning I’m going to work 2 hours” and “This morning I’m going to reach 3 goals in 120 minutes”? The second one install a challenging environment, it provokes our motivation and it create a positive pressure climate. Therefore, you have less space for distraction because the time is running and your clear goals are waiting for you to be achieved. If you don’t, you will feel beaten, you will be a loser unable to push his limits. You may feel guilty at the beginning but as the sessions goes by you start to put realistic goals and you reach the flow quicker and quicker because you brain get used to be activated and maintain for the time you decided.
SOCIAL PRESSURE
Once you decided your main goal, make it public, say to everyone that you will achieve it in a certain amount of time (really important). This will put a social pressure on you, because if you don’t reach your goal you will be ridiculous, not a serious person we can trust or rely on. And because nobody like to be ridiculous, this will create a positive pressure and increase your productivity.
In parallel, for your daily day work, you can choose a bro with whom you will share your goals and results, someone that will be proud of you and motivate you when you. If you do the same for him, it will be even more motivating and lasting. Also, a mentor or a master can directs and drives you. Set regular meeting’s or messages to share results and speak about problems you are facing; goals you are trying to reach.
MANAGE YOUR ENERGY
1. TAKE INTELLIGENT BREAKS
Not only your brain gets tired, but also your body. To avoid to be less productive or doing heavy mistakes during your work, take short breaks regularly. When you feel really tired and your eyes irritated, just take a quick nap of 20min, don’t worry if you don’t sleep. You will feel all your ideas reorganizing and inspiration will come back way more powerful. It’s really important to listen your body instead of fighting against him, if you are tired don’t take coffee, give what your body is asking, rest.
2. CREATE YOUR ROUTINE
“Motivation is what makes you start; Habits are what makes you continue.”
Make your working session as automatic and simple as you can with identical and precise schedules, like a professional athletic. This way you don’t lose time wondering when to start, or procrastinating. Good habits are the foundations of a good routine. And a routine the foundation of little changes turning into big results. Ideally you also want to include in your routine a good sleep, balanced food and some physical activity. Remember, little daily effort is what leads to big changes and healthy growth.
TAKE AWAY: HOW TO STAY FOCUS AT WORK?
Tame your environment so you will have less effort to do stay focus, then use time and social pressure to keep you on track and on the long run build habits and a routine to make everything effortless and automatic. Finally don’t forget to take breaks to reset your energy.
