How to learn to focus on the important things

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

World renowned ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) expert Edward Hallowell believes that we love to be distracted by nonsense so much that we risk missing out on real life. That is why the psychiatrist gives advice to those who want to see their life better, understand more and work not selflessly, but wisely.

The Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset wrote:

Each fate is tragic in the deepest sense of the word for someone who does not penetrate into the essence of life, but only glides on its surface.

Alarming symptoms

How often during a conversation do you want to interrupt the person with the words "short" or "get to the point"? Do you often grab your smartphone while watching an interesting TV series or movie, don't listen to people, but only imitate attention, get annoyed over trifles?

Our attention has become so out of focus that it is sometimes difficult for us to keep it on one thing for more than 10 minutes. If you think that this is normal for the modern world, then we hasten to upset you.

These are the first symptoms of attention deficit disorder. Think of it as the letters SOS, which say that the "muscle" of attention must be urgently taken to the "gym".

The cost of distractions

Did you know that the average person wastes almost two out of eight hours during a workday? Half of this time he goes from one site to another. Inc. magazine calculated that the total cost of idleness in the US alone is $ 544 billion.

The average person is distracted 200 times during the day. At the same time, 118 times we reach with our playful little hands for a smartphone, 52 times we are distracted by friends, relatives and colleagues, and 30 distractions are our everyday needs. For example, we suddenly wonder how old Matt Damon was, and we drop everything and go to Wikipedia.

How to learn to concentrate

Our brains, fortunately, have such a thing as neuroplasticity. To put it simply, regular practice can change everything.

Learn something

The easiest way to boost your concentration and mindfulness is to start doing something you haven't done before. For example, if you drive a car with an automatic transmission, change to a car with a manual transmission. Use your imagination: sign up for salsa lessons, learn Spanish, master the salmon farfalle recipe.

Or try to become and learn to write with both hands or draw different shapes in the air at the same time, for example, with your right hand - a diamond, with your left hand - a circle, and your legs - triangles.

Play

John Kennedy loved to play this game during breaks. He wrote on paper in random order, two letters each that came to mind. For example, MD, KSH, SD and so on. And then I tried to remember famous personalities to whom these initials may belong. For example, MD - Marlene Dietrich, KSh - Coco Chanel, SD - Salvador Dali, and so on.

And here is the puzzle for you - come up with famous personalities for these pairs of letters: LD, OU, FD.

Set an alarm

Do I need to tell you where the hand of a modern person reaches when he wakes up and falls asleep? That's right, to the smartphone. One of the easiest and most effective ways to maintain the "morning-evening" chastity of your attention is … to buy an alarm clock.

Maybe the solution looks quite simple, but you must admit that you have already forgotten about the possibility of buying an alarm clock. A regular alarm clock that doesn't go online, doesn't send emails or steam chicken for you. And it is better to put the phone at night not next to you, in bed, but somewhere on the farthest table.

Find what you love

Here is another solution for you, which, perhaps, does not shine with its novelty, but requires a constant reminder of yourself. The best way to stop distractions is to find a job that combines three criteria. So, a good place to work is when

• Do you like your job,
• you do it well
• you get paid well for it.

If your current job doesn't meet these criteria, then the time you spend distracting yourself is better spent finding a good job.

Fight entropy

Our brain is so arranged that if it sees a lack of structure somewhere, then it begins to worry. He wants to find a structure in everything: he needs all things to be written in a diary, so that there is order on the computer desktop and in your closet, he needs a clear schedule of the day, he needs to understand what time he will be fed.

Do you know, for example, that clutter in a room directly affects excess weight? This makes sense: the more disorder, the more stress and entropy. So take the time to create structure throughout.

Don't forget about empathy

And one more thing that helps us to concentrate. Empathy and deep, harmonious relationships with people make us more balanced and focused.

When we take care of other people, we feel calm and happy. So another way to stay focused is to have a sincere desire to help other people.

What is the bottom line

Today it is critically important to be able to control your mind, to develop it in accordance with your desires, and not according to other people's whims, to be able to resist the sucking effect of the maelstrom of useless information, useless ideas and idle chatter. Having developed in yourself the ability to a state that allows you not only to create new ideas, but also to bring them to a real embodiment, you will be able to manage life, not allowing it to rule you.

Concentrate on good ideas. And truly take control of your life.

Based on materials from the book "".