7 Habits of Highly-Focused People

"Tell me to what you pay attention, and I will tell you who you are." - Jose Ortega Y Gasset

We live in distracting times. So, how are we supposed to pay attention to our priorities when we're pulled in a dozen different directions at once? These seven habits (tips) can help.

Habit 1: Find Your Flow

Is it hard for you to concentrate when it’s quiet? You're not alone. You’ve heard the saying “Silence is deafening?” Well, for some people, silence is distracting because it’s uncommon, especially if you grew up in a chaotic home where noise was your norm.

If something is familiar, your mind can safely ignore it. But if something around you is new, your mind keeps checking it out to see if there’s any risk it needs to attend to.

What that means is, if silence is unfamiliar is not your norm, your mind keeps noticing it and distracting you from your work. The good news is, there’s an antidote to this. Music.

My friend Paul Pearsall wrote The Beethoven Factor, which proves that people who listen to music at a low level learn faster, score better on tests, and retain more of what they study.

If you find it hard to focus, play music that builds a baseline of sound so you are no longer distracted by what Simon and Garfunkel called “The Sounds of Silence.”

Plato said, “Music gives wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”

If you want to give wings to your mind, flight to your imagination, and life to your work, play music in the background today to find the flow that facilitates focus.

Habit 2: Order Your Mind

Does your mind have a mind of its own? Do you tell it what to do and it ignores you? When my sons were 9 and 10, I surprised them with the puppy they’d been wanting. Within days of getting our energetic Jack Russell, we realized he needed to be trained or we were going to have a “reign of terrier.”

As long as we were playing with JR, our house was not at risk. If we weren’t, everything was fair game, shoes, socks, couch corners. He was constantly in motion, seeking the next newest play toy. This was a metaphor begging to happen.

JR's distractibility was similar to ours. Our thoughts are also constantly in motion, exploring this and that, seeking mental play things. If we want control rather than chaos, we need to manage our mental energy.

The key is training our brain is to understand our brain takes orders. But the orders have to be specific, not vague. Our mind needs a start time, end time and a measurable deliverable so it knows exactly what it is supposed to do.

For example, “I really need to work on that project” is wishful thinking, not an order. Say, “I will sit down at 9 and work to 11 and answer at least 20 emails.”

If you’re susceptible to play things, remove them so they’re out-of-sight, out-of-mind. We use to put JR's squeaky toys up on the kitchen counter out of sight so he couldn't play with them in the middle of the night. If you really want to complete that task, put your phone in another room so you are not tempted, like JR, to play with the socks (aka social media).

Habit 3: Compartmentalize

Do you have a lot competing for your time and mind? Follow Napoleon’s example. He saw his mind as a chest of drawers and never had more than one drawer open at a time. “When I wish to interrupt one train of thought, I shut that drawer and open another. When I wish to go to sleep, I simply close all my drawers.”

You can focus if you put your mind to it, and if you triage your time. If something occurs to you, ask if it's more important than what you’re currently doing. If so, go ahead and switch your attention. If not, use The Godfather Plan and make your mind a deal it can’t refuse.

Don’t say “I won’t think about that now" because telling your mind what not to do guarantees it will keep thinking about the very think you don't want to think about). Compartmentalize it by prescribing a specific time you will attend to it. For example, “I will work on that at 2 pm after the staff meeting today.”

You can concentrate - even when juggling many balls - as long as you don’t try to chase all those balls at once.

Habit 4: Use Pavlovian Rituals

Does the name Pavlov ring a bell? (Some of these I just do for myself:-)

Most professional athletes have a ritual they repeat that helps them drop into the zone.

Tennis players bounce the ball three times before serving. Musicians tune their instruments before playing. Surgeons gown-up before operating. These Pavlovian rituals alert their brain to fully focus on one thing instead of multiple things.

What Pavlovian ritual do you use to tell your brain it’s time to get down to business? You might want to remove everything from your desk that is not your #1 priority so it’s, literally and figuratively, out of sight, out of mind.

Or, use your hands as blinkers. Trainers put blinkers on race horses so they’re not distracted by the horses running around them. You can do something similar by placing your hands on each side of your face. I become a physical ritual that blocks out your surroundings.

Habit 5: S-T-R-E-T-C-H Your Attention Span

My father used to tell me, “Sam, there are two kinds of people: those who have learned how to work through frustration, and those who wish they had.” Smart man. (And good dad.)

From now on, if you're frustrated and want to quit, do 5 MORE. Write 5 more paragraphs. Make 5 more calls. Handle 5 more customer tickets.

Athletes build physical stamina by pushing past the point of exhaustion. You can build mental stamina by pushing past the point of frustration. Athletes get their second WIND by not giving up their body is tired. You can get your second MIND by not giving up when your brain is tired.

Continuing to focus when you don’t feel like it is the key to S-T-R-E-T-C-H'ing your attention span - for good.

Chris Everett‘s dad used this technique to teach her how continue to concentrate - even when she didn’t feel like it. When practicing tennis under the hot Florida sun and she was ready to stop, he would say, “Get five more first serves in, then you can quit." Her ability to concentrate - even when she felt like quitting- gave her a competitive edge that helped her become a champion.

Habit #6: Eliminate Procrastination

Comedian Judy Tenuta said, “My parents always told me I wouldn’t amount to anything because I procrastinated so much. I told them, ‘Just you wait.” Highly-focused people don’t wait, they initiate. Is there something you’re procrastinating on? Ask yourself:

1. Do I have to do this?

2. Do I want it done so it’s not hanging over my head and making me feel guilty?

3. Will it be any easier later?

If you have to do it, want a load off your mind, and it won’t be easier later, DO IT NOW.

Highly-focused people do not waste their valuable time and mind putting things off; they get it done now, not later. A participant used this technique while driving home from our workshop. She told me, "I noticed a gas station up ahead, glanced at my gas gauge, saw it was almost empty and told myself, 'I should really get some gas.'

Then I thought, 'I'll get it tomorrow.' I remembered your tip and asked, "Do I have to get gas? Yes. Do I want to get it now so I don't have to worry about running out on the freeway? Yes. Will it be easier to get gas tomorrow? No. I'm in front of a gas station right now! So, I got the gas and I'm glad I did. Those 3 questions work!"

Habit #7: Direct Attention Through Your Eyes

See your mind as a camera and your eyes as the aperture. If your eyes are unfocused, you will be unfocused. If your eyes are all over the place, your mind will be all over the place. If you want to be instantly present, see someone or something as if for the first or last time.

I learned this one night years ago while putting my young sons to bed. We were doing our nightly ritual. I read a story, we said our “Thankfuls,” and I was giving them a backrub. And even though I was sitting right next to them, I was a million miles away in my mind.

Because I wasn't really looking at them. I was internally focused. I was leaving early the next morning for a conference and was preoccupied with, “Have I packed my handouts? What time does the plane leave?”

Then, my mind came down through my eyes and all I saw was Tom and Andrew. In an instant, an ordinary moment became an extraordinary moment. I was suffused with wonder, with love, and with appreciation for how very blessed I was to be their mom.

Next time your mind is all over the map, direct your eyes to someone and see them as if for the first or last time. You will instantly be here and now vs. here, there and everywhere.

And yes, (smile), if you noticed these 7 habits spell out F.O.C.U.S.E.D., you're right.

Habit 1: F = Find Your Flow

Habit 2: O = Order Your Mind

Habit 3: C = Compartmentalize

Habit 4: U = Use Pavlovian Rituals

Habit 5: S = T-R-E-T-C-H Your Attention Span

Habit #6: E = Eliminate Procrastination

Habit #7: D = Direct Attention Through Your Eyes

Hope you find these habits helpful and they help you make your mind ... mind. Want a free PDF of these 7 Habits of Highly-Focused People to post so they stay in-sight, in-mind? Request it from my Business Manager Cheri Grimm at [email protected]