Creativity and Focus

Creativity and Focus.

Focus increases the return on investment you get on the effort you put into an activity.

Focus gives you a guide as to how wide and how deep to go into things and when.  

Focus and concentration go hand in hand: they help channel your curiosity.

Focus is the ability to concentrate on a specific task, idea, or problem, so you give it the full attention it needs. By focusing you can direct your mental and emotional energy towards finding innovative solutions and generating new ideas.

Focus is an enabler for directed creativity. Creativity tends to fly off in all directions when it starts to flow, so focus will not only give you depth but direction.

What Focus is about:

?Prioritising: Agreeing with yourself what tasks or problems are most important and then allocating your time and resources.

?Concentrating: Giving your complete attention to the task and not allowing distractions or other thoughts to get in your way.

?Persisting: Maintaining your levels of effort to the task, even when it gets hard and/or slow.

?Deeper thinking: Taking the time to go into more detail about the task or subject, not just skimming the surface with the obvious, simple or visible. Getting to the roots.

What Focus Isn't about:

?Multitasking: Contrary to popular belief, it is not about doing multiple tasks simultaneously.

?Rigidity: Focus doesn't mean being inflexible or resistant to change or locked in a particular direction. A focused person can be open to new ideas and adapt their approach as needed.

?Isolation: Focus doesn’t mean working alone. Focused collaboration with others in teams can lead to better ideas and creative solutions.

??A focused mind is more likely to effectively solve problems and find creative solutions.

By focusing our mental resources on a specific issue, we can work through the information, analyse different options, and identify possible solutions. This allows us to review the information and apply our creative thinking to the knowledge in front of us. Our imagination or inspiration will then be able to give us with innovative ways forward. At this point, we need to stop and evaluate. Who hasn’t had a great idea that didn’t turn out so marvellous in the end? Focus, focus, focus on everything including the evaluation of inspiration. Get it right and it will lead to breakthroughs in both your life and work.

Creative thinking needs us to explore new options, connecting seemingly unrelated concepts, information or ideas. Proper focus allows us to find the connections and then delve deeper, identifying patterns and links that are not immediately obvious. By fully focusing our attention on a specific area, we can apply 100% of our mental horsepower to the challenge.  

The Creative road is not smooth and straight there are always rocks in the road in the form of disbelievers, challenges, and setbacks. A strong focus can help you stay committed to your goals and carry on in the face of adversity. Don’t confuse focus with not being open-minded. Total focus on the goal and also total open-mindedness on the way to get there.  By concentrating on our objectives, we develop resilience (focus) and adaptability (open-mindedness) and push through or around obstacles (rocks) to a successful outcome.

Focus also plays a crucial role in learning and personal growth. Focusing our attention to build new skills or knowledge means we can expand our creative capacities and better understand the world around us. A wider deeper understanding gives us access to knowledge/expertise are the foundations for creativity.  All learning and development is an investment in your future, treat it with the seriousness it deserves.

I read Geology at University and did not give it the focus or intensity it deserved. Yes, I got my degree, but I learnt in a style that enabled me to pass the exams, not to remember, absorb and bring the learning within me. Now I even struggle to remember the basics, such as the Geological table. I had a fabulous time, enjoyed myself to the full and met my future wife, but academically, I let myself down through one thing – a lack of focus.  

In the world of work, focus is needed for effective collaboration. By focusing on a clear goal or task, team members can pool their unique skills and knowledge, enabling creativity and then innovation. A focused team is more likely to communicate effectively, exchange ideas, and arrive at creative solutions that drive success both faster and better.

Focus is a simple concept, but hard to improve. Here are two exercises to help improve your Focus levels.

Focus Exercises 1?? - Mindfulness meditation.

No post on focus would be complete without a mention of Mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation is a super powerful tool for improving your focus and mental clarity. It is something we all struggle with in the busy modern world. It is such an issue we now have a Mindfulness industry that has grown up over the last few decades.  By practising mindfulness, you can train your mind to be more present and attentive, making it easier to concentrate on creative tasks.

Set aside 10-15 minutes each day to practice mindfulness meditation. Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and focus on your breath. When your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the present moment without judgment.

Life is all about choices. You can choose to find 10-15 minutes in your day to practice mindfulness meditation or not. I have spent my entire working life in Construction Contracting, not the kind of working environment you would normally associate with Mindful meditation, but it works here and works well.

Focus Exercises 2?? - The Pomodoro Technique by Francesco Cirillo

This is a time management method that involves breaking work into short, focused intervals (usually 25 minutes) followed by a brief break. This approach can help improve concentration and productivity, providing dedicated time to immerse yourself in creative tasks. It is a variation on a theme practised by both Benjamin Franklin and Elon Musk.

 To practice the Pomodoro Technique, choose a task, set a timer for 25 minutes, and work on the task without interruption, with total focus. After the timer goes off, take a 5-minute break before starting the next Pomodoro. After four Pomodoro’s take a 25-30 minute break. For the curious, Pomodoro is Italian for Tomato, and of course, you now need to ask why Cirillo used the word Pomodoro? Well, the timer in his kitchen was tomato shaped! Why was it tomato shaped? Hold on now, we are getting distracted and letting curiosity lose our focus!

Talking of which….

Distractions – the enemy of focus.

Eliminate distractions

We live in a world where distractions are everywhere and they can and will rob us of our ability to focus. To improve focus and assist with our creative thinking, create a space that minimizes distractions. Set your phone to "Do Not Disturb," don’t just close irrelevant browser tabs but log off, and make a quiet, tidy space for work and thinking. Removing distractions, you'll be better able to focus on the task at hand, allowing your creativity to flow freely.

However, one size does not fit all...so

Embrace distractions.

We live in a world where distractions are everywhere and they can and will rob us of our ability to focus. To improve your focus levels learn to deal with it, learn to find your inner quiet space, when all around you things are happening, moving and changing remain focused. This skill will serve you on busy trains, in offices and at home with the TV on. JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter in a coffee shop, so it is possible. I have worked in busy Construction site cabins with doors opening and closing, drilling, and shouting always constantly going on around me.  Find your focus and choose not to be distracted.

Try and practice both so you can focus effectively in either environment. You cannot always control your environment, but you can control how you choose to respond.