Forward Focus: How to Concentrate on What Will Matter in the Long Run

Do you have a challenge concentrating? Do you have good intentions but then get distracted by other priorities? Would you like a way to focus on what really matters?

You might want to follow Poet Laureate W.S. Merwin's example.

As Executive Director of the Maui Writers Conference, I had an opportunity to spend time with Merwin at our Presenters Reception. I was working on a book about how to concentrate, and under a full moon shining through the palm trees on Kapalua Beach, I asked, "What role has focus played in your life?”

I'm paraphrasing here because I did not write down what he said (that’ll teach me), however the gist of his remarks was that choosing to go all in on his craft was the best decision he made on behalf of his career.

As the winner of two Pulitzers and a National Book Award, Merwin received dozens of invitations every week. He realized that continuing to live in NYC would make it oh-so easy to become part of the “glitterati,” and that if he did, his work would suffer as a result.

So, he and his wife Paula moved to Maui to live a simpler life, to raise palm trees and immerse themselves in Nature so they could give their full attention to their true priorities.

I thought, "There’s a man who knows what is important to him."

I’ve come to believe this is one of the biggest challenges we face as creatives - being torn between craft and commerce. If we don't consciously hold ourselves accountable for focusing on our "true work," our priority projects may never get out the door.

It is up to us to take charge of our circumstances and to create an environment conducive to completing our projects so, like Merwin, we produce results, not regrets.

Are you taking your art seriously or are you allowing distractions to pull you off course?

If you have a body of work you believe will add value - whether that's a book, startup, or passion project - it's up to you to devote yourself to it instead of allowing yourself to fritter away your time and talent on activities that won’t contribute to the greater good.

You may be thinking, “I agree with this in theory; it’s tough to do in practice.”

Agreed. Which is why it is important to clarify what you will - and won't - focus on.

Here are a few best-practices from my ConZentrate book on how to stay focused on - and finish - your priority project so you get it out in the world where it can make a positive difference for others and a prosperous living for you.

1. Reduce time on social media. Reviews.org reports that 47% of people admit they're addicted to their phones and check it every ten minutes. To what purpose? How much time do you spend online every day? When you look back at the end of your life, will those thousands of hours have made an enduring difference? Commit right now to social media policies that counteract this addiction. For example, check social media only AFTER you finish an assignment, or after you work for three hours, instead of dozens of times a day.

2. Wake and Work. Wake and Work means exactly what you think. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200. Get up, grab your cup of coffee or tea, sit down and apply what Power of One author Bryce Courtenay called, "Bum glue." Tackle other tasks only after you have produced something tangible to show for your efforts. The Psychology of Completion says we get a boost in self esteem every time we finish something. Rewarded behavior gets repeated. If every time you sit down to write, you complete two new pages, you set up pace and forward momentum. This feeling of progress and achievement gets you out of inertia and makes you eager to come back and pick up where you left off.

3. Find your Third Place. The science of Ergonomics (the study of how our environment influences our effectiveness) says your home is your 1st Place and your office is your 2nd Place. If you work on your creative project at your home/office, that’s your First and Second Place. Ergonomic experts say it’s almost impossible to stay focused there because people keep interrupting you and your surroundings keep reminding you of tasks and chores you customarily do in that space.

Your Third Place (a nearby coffee shop? local library?) is a public place where you can work in private. Working exclusively on your project in your Third Place becomes a repeated ritual (Does the name Pavlov ring a bell?) which fast-forwards flow. Many clients tell me their Third Place is their saving grace because it's the only space where they can temporarily escape job/family responsibilities and make their creative priority their top priority.

4. Forward focus. If you're tempted to procrastinate, anticipate how glad you will be you finished this. Put a launch date on the calendar and picture how proud you'll be to have completed this and how happy you'll be to share this with others. Remember, distractions are momentary, a completed, quality body of work is forever.

5. Put boundaries around your accessibility. Like Merwin, do you get a lot of invitations and find it difficult to say no? It's important to give back and support others. Yet, if you keep saying yes, your creative project gets set aside, perpetually and permanently.

Remember the movie The Graduate when a family friend draped his arm around Dustin Hoffman's shoulder and said, "I've got one word for you. Plastics."

When it comes to boundaries, I've got one word for you. METRICS. If your boundaries aren't measurable, they're not manageable.

Set aside a certain number of days a week (month?) you are available for appointments. Then block off specific days (or hours on specific days) you will go to your Third Place and immerse yourself in your priority project.

Create an automatic email response that lets people know you're dedicating the next few weeks/months to a priority project, and you're available on the following days/times, and thank them for their understanding and support.

You may worry you will offend people by taking yourself off the grid. Ask yourself, “What is the long-term cost of supporting everyone else’s priorities and not my own?"

I am not suggesting you become anti-social.

W.S. Merwin wasn't a hermit or a recluse; he was simply selective about his accessibility and balanced requests for his time with his dedication to his poetry, which kept the light on in his eyes and kept him contributing at his highest level.

(By the way, there's a word for this. It's called being an ambivert - someone who thrives on a balance of solitude and socialization. I think that's what many of us creatives are.)

Pablo Picasso said, "The purpose of life is to find your gifts, the meaning is to give them away."

Are you contributing your creative gifts or continuously setting them aside and promising you'll get to them, someday? As you know, someday is not a day in the week. (I feel so strongly about that, I wrote a whole book about it. Smile.)

It's not too late to clarify what will matter in the long run - and start concentrating on it.

It's only too late if you don't start now.