Staying Focused

Have you tried speaking on the phone while driving? You mustn't, as it is illegal, but in case you have, you might have missed a turn, unless the route you are following is a routine one. Do you know why? As our "conscious brain" works best when it is made to work "one task at a time" (functionally, the human brain can be segmented into two parts - conscious, and subconscious). When the "conscious brain" is simultaneously assigned with multiple tasks, it falters and commits mistakes. But why? It is all about "efficiency". The human brain with just 2% of the body mass, consumes 20% of the total available energy. Hence, the "one task at a time approach" allows the "conscious brain" to operate at an optimal energy, thereby minimizing food intake. But our mind hardly remains in control. It keeps wandering, and in the process, we lose focus, thereby resulting in mistakes and decreased productivity. Given this, what do we do to stay focused?

Avoid Multitasking

Multitasking is a bad idea unless the subconscious mind has been sufficiently trained for the specific task. As in that situation, one doesn't have to think (apply our conscious brain). Since the task will be automatically driven by the "unconscious brain". But there is a downside to this approach, i.e no fine tuning/tweaking is possible. As to enable that, one needs to apply the "conscious brain". Hence, for new tasks (like reading a book or learning a new skill etc), we need to tackle them sequentially in incremental chunks until some meaningful progress has been made.

Generate Interest

Inculcating interest helps, but why? The reason - "Interest" can act as a strong anchor to help us stay focused on the task at hand. Without "interest", the task will become boring and the mind soon wanders into other things. But what do we do to trigger interest? First, we need to cross the initial "mental barrier" by using our "willpower". As having accomplished that, the task will become more familiar, thereby triggering our interest. But the real challenge is to keep this interest alive. We can achieve this through the following steps.

Set Achievable Goals

Setting goals enable us to measure progress, thereby keeping our interest alive in that activity. Without incremental goals, the mind will soon be dragged into other things. But it is important that the goals are achievable. If not, we will lose interest, and lose focus in that activity.

Keep Innovating

One needs to keep innovating (finding new ways to do the same task) in order to stay interested. But how does this help? As innovation cuts routine/boredom, by inventing new processes to carry out the same task. This also triggers within us a "sense of accomplishment" and help us to stay focused.

Inculcate Habits

All tasks (especially those which are receptive in nature) should finally get translated into habits. This will reduce the load on the "conscious brain" and will ensure some level of multitasking, thereby enhancing productivity. Once the output is increased, our interests will sustain and help us keep our focus on that activity.

These five steps can help us stay focused, thereby greatly increase our productivity. Hope you will find these useful.