Strategies for Dealing with Lack of Focus

What things should I eliminate to simplify my life enough to make it easier to focus?

Do you struggle to focus on your tasks at work and finish them? Are you often distracted by phone notifications, social media gossip, or anything random?

In this case, you and I are the same. Because focusing on just one thing is one of the hardest things in the workplace.

There's always bound to be something bothering you or messing up your focus, right?

– Someone else,
– A phone call
– Meeting
– A false emergency
– Yourself
– A stranger's cat
– News about last night's NBA or Football matches

Of course, you can blame such things, but this is a weakness. We both know that these things can never bother you without your permission.

This means you can't focus enough; It means you are allowing someone or something to enter your mind.

This is a scary thing, isn't it?

This is how I look at the problem of focus. But I have to admit that I can't always focus. Sometimes I surrender to this situation. This is not good, of course.

Surely your life wouldn't benefit from gossiping, checking Instagram 439 times a day or more, watching 49 YouTube videos, and reading negative news.

So what can you do to improve your focus? Here are 2 things I always do when I can't focus on what's important…

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1| Sift, Sift, Sift

We collect something every day. I'm not just talking about the things you buy here, like clothes, kitchen supplies, home decorations, toys, and gadgets.

For example, we collect ideas.

Have you ever thought about this? We are exposed to so many ideas that we adopt some of them and make them our own.

For example, many people request that I create more YouTube videos. My family, my friends, my team members, my readers, my students, everyone has some ideas. And they want to help, too.

Likewise, I share my ideas with others. These are ideas on how you can improve your life, career, business or relationships. We all do this in some way, albeit differently. And there's nothing wrong with that, frankly.

But what is wrong at this point is that if you do not filter and eliminate the input you receive from people, problems may arise. After hearing from people that I should make YouTube videos, I said to myself, “Hey! I should make YouTube videos!” I thought.

And I've been thinking about this a lot for the last six months. I also spent a lot of time creating a strategy.

– “What should my videos be about?
– “Where should I save it?”
– “How should I organize it?”
– “What music should I use?”

I'm working hard on this right now. And I also recently released a video. The feedback is obviously positive so far.

I have only one problem: It requires too much attention and time. As a result, I'm having to spend less time writing, podcasting, and creating new courses.

And frankly, these are exactly the things I want to do. I started a blog site for a reason: I love writing and I can say that I am good at it. Therefore, my current job is easier than creating YouTube videos, which is something I'm not that good at.

I also love writing articles, books, and materials for my online courses. Frankly, I don't care if I encounter some difficulties because I do it with love.

However, I get very angry and stressed while working on YouTube videos. And because of that, I had trouble focusing and my ongoing work suffered because of it.

So what did I do when I wasn't focused? I asked myself this question:

“What things should I eliminate to simplify my life enough to make it easier to focus?”

In this case, I stopped focusing on YouTube. Elimination is actually a key strategy that I use in many areas of my life.

We accumulate so many unnecessary things over the years that we constantly need to eliminate and remove them from our lives:

– Ideas
– Projects
– work
– Some objects (seats, tables, etc.)
– And similar things…

If you have trouble focusing, try this strategy. Simplify your life so much that living becomes a breeze.

And let's be honest with ourselves at this point. Who wants to live an impossible and difficult life? Life is hard enough as it is. Frankly, there is no point in making it any more difficult.

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2| Think about Past Successes and Happy Moments

Thinking about your past successes and happy moments increases the production of serotonin, a chemical hormone produced by our cells.

Serotonin is an essential chemical that affects every part of your body. Serotonin plays a big role in our body functions. But it also helps reduce depression, increase libido, balance mood, control sleep and regulate anxiety.

Serotonin also plays a big role in our overall well-being.

But at this point, serotonin is of great importance in your ability to focus. Serotonin also regulates delayed gratification. When your serotonin activity decreases, it can cause a lack of focus in the long run. In this case, you are less likely to act according to your plans.

When you lose focus, there is a good chance that your serotonin activity will be low. So you give in to short-term pleasures like going out, drinking, shopping, having sex, watching TV, or anything that gives you short-term pleasure.

Increase your serotonin activity to improve your focus. Research shows that physical exercise can do this. But another equally effective and much easier way would be to do a simple mental exercise.

In this mind exercise, all you have to do is remember the positive events that happened in the past.

Alex Korb, a neuroscientist at UCLA and author of “The Upward Spiral,” explains why remembering positive events helps you focus on what's important:

“All you have to do (to increase serotonin levels) is remember the positive events that have happened in your life. “This simple exercise increases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex, a region just behind the prefrontal cortex that controls attention.”

When serotonin rises, your focus increases. After all, that's what you're supposed to do.

I know it sounds cheesy, but when something goes wrong you have to fix it.

When I can't focus, the first thing I do is admit that I have a problem that needs a solution. Unfortunately, some people live their lives without admitting it, even though they know they have problems.

– No, it is not normal to check your phone every 2 minutes.
– No, it is not normal to gossip all the time.
– No, it is not normal to be bored.

Focus on your life. Think about what is important to you and you are the one who knows it best. Then do these things and don't get distracted so you don't lose focus.

Good luck…

Want to hear more about improving your focus? If your answer is yes, then you can listen to this podcast:

Darius Foroux