It has always been observed that whenever an artist is painting a beautiful face, doesn’t remember to iron his clothes. A formula one driver doesn’t think of upcoming movie while taking over his competitor. And same is the case with any musician, doesn’t recall how full his gas tank was while completing his perfect tune.
It is always such intense focus that could lead anyone to lose over the existence of his/her surrounding. Focus can make you forget all the tiny bitty things you may come across while chasing what you love to accomplish. Just like an interesting book can make you swim through its words, not paying attention to any other thing.
However, this should also be seen other way round that how weak your mental connections are to “something” that you perceive as “goals”. Like a small housefly can be a piece of artwork while studying something. Or a minor honking car could result in rage while working on something officially important. We often welcome all kinds of distractions we come across, while doing something that is rather imposed on us.
But question is, what makes us love something that we love doing with such focus that we lose control of the time? Can we learn to control it? What if we could focus with such intensity on anything we want to accomplish?
Here I would say that any such activity, that a person does with such attention, has always been in connection with a clear vision of either the past or the future. For example, if I can sketch with great interest, it is most likely that such person had been appreciated above his/her expectation and hence resulting in pursuing the next sketch with even more curiosity and enthusiasm, since the appreciation could be an addictive compliment.
Similarly, a clear vision of a potential reward that would be achieved in future after a well devised series of plans, could lead a man to give everything he got for it. He’ll even be ready to give up his/her sleep, money and restrict relationships. Focus will then be a small cost.
Question still remains that can we accumulate and apply such intense focus on some things that we clearly know, are imposed on us? The answer is always Yes! With almost all the old school methods and practice. But what I want to point out is something that is commonly ignored while applying such techniques.
What to Focus on?
One of the common mistake as the Steve Jobs said, “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.” We all want to achieve handsome target, but we never give a thought about giving up all the unnecessary activities that can be clearly forgiven.
Do you really want it?
Your preparation about a particular activity can tell to a good degree about your seriousness about the matter. You’ve got to be equipped with all the necessary things you’re gonna need during the process. You’ve got to prepare or pick the suitable environment to do so. Leonardo Da Vinci wouldn’t be painting Mona Lisa on a busy road side, cmon!
How tough are you?
How easy are you or are ready to be distracted from tiny little things? Keep yourself away from distractions like unnecessary opened tabs, mobile dings, email clicks etc. Always remember that it is always easy to get distracted but hardest to get the focus back. Studies show that once the focus is lost, it take approx 25 minutes to regain it fully back.
Don’t rush!
When you’re trying to focus on something that is imposed on you, don’t rush to just swallow all the work in one night and become a master in it the next day. Every task is well taken by your mind when it is in chunks and short sessions. A little break is need in order to avoid the brain getting bored and making it habitual for regaining the focus to a particular thing. Repetitions always affect the state of the subconscious mind which helps in achieving the goal quite efficiently.
Meditate
Meditation is done in different forms. The point of it however is always the same. To minimize and restrict the attention to few peaceful things alone only. It is only when you’re thinking about the nature’s magic of turning a larva into a butterfly, 15 minutes have already been passed. Regularly meditating helps you to stay focus on single tasks needed to complete for the next step and don’t let you put your mind into delusion of multi-tasking.
Checklists
Don’t occupy the mind with what you can remember with other means. Have checklists to free up your mind to think about somethings useful for your purpose. It also develop a sense of accomplishment when you start to tick a few.
Practice has always been the key, but never let die the purpose for which you want to do something. If there isn’t any, read and research about it, till you get the full knowledge about the topic. This is the only way to fully understand the basis of a particular topic and hence requiring your focus to achieve something “now” meaningful to your mind.
