Just Get Focused
To many as well as myself, getting focused in our day is more challenging than ever. With social media, junk food, dating apps, and gaming you have a never-ending and endless option of entertainment at your hands. Just to give an example of how bleak the future is looking regarding our attention, economists are now taking into consideration the attention span of the new generation when making predictions for the future. As a species, we are getting less productive, lazier, fatter, dumber, and overall less aware of ourselves and our circumstances. How is one to survive in this modern age? Very simple.
Get Focused.
Spend your time and attention on things that help yourself and the world get better, and you will not only survive in this world but thrive.
So how do we get focused? Some people will say “Get rid of your smartphone, block the internet, delete social media, move into the forest, and take back your attention!!”. That’s certainly one way of doing it, and respect to you if you do! That requires guts and determination to go for it all the way. Certainly something I want to do myself at one point.
It can however be difficult for the average person to completely quit it altogether and “dumb down” their gadgets because they need some of the modern features they provide. Then it has become much more important to plan out what we give our attention to and how we can get the most out of it.
There are many approaches to this, and it will be very individual what works for each of us. I can’t vouch for methods I have not tried, so below I will let you in on my routine for getting a focused day:
1. The day before I work:
Write down a to-do list of the most important things I need/want to do the next day. If possible prepare any material you are using so you don’t have to search for it.
Example: At the moment I am taking some online courses. The day before I prepare only the tabs in the browser I need for the specific videos I am going to watch so that when I open them the next day, it’s there. If you have the option to download them, even better!
2 . Morning Routine
Drink 1/2 liter of water, workout/exercise, meditate, and read for 1 hour. Especially the exercise part is very important. You need to oxygenate your brain in the morning and get the blood flowing. This could mean going to the gym, 15 minute home workout, or even a 10-minute walk. Just something to kickstart yourself.
3. Execute on your to-do list in 90 minute intervals
There is a book called “The Power of Full Engagement”. This book talks about many things but one thing that is stresses is planning out your working time and rest time. Work in 90 minutes intervals, then take 15-minute breaks where you do something that rejuvenates you. Going for a walk, yoga, reading, journaling, and meditation are some of the things they suggest (no social media scrolling or youtube!). I definitely see a difference in my effectiveness when I plan out my working time like this.
What I am basically doing is applying many concepts of self-improvement that I have gotten through dozens of self-help books and incorporating them into my own life as I see fit. You don’t need do to it exactly the way I am doing it, but I hope at least you can take inspiration.
The most important takeaway from this is Just Get Focused. If you start implementing these steps or ANY steps towards focusing on your day and attention, you will see massive improvements in your life. I would dare to say 1 week is enough to see massive change.
…
Photo is the view from the common area in my sharehouse – Tokyo, Japan September 2023
If there is anything you would like more details on please let me know! Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope I managed to help you in any way or at least give you some inspiration for life improvement.