I bet everyone, at least once in their lives, started working with a huge motivation, focused 100% on what was going to be a phenomenal job!
I am wrong? Of course not: maximum motivation, total focus and… dlin dlin!!!
“Wait a moment Diego, I just received a message on WhatsApp, I need to check it out… Wow, you can't imagine what a cool thing that happened, we got tickets to watch Rock in Rio. Better to look for a ticket soon here on the internet so that I'm not worried and I can start working. Perfect, now I can start… Wait, I need to call João, he's going to love it. He really loved it, now the work is going to flow… Wow, it's already 11:35, it's not even worth starting because soon I'm going to have lunch…”
Now tell the truth, have you ever been in a similar situation? Yes you, it's you I'm talking to, it's no use looking up (lol). You can rest assured that we all lose focus at least once in our lives, the important thing is not to make these distractions a habit because this would earn us a less coveted title, namely “the most unfocused Procrastinator of the year”!
Any activity you do, whether at work, study, sport or personal life, if you don't learn to focus, you will hardly reach your most important goals.
That's exactly why I want to propose you five useful techniques to improve focus and, if you make it to the end, I'll tell you a secret, a real magic that will keep you from any kind of procrastination.
May I have your attention? Yea?
Okay, thank you very much, so let's start our journey through the five techniques.
5 Techniques to focus
Several times I said that our mind is a muscle and just as the muscles of the body need to train to maintain health and good physical condition, the mind also needs to train to maintain focus and determination.
Here you will find five practical exercises that applied constantly will produce surprising results; choose yours.
foot technique
Today we live in a world that sends us hundreds of stimuli every moment and keeping focused is often a big challenge. The cell phone rings, the whatsapp beeps, the facebook notification vibrates, in short, only a Buddhist monk would be able to stay focused in a similar situation, right?
To avoid these distractions Olivia Fox Cabane, author of The Charisma Myth, suggests putting our focus on our toes. Yes, I'm not kidding, she said on her fingers! This simple gesture helps us quickly put our attention in the “now” and improve our focus. If you don't believe it, try it.
focused reading
Reading is certainly one of the activities that needs more focus, whether it's professional or personal reading. It doesn't matter what you're reading because reading without focus makes reading a waste of time.
To improve focus while reading, you can read a paragraph, or a brief part of the text, and then summarize what you have just read with a brief sentence (maximum 25 words). Being able to reduce a 700-800 word paragraph into a single sentence stimulates focus and accelerates learning.
Another type of focused reading, useful for those in a hurry, is to read the first sentence of the chapter you are studying with the intention of writing the same sentence as it is written in the book. This simple exercise helps the mind to achieve a high degree of attention that can be enjoyed throughout the entire reading.
heart technique
Before starting any activity that needs a lot of focus, lie down and relax your body. Feel your muscles and after about 60 seconds put your attention on your heart. Listen to your heartbeat, imagine and visualize your heart distributing blood throughout your body, feel this vital fluid reaching the extremities of your body.
You should quickly feel a slight heat, continue visualizing your circulation for a few minutes and then slowly open your eyes and start moving your body. Now she can get up very calmly and start working full of positive energy and focus.
tangerine technique
This seven-step technique that you can find in Paul Scheele’s book “Photo Reading” is really great for stimulating focus and relatively simple to be self-applied as follows:
- Sit comfortably in a chair, leaning your back against the backrest and placing your feet on the floor. She closes her eyes.
- Breathe deeply three times.
- You begin to visualize in front of you a ripe tangerine. To make the image clearer, use your five senses: see the tangerine with its typical orange color, perceive the smell and, when touching it, run your fingers over its wrinkled skin.
- Take confidence with this image and pass the tangerine from one hand to the other.
- Now, always mentally, take the tangerine in your right hand and slowly place it over your head at a height of approximately 10-15 cm.
- Imagine that the tangerine has power and can float peacefully above your head.
- Until when the tangerine will be floating you will be in a state of focus and full attention.
This technique works because it manages to combine something that we cannot physically touch, such as attention, to a physical and concrete thing like the tangerine that we have touched at least once in our lives.
Meditation mindfulness
Meditation is scientifically recognized as a concrete technique of well-being that has a positive effect even if it is practiced only 10 minutes each day. Practicing mindfulness meditation encourages mindfulness with a focus on the now, increases mental flexibility and resilience.
We have reached the end of the five techniques and I believe you are curious to know the secret, right?
Really for having come this far you deserve to know!
the secret is you, the secret is to believe in the importance of what you want to do, the secret is to attribute value to each of your actions, the secret is to practice the technique that works the most for you, the secret is to share and donate what you know so that your energy can be move out of you and come back enriched.
You have all the qualities you need to have, so if you want and train you will have mindfulness, happiness and success.
Whatever technique you use, always remember that mindfulness is the best medicine against failure, so have a day full of focus.
To the next!
