So let's talk about how to keep ourselves focused and maintain that focus.As I learned from Tony Schwartz, the co-author of the book "The Power of Full Engagement", which I recommend you read, the greatest power of the human mind is to focus on one thing at a time.We all know that we can only keep one thought or one idea in our conscious mind.Well, focusing on one thing over an extended period of time is what gives us great leverage; it's what allows us to get a lot done in our lives.The problem in the modern day is that there's a lot of distraction and interruption and other things competing for our attention, so we lose focus.And the great tragedy isn't that we just are losing the focus, but we're losing the ability to focus.So the first thing to do if you want to maintain focus is to practice maintaining focus.One of the most valuable lessons I've ever learned about time management is the idea to focus on one thing at a time for an extended period of time.I originally learned this from Peter Drucker who wrote The Effective Executive, and the idea here is that when you focus on one thing, you get a lot more done, the compounding effect of it is dramatic.And so the best thing to do is to set aside blocks of time, I recommend 60 to 90 minutes, minimum.I like to work in blocks of time of an hour, an hour, and then take a 30-minute break, an hour, an hour, and then a 30-minute break because the hour and then a couple of minute break, and then the hour and then a 30-minute break, it really operates with your natural rhythms of your body.One little secret that can dramatically increase your ability to focus is to schedule the breaks that you take.Ernest Rossi wrote a great book called "The 20-Minute Break" and the idea is that our bodies and our systems have these natural rhythms that they go through where we have high energy and low energy.And in the book, he talks about how every 90 to 120 minutes you want to take a break.That's why I like to work for an hour, another hour, and then take a 30-minute break because it kind of optimizes every two and a half hours.You could eat a meal, you can kind of relax, go for a walk or take a longer break.But somewhere in that every 90 to 120 minutes, schedule a break for yourself so that your body can kind of relax and your mind can tune out and your emotions can recover.When you schedule your breaks, you'll come back much more focused and much stronger.So to maintain focus, what you need to do is get rid of the distraction and interruption, schedule time blocks to work in, an hour, 90 minutes, 120 minutes, ideally, and then very importantly, schedule and take regular breaks.When you schedule and take regular breaks, you're honoring the way that your system works and you'll come back very strong from those breaks being able to maintain your focus for longer periods of time.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Keep Focus - Don't Lose Focus on Your Top Tasks
So let's talk about how to keep ourselves focused and maintain that focus.As I learned from Tony Schwartz, the co-author of the book "The Power of Full Engagement", which I recommend you read, the greatest power of the human mind is to focus on one thing at a time.We all know that we can only keep one thought or one idea in our conscious mind.Well, focusing on one thing over an extended period of time is what gives us great leverage; it's what allows us to get a lot done in our lives.The problem in the modern day is that there's a lot of distraction and interruption and other things competing for our attention, so we lose focus.And the great tragedy isn't that we just are losing the focus, but we're losing the ability to focus.So the first thing to do if you want to maintain focus is to practice maintaining focus.One of the most valuable lessons I've ever learned about time management is the idea to focus on one thing at a time for an extended period of time.I originally learned this from Peter Drucker who wrote The Effective Executive, and the idea here is that when you focus on one thing, you get a lot more done, the compounding effect of it is dramatic.And so the best thing to do is to set aside blocks of time, I recommend 60 to 90 minutes, minimum.I like to work in blocks of time of an hour, an hour, and then take a 30-minute break, an hour, an hour, and then a 30-minute break because the hour and then a couple of minute break, and then the hour and then a 30-minute break, it really operates with your natural rhythms of your body.One little secret that can dramatically increase your ability to focus is to schedule the breaks that you take.Ernest Rossi wrote a great book called "The 20-Minute Break" and the idea is that our bodies and our systems have these natural rhythms that they go through where we have high energy and low energy.And in the book, he talks about how every 90 to 120 minutes you want to take a break.That's why I like to work for an hour, another hour, and then take a 30-minute break because it kind of optimizes every two and a half hours.You could eat a meal, you can kind of relax, go for a walk or take a longer break.But somewhere in that every 90 to 120 minutes, schedule a break for yourself so that your body can kind of relax and your mind can tune out and your emotions can recover.When you schedule your breaks, you'll come back much more focused and much stronger.So to maintain focus, what you need to do is get rid of the distraction and interruption, schedule time blocks to work in, an hour, 90 minutes, 120 minutes, ideally, and then very importantly, schedule and take regular breaks.When you schedule and take regular breaks, you're honoring the way that your system works and you'll come back very strong from those breaks being able to maintain your focus for longer periods of time.
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