Do you have a problem with focus? I know that this is a likely “yes” for a highly sensitive person! We can be easily distracted by our thoughts, emotions, or something in our environment. It doesn’t take much for us to get off track.
Random thoughts, family, economic, personal problems, chaotic situations, or even just our curiosity compete for our attention. Can we filter out some things and focus on others? We can with the right mindset. Here are some suggestions:
- Determine why you want to focus on something. Why is it important to you? Is this the best use of your time at this moment? The more reasons you can give yourself for moving this to the top of your priority list, the more motivated you’ll be to stayed focused.
- If you feel that your focus is waning, examine your energy level. Concentrating takes the mental effort, and fatigue is an arch enemy of focus. Get more rest, have a healthy snack, or tackle this project when your mind is clearer.
- Are you bored? If so, your attention span requires even more effort and willpower. Highly sensitive people are deep thinkers and can become easily bored when something seems trivial or mundane. Remind yourself of the benefits of getting this done. Eliminate distractions, and set small goals so you can feel a sense of accomplishment.
- Be honest with yourself as to whether you’re happier being a starter or a finisher. Your strength might be to start projects and have other people finish them. Can you delegate tasks to someone else, or hire someone to help you? Or perhaps you’re better at finishing and maintaining the projects of others. This is important for you to determine. Too many unfinished projects put an unnecessary burden on your ability to focus.
- Put yourself in your best environment to concentrate. Do you need a quiet and uncluttered space? What time of day to you have the most energy? What else can you do to prevent distractions?
- Build in breaks for your focus time. For most of us, concentration drops off after twenty to thirty minutes. To re-energize yourself, stretch or take a short walk.
Do you have a problem with focus? I’m interested in any thoughts or comments that you have.
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Two of the ones I relate to most..YES…I’ve always needed quiet and decluttered work space, so I make sure I have these things when doing a mental task, especially. YES, I need to build in breaks. And I also know my best “mental space” and physical energy too, is early morning until about 3pm, so that’s when I do the hard stuff. If I haven’t made that important phone call by 3pm, and it can wait until the next morning, that’s what I do. I’m more “on my game” then.
I’m SO easily scattered, and focus is an effort for me, as my mind takes in a LOT all at once, and thinks deeply about it all! But, you do have to find ways to mitigate for yourself whatever are your weak spots for focus, or whatever is distracting or energy draining for you.
Hi Amy,
I relate to what you said about being easily scattered. Setting priorities are the key to not being easily overwhelmed. Working with our biological clocks makes it easier for us to focus on cerain tasks. My mind is clearer in the morning to take care of “thinking” tasks.. Knowing ourselves better will help us become less distracted and have less energy drain.
I definitely relate to this article , it is like you saw into my mind.
The morning is my best time with that first cup of coffee. I read, make notes as things pop into my head, organize my day – as much as i can and pray about the interruptions that will come. Right now, I am on my front porch. It is overcast, breezy, chimes are clinging and rain is on the way. PERFECT start for a day.
Love your articles – so glad you are there for us.
PS
I stumbled onto a you tube/ted talk on the Pomodoro Technique. That worked well for me during a month or two, but like you said above- clutter/distractions, etc get in the way.
Hi Elizabeth,
I WAS reading your mind, because we’re probably so much alike! LOL
I’m a morning person too.
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Thank you for mentioning The Pomodoro Technique about 20% of our time is best spent on important tasks than the other 80% of tasks that drain us.
I’m always looking for suggestions on topics to write about. Can you think of any?