Focus

January Week 3: Focus

Does anyone else have a hard time focusing on a certain thing for a long period of time? I’m not talking about a movie or a sporting event that captures your attention with stimulating action packed sequences. What I’m talking about is a simple or mundane task that requires your undivided attentiveness. In today’s world, it is almost impossible for me to have complete 100% focus on anything. Everywhere I look, whether it be in reality or the meta verse (is that what they’re calling it now?), I come in contact with something trying to capture my attention. Advertisements, news headlines, social media updates, you name it. So when there is work to be done, how can one truly unplug and have laser focus on completing a task. As a self-employed musician where I have to spend a lot of time creating content in DAWs (digital audio workspace), video editing software or social media platforms, I have to spend a lot of time in front of a computer screen. I have instant access to anything I could possibly want in the world at the press of a button, and it’s a daily struggle to stay on task. However, I have found a strategy that works for me and my undiagnosed ADD brain, and I would like to share how I stay laser focused to get done what I need to get done.

• Feed the mind

Like your phone or laptop, your mind needs energy. I find that most everytime I use my laptop, I have it plugged into a charger so that it sustains charge as I work. I believe our mind is no different. The battery life on my attention span is constantly in the red, so I need something that gives my mind energy to help me sustain my focus. To feed my mind I listen to music, but not just any kind. I find that for my workflow and productivity, my focus is most effective when listening to smooth instrumental jazz. I try to stay away from anything too stimulating or exciting (like George Benson, who is by far my favorite jazz guitarist) and settle for jazz that is consistent in tempo and tonality. I find that my go to artist is Bill Evans, a jazz pianist who was met with great success playing for Miles Davis and John Coltrane, as well as having a successful solo career. His music has a way of transporting me to a place of tranquility and  healthy solitude, a similar feeling that reminds me of those floating salt water therapy bubbles. To be transported to the place in my mind allows me to be “on the charger” and gives me the mental energy and focus to crank out two or three hours of work at a time. 

• Feed your body

As important as it is to feed your mind, it’s also important to feed your body. To give our brain the extra working capacity, sustenance is required as a sort of fuel that helps keep your “engine” turning. That “engine” is your work ethic. Have you ever tried to focus on something when you’re hungry? Sometimes there is nothing more irritating than trying to work when your stomach is talking to you. Even right now as I write this blog, my stomach is lurching and growling, needing something, and it’s almost impossible to finish this… sentence (The ellipses indicate that I indeed got up and got some trail mix to tie me over until lunch time). The best of us can get hangry from time to time, and we all agree that when that happens it can also mean the worst parts of ourselves come to light. Getting irritated easily, being short with people and being disengaged are all byproducts of us being hangry. For myself, I have about 2 meals a day. In the morning my wife will make me a celery juice (which I don’t find tasty, but it’s good for you) and then leftovers for lunch. In our household we eat very healthy and mostly vegan, which is both a lifestyle choice and a health choice. And then we have a big meal at dinner. Then after dinner, the leftovers are stored for the next day’s lunch and the whole process is repeated the next day. As much as I try to stay within those scheduled eating times, If I find myself losing focus or needing something to eat I will indulge myself. I won’t go crazy, but I’ll get a bowl of chips, fruit or assorted nuts to snack on at my desk while I work. Sometimes, there is nothing more satisfying than work snacking, and it gives just enough boost to finish out my tasks and will carry me over until the next meal time. So do yourself a favor and feed your body, your stomach and mind will thank you.

• Take breaks

I’ve realized that working Americans are terrible at two things (there’s probably more than two things, but for the scope of this blog it’s only two), and those things are: taking vacations and taking breaks. I’m not saying this is all the workers' fault, as a lot of corporations and businesses in America do not see the need for long vacation times or breaks like in other parts of the world. Say within an eight or nine hour work day, you get one thirty minute  or hour break to eat lunch. That means potentially you work for four straight hours and then another 4 straight hours. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like madness to me. How can someone work longer than the runtime of the extended edition of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (my favorite movie). I realize that if you work in an office building, factory, warehouse, school or hospital, your breaks are not up to you. However, if you have any sliver of control over your work schedule, I would suggest that every hour you take a 10 minute break. Work hard for an hour, rest for 10 minutes. That could be playing a game on your phone, discovering new music, or opening up a page to your favorite book. I think of it as a cycling class. Imagine pedaling to the max for your entire work out time with no cool down. You would be miserable. And a lot of you are miserable working your job if we are honest with ourselves. For us to have the optimum amount of focus, we need to not overload our brains with constant working. If you’re not careful, you can suffer burn out and then all of your focus and work ethic will be next to nothing. I’ve experienced this first hand. Lastly, take vacation. Don’t let your days go to waste. Take advantage of every holiday, weekend and extra time off that you get. Learn to enjoy your rest and learn how to sit still. After weeks and months of hard work, there is nothing sweeter than rewarding yourself with time off.

In conclusion,

Everyday it can feel like a struggle to keep focus. And there have been many times where I have taken my eye off the prize, and thus I suffer the consequences.

Loss of focus = time wasted.

Time wasted = opportunity lost.

And let me preface; this is how I feel about myself. You reading this may differ in opinion on some things or on everything, and that’s ok. We’re all different, but there are some universal truths that everyone can relate to. We can all be better. We can all grow in our discipline and find ways we can be more efficient and effective. So let’s do our best and keep our eye on the prize.

‘Til next time

-Carlos