Finding Focus
Focus is a beast. It can be hard to find, hard to catch, hard to wrestle to submission, hard to train, hard to keep. I have struggled with consistent focus since I was a kid. Some may say I have ADD. I'm not sure about that. I think ADD & ADHD do exist, and I also believe a very human aspect (the struggle to find your calling and doing things that don't seem to have a satisfying purpose for why you are doing them) leads to overdiagnosis of ADD & ADHD. People aren't robots who just do whatever needs to be done for the sake of doing it because you simply are supposed to do. Some are wired to love to accomplish whatever the task is, but that's not everyone. Not sure that it is even the majority. I don't think I have ADD, but I do struggle to focus for the sake of focusing on any given task in front of me. So what do some people need? 1. A clear sense of why the task matters. Not just logically "Do it and you will make $" but more importantly, emotionally. "This will advance your life's pursuit to help people learn they can work with each other more happily and effectively" OR "This will provide the adventurous life that you want to be able to provide your kids. The life you were lucky to get from your parents" We often speak of logic, but we need to focus on emotion. Logic makes us think, but it is emotion that makes us act. Without an emotional connection to the task, I have slim chances of doing it, or doing it consistently. 2. It has to be fun. Jon Acuff said it best, "If it's not fun. It won't get done." We, as humans, are wired to seek pleasure. We try to logically tell ourselves what we ought to do. But that logic well eventually get overridden by that enjoyable distraction. So why fight it? We have to make the tasks more enjoyable. Be it the setting, the incentive, sharing in the work. It needs to be enjoyable to us, so we desire to do it. Some people get pleasure in checking off boxes, so simply doing it to get it done does the trick for them. That is not me. That is not many of us. There is probably more to what is needed to generate focus, but I'm going to stop at those 2 for now. Why make it overwhelming with 5 more needs? That sounds more complicated and less fun. Start with those 2. Why does the work matter to you and can it be fun? Crack that equation, and we are off to a great start for productivity for those of us who don't have inherent focus as a natural gift.
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