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Hocus Focus Work. Family. Friends. Chores. Relaxation. TV. With so many things competing for attention it's easy to lose focus - here are 10 ways to get it back 
For many Americans, this has not been a good year to hold onto many things: We've lost jobs, houses and money put away for retirement. But each year, even more Americans struggle with another type of loss that can cost us nearly as much - our loss of focus. "We live in a culture that is ADD-like," says Linda S. Anderson, former president of the Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA), Mt. Laurel, N.J. "We're flooded with stimuli. This culture is overwhelming at times." To keep focused on their tasks, some people take drastic measures. "One of my clients literally tied himself to his desk with one of those kid leashes. So if he tried to walk off, he had a reminder that he was supposed to be working at his desk," says psychologist Kim Kensington, ADD/ADHD coach, Santa Monica, Calif. Modern living has created a society filled with distractions - cell phones, text messages, Ipods, computers, television and interrupting office mates and family members - making millions of Americans lose focus on tasks at home and on the job. "Studies show we're interrupted up to 60 times a day at work," says Sam Horn, author of "ConZentrate" (St. Martin's, 2001), which offers 33 ways to focus in various aspects of life. Twila Gates, a senior certified AD/HD coach, Phoenix, Ariz., says studies have shown that "it takes approximately eight minutes to get back on task once you have had an interruption. Eight minutes multiplied several times adds up very quickly." Other reasons Americans lose focus: Boredom and frustration. "We'll pay attention to something as long as it's interesting," Horn says. "As soon as it's not, we switch channels. Which is a prescription for failure and frustration. The key to finishing a project, getting things done at work, writing a book, starting a business, is to persevere past the point of frustration, rather than give up at the first sign of frustration." Experts like Horn, Kensignton, Anderson and Gates offer a number of solutions to staying focused. Here's a list of ten tips to stay focused. It might be helpful to pin this up near the home computer or on your cubicle at the office - wherever you find yourself looking for a little focus: 1. Exercise "We know the level of dopamine goes up with endorphins and exercise," Anderson says. "Dopamine is one of a few neurotransmitters that we associate with attention. As a result of your dopamine going up, you are able to think more clearly, prioritize tasks and stick with something that may otherwise be boring. Dopamine gives us real help with cognitively oriented mental tasks. Dopamine also gives us the ability to interact with others and pay attention." Even 20 minutes of exercise a day in some form of aerobic exercise "gets your brain going," Anderson says. At work, Anderson suggests a five-minute walk around the office to stimulate your brain. 2. Reward Yourself Some tasks are more difficult or tedious than others, like working with numbers or wading through reports. Anderson suggests plowing through these by giving yourself a fun task, or reward, at the end. The reward can be anything from getting up from your desk for a little walk to taking yourself out to lunch. Also try bracketing these difficult tasks with easier ones throughout the day. "People's brains get tired," Anderson says. "They have to do some things to help the brain so it won't get fatigued." 3.Make An Appointment With Yourself "Create blocks of time specifically for doing certain tasks on a daily or weekly basis, such as having a block of time each day to answer telephone calls or a specific day for doing all the errands - or maybe an evening each week set aside for looking at the budget and paying the bills," Gates says. Adds Anderson: "Make an appointment with yourself to do that particular report or article. It helps you focus." 
4. Limit Multitasking Studies have shown that multitasking can actually decrease productivity. "The problem is we end up at the end of the day feeling terrible because we didn't get anything done," Kensington says. "Instead of multitasking and working on several things at once, break it down into individual tasks." Set a timer for 15 minutes of doing dishes. Then do 15 minutes of phone calls. Or work an hour on that marketing proposal. "At least in your mind you finished something," Kensington says. "It also manages the boredom." 5. Use Diplomatic Reflection When someone pops their head into your office or cubicle, it's OK to decide whether what they have to say is more important than what you are doing. "I call this 'diplomatic reflection," Horn says. "I don't think that it's rude. It's managing our time rather than letting someone else decide what is important for us." If it is important, take five seconds to write down on a piece of paper what you were going to do next, Horn says. That way you can listen to the person with your full attention, knowing you will be able to return to your thoughts. 6. Conquer Your Computer When it comes to losing focus, the computer is a big culprit. We may go on to look at our e-mail, see a pop up ad for a digital camera, remember we need to buy mom a gift and end up searching the Web for hours. "In my practice, we call it going down the rabbit hole," Kensington says. "The Internet is designed that way. It keeps pulling you in." Consider using a timer or bracketing your time on the computer to answer e-mails, do research, etc. Kensington knows one person who purchased an Internet timer and enlisted some neighborhood help. "It turned off the Internet at 10 p.m. so he could go to bed at night," Kensington says. "He could not stop on his own. He gave the password to his neighbor." 7. Card Yourself To keep you focused on reports and other tasks while working at your desk, Kensington provides this tip: "One guy put his task on a colored index card in a frame on his desk. If it was a marketing proposal, he kept that on his desk until he finished it. Then he switched to another task." 8. Limit Your Lists Got 20 things to do this week? Horn suggests slashing it down to a "To Do Today" list without those tasks for tomorrow or next week. "When most people look at the 20 things on their list, they feel overwhelmed," Horn says. "Drop the 20 things from their list down to four or five. When you look at your four things, you have clarity." 9. Map Your Mind Not big on making lists? Anderson suggests a technique called 'mind mapping' featured in Tony and Barry Buzan's "The Mind Map Book" (Plume, 1996). "It's a way of thinking in pictures," Anderson says. "Rather than having a list of everything you need to do, you instead have a piece of paper and draw pictures of everything in your mind. The images come out in any order. Then you look at the piece of paper with an idea of where you want to start. This allows a brain that is going all over the place to focus. It's a way of creating visual structure." 10. Push Past Frustration Just as athletes do five more pushups or chin ups to develop physical stamina, Horn suggests developing "mental stamina" to push past frustration and keep focused. "The next time you get frustrated or want to quit, do five more of something," Horn says. "If you're reading, read five more paragraphs. Or if you're doing the bills, do them for five more minutes. A beautiful thing happens when we push past the point of mental frustration. We get what I call our 'second mind.' We're pushing past the point of effort, where it becomes effortless. You have achieved this wonderful state called mental momentum. You're completely absorbed in what you are doing." |
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