How to Stay Focused

I sat down, determined to set aside 2 hours in the morning for pure creative/creation time. Do I know how to stay focused? I know how to avoid being focused...

I set my phone to “Do Not Disturb.” I texted my wife on how to get in contact if there’s an emergency. I tried to put on music but felt the Lord tell me to shut it off. I avoided checking any social media or email. In fact, I turned off the wifi on my computer.

Yet, as soon as I looked at the blinking screen...I wanted a cup of coffee. I wanted to check the news. I thought about getting up and going to the bathroom.

I needed to remember how to stay focused.

The World Doesn't Want you to Know How to Stay Focused

All the desires and distractions came out of the woodwork to distract me...if even for a few moments. However, the time vampires did not come out standing 7ft tall. They came out like mosquitoes. They buzzed around my mind and poked at my body, hoping to entice me to delay the start of my focus period. They hoped I didn't know how to stay focused.

Start swinging at them and they’ll have you in a different direction for the rest of the day.

The blood-sucking bugs of distraction are dopamine-driven. Whether it’s checking our phone, having a quick conversation, grabbing that cup of coffee, or picking out music: it’s all set to give us a minor little feel-good.

How to Stay Focused

I’m not saying ritual doesn’t have its place. When I wrote my first book, a cup of tea became my best companion. I’d make some tea, settle into a comfortable chair, and tap away in the evening for 2-3 hours. I set my goal for 3 or so pages and would chase after it. But the tea didn’t pull me away from the hard moments when writer’s block came up like a brick wall in the middle of an F1 course.

I started to grasp how to stay focused.

The tea merely set the mood. It helped me get into the right mind space. When the difficult moments came, I knew I couldn’t wriggle out of them, but I had to lean in. Those mental blocks and problems may give us pause, but we must push into them, not avoid them.

The problem shows up when we watch the cursor blink on an empty screen and wonder how we’ll ever get that work done. So we think, “Well, what if I get some coffee first? What if I try to pick out some music? Maybe I can check my social media first…”

The distractions come fast and they come like legion. Let one in and it’ll usher in all of its friends.

How to Stay Focused When Distractions Come

Beware of the distractions of little dopamine. They will have you avoiding your work for the next hour and a half. And you’ll wonder why you wasted your morning.

If you’re anything like me, you’re in for trouble if that morning’s work gets hit by a distraction smash-and-grab. The rest of my day is off and I’m lucky if I pull off a 4th quarter rally by etching out some work toward the end of the day.

Instead, the coveted first couple of hours are significant. They are the sunrise on my workday. Just as my mindset is extremely supple in the morning (for good or bad), the first few hours can determine whether my business and projects made gains or stayed stalled.

So beware of the morning curse. Be cutthroat in limiting distractions, ignoring the cries of the body, and be skeptical of the case your mind makes for giving in to subtle desires.

Ask yourself:

• Do I need that cup of coffee?

• Do I need that snack?

• Does my phone have to be on right now?

• Is the music a help or a distraction?

• Am I prepared to deal with the mental blocks and problems, or am I hoping to avoid them?

Get to it and get some work done. Learn how to stay focused.

Meanwhile, it’s time for me to stop avoiding work and actually do what I set my mind to doing...

---

If you are desiring to achieve transformation in your life, then check out at The Forged. We've produced powerful materials designed specifically for the man in mind. Our resources bring you on a journey of personal development and help you learn and grow in ways you never though possible. Check out what we offer today!

---