Maintaining Your Focus During Busy Times

How often do you feel blindsighted by distractions - visual or auditory - that prevent you from maintaining focus on the things that matter such as prioritizing tasks, making time for friends and family and/or taking time out to de-stress? Below are some tips to help you stay on task and minimize internal and external distractions:

Be selective about what you are targeting. Since the brain forms a mental image of what you focus on, by focusing on important tasks and priorities, you are more likely to tune into them on a regular basis. If your target is something distracting however, it may divert you from important priorities.

Explain what you see to others to heighten your understanding of why it is important to accomplish certain tasks and/or to remind yourself of what is important in your world right now.

• How often is the time you spend in aimless activities productive? For example, if you are searching for a product on the web, how useful will it be to your productivity and growth? Are you looking to improve your way of functioning in the world or merely searching aimlessly and not knowing what you are looking for? The latter activity in and of itself can be an unnecessary distraction from adding things to your life that enhance your overall purpose.


• Keep a positive attitude during challenging tasks and struggles to improve your energy and alleviate the distractions that negative thinking can present. If you are struggling with a difficult task, reminding yourself that "I will push through this and do my best", rather than "this is impossible" will make the activity less stressful and burdensome, while filtering out negative thoughts that can cause distraction.


• Even during the gloomiest of times, look for ways to best handle the situation even it means taking personal time do reflect such as a nature walk or a yoga class, rather than letting yourself fall prey to the pressure of the situation.


• Engage in activities that are mentally stimulating to improve your attentional flow, that feeling of being so engrossed in what you are doing that you lose track of time!


• Avoid too much multitasking. When you are sending a text while answering a call, it can overload your language circuit, thus potentially causing you to make unnecessary mistakes or forgetfulness later on. Ever misplace your keys because you were texting and e-mailing at the same time? Be sure to take breaks in between tasks to ensure optimal focus and performance on tasks.
• Reduce external distractions in the form of computers, iphones, or ipads. We are so driven by technology nowadays that we can forget the importance of connecting with close friends and family and/or taking time to enjoy the outdoors and exercise without paying attention to that e-mail that you are expecting any minute!


• Keep in mind that by reducting external distractions and getting away from the computer for awhile, you can improve and personalize your connections with the people who you are close to and develop new ones in the process.

Just being aware of the many distractions that are pressing down on you and having the awareness to minimize them to tend to what matters can enrich your life during hectic times! For more information on this topic, visit this link.