“in a world where information is so vast and easily accessible, knowing where to focus is what is most important”
I came across this quote on a random day scrolling through social media. Honestly it struck a nerve at that point because finding focus was a struggle as there was always so much to find, watch, read every where, be it on social media, at home, work, or any where I found myself.
To an extent, it was a concern for me, I found it hard to focus, I had a short attention span and unless what I was hearing or reading was somewhat captivating, I couldn’t find focus or be grounded long enough.
Sometimes I even got lost in conversations, lost interest as something else easily took my attention.
It became a thing of concern when my family and friends began to complain, I was always on my phone, watching a game or switching through different channels to find something worth my attention.
To be honest, it didn’t bother me much, I contributed to discussions, shared my opinions when I payed attention, getting me to pay attention was now the problem.
I enjoyed my me time, just being by myself, watching reels, having a loud laugh, viewing premium content and enjoying the games and TV shows. As a sports lover, I couldn’t help it when my team was going head to head with league rivals.
My lack of being able to stay grounded and focused became a real issue when it affected my productivity. I was missing deadlines. Worse of all I couldn’t really point to any cause or have any tangible excuse aside from the fact that I spent too much time binge watching.
At times I would say to myself, just one more video, or one more episode and before I knew it, I had lost track of time and couldn’t focus and deliver as I usually would.
At this point I knew I needed a change, and then I saw that quote, the words “knowing where to focus is important” Caught my attention, but the question that bugged me was “how do I focus”
Funnily I went back to one of the major sources of my predicament, the internet, I googled “how to stay grounded and focused” and of course the internet had vast information but this was the beginning of me actually learning to focus
Most of the tips I found didn’t really feel like my thing but one of them stood out for me. Making a priority list, yes this was the game changer.
From reading, I watched some videos that spoke about detailed steps of staying calm and focused while executing things off the list by order of priority.
From the moment I woke, I began taking things off the list by order of importance, the big tasks first then the simpler once later, I even added time when I could relax, binge watch and my attention spam began to grow
I did not change just like that, it took time, the change was really visible between a 30 to 90 day period, after about a month it was evident not just to me but my friends and family that there was something different about me.
I would be exercising at a similar time during the day rather than spontaneously as I used to, I had a time I spent reading and reviewing work I had done, I even had reminders for simple tasks like drinking water, praying and eating fruits.
I downloaded some apps for notes, reminders and for more productivity, and yes I became more productive.
My family found it amazing that they would want to talk to me and I would put my phone down, tune down the TV volume or put it off if they mentioned it was very important.
When working and I needed to focus, I would just put my phone down, and walk around, I would think more clearly, feel refreshed after taking in the sight of my surroundings, the passing vehicles, the nice view, the smell of a flower and very importantly music.
Yes I saved the best for last, I say it’s the best because it helped me a lot. I have a playlist for every single mood I feel, I even have one for when I need to focus.
I listen and it keeps me away from going to those social media apps that tend to take more time than necessary.
This changed me for the better and I’m happy for it. I hope I’m able to help. Thanks for reading
@kingleyy , click here to access his post