The More You Can Focus, the More You Can Achieve

That's me last winter, making the case that people who multitask are actually training their brain to be distracted. Yes, doing two things at once trains your brain to be less effective and less efficient.

So how do you get undistracted?

It's a tough challenge, because modern society pushes you to live in a distracted state. Almost every company on the planet has a financial incentive to find new ways to steal your attention away from what you are doing. Your friends, family, and colleagues join the effort every day.

I'd like to suggest that you need a habit that reminds you to do one thing at a time. Sometimes I think of this as a touchstone, something I can use to give me focus and a sense of calm.

I have several. To name one, for 11 years I've been stealing away to my garage or basement to take photographs I now call Intuitive Leaps. It started as an excuse to spend half and hour or so alone in the dark and quiet. Here's a photograph I took this weekend:

So when I start to feel distracted or stressed, I take a break. When too many demands are assaulting me at once, I stop doing anything that matters (i.e. client work) and methodically resolve the distractions.

Being undistracted means doing one thing at a time. But it takes constant effort to stay in this highly efficient state.

Here are a few simple principles to help you stay focused:

The longer you work without a break, the greater the odds you will be working in a distracted state. I am writing this article alone in my home office. Between the indented quote above and this paragraph, I literally got ten texts. So it's been 20 minutes since I typed the quote, because I got up and stopped writing. One thing at a time.

Frequent breaks let you clear away the distractions and then focus when you go back to work. For example, you can literally turn off your phone for an hour. Personally, I find it hard to keep mine off much longer than that, because people start to worry when I don't respond.

Attention is the greatest compliment you can give. When you are interacting with another person, show them that nothing else is more important—at that moment—than what they have to say. This single practice alone will do more to strengthen your relationships than any other tip I can offer. The more distracted our society becomes, the more meaningful this gift of attention will be.

Be just as focused on play as work. Time off is time to recharge; it's what provides energy for focused work. If you "relax" by constantly checking email, you're not actually relaxing. Make your breaks actual breaks.

Bruce Kasanoff magnifies your talent, by helping to position and spread your best ideas.