Category: focus

chief decision

Some people make decisions for a living. Yes, no, left, right, wait, proceed, increase, decrease. With every decision requiring thinking power and mental capacity, naturally, there is a limit to the number of decisions one can make on a given day.

CEOs showing up in the same outfit, year in year out, is no coincidence. Preserving thinking power for less mundane decisions seems like a smart move.

Whether it’s top CEOs or self-employed people just starting, with no one to make demands, balancing work and life is up to them. No one to impose a schedule, so even seemingly ordinary planning chips away at decision capacity.

flowcus

Would you look at the time? Hours have passed, basic human needs were no longer an issue. Lost in the moment. The culmination of focus where everything else outside of the focus field seems to be less relevant.

Joseph Campbell was an American professor of literature. He once said: “What did you do as a child that created timelessness that made you forget time? There lies the myth to live by.”

I remember playing in a sandbox with matchbox cars. If no one were to call me for lunch, eating wouldn’t have even occurred to little me.

When you find those moments as an adult, in work, where irrefutable focus induces a flow-like behavior, you struck gold.

Flowcus is bliss.

survival instinct

When you cut off a branch of a mint plant, put it in a glass of water, about ten days later, roots start to appear. The plant isn’t contemplating on whether to grow roots or not. It just does so by any means necessary.

From the plant’s point of view, it has no other choice. If the conditions are suitable, meaning enough water and light, that’s basically all the plant knows. To propagate.

While running a company, sometimes there are too many liberties, which seems odd. Who wouldn’t want a whole bunch of liberties? The fact of the matter is, when a company spreads itself too thin, engaging in (too) many initiatives simultaneously, survival chances diminish — resulting in possibilities paralysis.

Focus on survival.

business grand prix — deep focus

That look. Only the eyes are visible. The rest of the racer’s face is covered in their helmet. Immersed in thoughts, going around the track, mentally. Calculating different scenarios. A level of concentration so deep, it almost becomes a meditative state.

Michael Schumacher is one of the greatest racers ever. Even though his capabilities supersede those of us mortals, he did have one flaw. Because he was so fast, sometimes while leading a race, the racer in second place was so far behind, and there was literally no pressure at all. During a (minimal) number of races, Michael Schumacher would experience no pressure at all, perhaps even get slightly bored, and as a result, make mistakes.

Deep focus is definitely a valuable asset. The ability to build up a level of concentration and maintain it can and should be trained. Not only should it be practiced, but it should also be enabled. Going from meeting to meeting, entering a state of deep focus is challenging.

hocus focus

When it comes to focus, there are different kinds that each come with their challenges. Put simply, short-term focus determines the level of concentration we can apply for a task at hand. Long-term focus means keeping track of goals and consequently not losing them out of sight.

Short- and long-term focus aren’t the same. What’s even worse is both often compete for the same resource.

Luckily, focus replenishes automatically, however not entirely. The amount of focus you can muster up depends heavily on how you feel. Your physical and mental health, state of mind, and energy levels all contribute.

Part of our capacity to focus can be trained. The process is simple. How would you prepare for a marathon? Surely by running. Focus can be trained by, you guessed it, focusing.

In this day and age, every internet-capable device is competing for our attention. While focus miracles (apart from medicinally induced ones) are hard to come by, some silent contemplation can work its magic.

Bonus: enjoy hocus focus beats, my carefully, artisanally crafted playlist.