Turn off the noise: The Art of Focus

It's a noisy, confusing, fast and furious world out there. You're expected to do more in less time. You've got to be a master multi-tasker just to survive! You're working on a project and still you've got to keep up on incoming calls and email. You've got your cell phone in one ear, desk phone in the other and your Tweet Deck is beeping at you every 5 seconds.

How do you sort it all out and on task at hand with alarms ringing, deadlines looming, kids screaming and bosses bossing? You've got to learn how to focus in the midst of this grand cacophony.

Let's clear one thing up before we get too far:
"We live in the golden age of multi-tasking. The problem is that multi-tasking is a myth. The human brain isn't capable of dealing with two conflicting thoughts or ideas at the same time. Dr. John Medina and many other neuroscientists have gathered some pretty compelling data in that area.

"It's also true, however, that in our incredibly noisy and fast-paced world people who can deal with the noise and confusion are pretty valuable people! Multi-tasking is really the ability to shift focus quickly from one target to another and back again. The lag-time problem most people experience happens when you try to come back to the original train of thought. People who can do this quickly and successfully are the people we say are good 'multi-taskers.' From Think Like a Black Belt

It's interesting, though counterproductive, that when it comes to concentration conventional wisdom takes a bullish approach. You've no doubt been told by teachers, coaches, parents and supervisors to just "keep your mind on the job." Easier said than done!

"You can't force focus. It's useless to try and force yourself to concentrate. Focus is really a process of letting go; it's a matter of turning off the noise and letting your mind do what it does naturally. When you turn off the distractions you operate at peak efficiency and the mind naturally settles on the task at hand."

The most effective technique to practice the art of focus is meditation. I teach a simple meditation workshop to my students and as a breakout in corporate presentations. I call it "Sit Still, Shut Up & Breathe!" That does about cover it. Of course under expert supervision you can access this process more efficiently! Taking a short meditation break from time to time can help you turn off the noise and let go of the distractions and stress that make focus difficult.

Too many people argue they don't have the time to take a short break or learn a meditation practice. Suit yourself. I'd say you don't have the time not to do it! It takes the average person 20 minutes to shift focus from one task to another after an interruption. A 5 minute meditation break would reduce that lost time by 15 minutes per occurrence. How many times are you interrupted in just one day?
Like all aspects of Black Belt Mindset, you've got to make up your mind to do it-

"turn off or tune out the noise and your mind will naturally settle into a focused state; that's our natural mindset. Make a decision to let it happen."