The Focus School- Part 3

FOCUS & EMOTIONS 

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where, despite an objectively high number of distractions, you were still able to focus on a task? Imagine a café scene, where despite the noise of the kitchen and the conversations of other customers, you are still able to concentrate on reading your book? 

That we can focus in the midst of such a din indicates our capacity for achieving a “flow state”, or selective attention: the neural capacity to beam in on just one target while ignoring a staggering sea of incoming stimuli, each one a potential focus in itself. 

There are two types of distractions: sensory and emotional. The sensory is deliberate and direct. For example, while you read this you’re actually tuning out of the blank margins surrounding this text. 

The emotional distractions are harder for the brain to resist. Imagine reading this text and suddenly hearing someone call your name. Your attention reflexively shifts to the direction of the sound, attentive to hear what is (presumably) directed at you. (You can imagine that emotions from close relationships intrude our thoughts even more!)

People who are distracted often have a hard time achieving “flow” in their concentration. Only 20 percent of people have such “flow moments” at least once a day, and around 15 percent don’t ever enter a flow state!

IN ORDER TO GET MORE "FLOW", FOLLOW THESE TIPS:

- Relationships: If you are distracted by emotions associated with a close relationship, take a moment to breathe and reflect on what upsets you, and how you can move forward. 

- Plan it: Decide what approach you are going to take to solve a problem. Do you want to ignore it, or do you want to do something about it? If you want to do something about it, book it in your calendar. By knowing when to deal with it, you can take your mind off from it. 

- Write it down: It can also be a good thing to write down what frustrates you. By seeing the dilemma as phrased in your own words, you may see it with different eyes.