HomePostsAug 14, 2012

Thoughts on Focus

I think a lot about focus, what it means, and how to find it. Focus is something that does not come naturally to most people and can be very difficult when you live an over-connected lifestyle. It’s something that you have to commit to, practice, experiment with, and make a priority. I think Leo Babauta of Zen Habits has some excellent thoughts on the subject which he compiled into a free ebook called, appropriately, “Focus.” I read it and wanted to share my thoughts on the subject. That’s me below, reading it with my phone on.

Kindle on the ship canal

As soon as I started working for myself, I understood the importance of focus. It took running a business, though, to really make the time to start building a system that works for me. Like all good processes, this system is a work in progress and I learn something useful every day.

One of the things I learned, quite recently in fact, is that your attention is very limited and your life consists, literally, of the things that you pay attention to. This has lead me to drop books if they bore me, rarely subscribe to new feeds of information, and only recommend stuff I really enjoyed.

Case in point, the ebook “Focus.” I read through this succinct, helpful piece in what amounted to a couple of hours, mostly because it was short (121 well-spaced pages) but partly because a lot of it identified actions that are already a part of how I work. I wanted to write a quick review/summary to share my thoughts on the subject and maybe help you find focus as well.

I feel that it’s important to say… The words below are mostly my own, inspired by this ebook. Some things are my interpretation, some are almost direct quotes, and some are just things that occurred to me while reading. Disclaimer complete!

Section 1: Step Back

Section 2: Limiting the Stream

Section 3: Simplify

Section 4: Focus

There is a 5th section but it’s not for everyone and I kind of skipped through it.

Hopefully you were able to focus and glance through this. I think finding focus in your life is more important than almost anything else, especially if your work involves being connected all of the time.

I asked my Facebook group how they find clarity (which branched into focus) and here are a few things they had to say:

Your turn. Do you make focus a priority? Tell me about the tricks and hacks you use or tell me your plan to do more.

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