Regain your focus in a world of distraction

Our minds are often overstimulated to the point where we are unable to focus on a task for more than 40 seconds at a time. In order to target the very core of focus and by extension, productivity, it is imperative to focus on expanding our attention spans. The best way to alleviate poor attention is imposing an essential ‘cooling-off’ period so that our minds can recuperate and cool down. We need to invest our time and energy toward curtailing screen time so that we are in the right headspace to engage and focus our minds effectively. A disconnection ritual can help us achieve this effectively and find time for ourselves and our loved ones.

At first, though Bailey’s suggestions may seem to be the antithesis to our fast-paced society, they serve a larger purpose in the long run by enabling us to have more thoughts and ideas. With our brains always yearning for nuggets of information from the goings-on of our external environments, we have reached a point when we almost “crave” distraction. Yet, the best way to really conquer over-stimulation of this nature effectively is boredom.

We should allow our minds to wander so that it can come up with important plans and ideas through what is called ‘scatter focus’. The simple act of a long shower, gardening, knitting or meditating can help us recuperate fully and shape us to be more creative individuals. Our best ideas come to us during these important and unexpected periods.

Chris Bailey ends his talk by condemning so-called ‘hustle culture’ and subverting the idea that distraction is the enemy of focus and emphasizing how overstimulation is what is fueling our focus and concentration deficiencies. He urges us again to ‘re-discover’ boredom so that we can mend the state of our attention, festering ennui and in turn, translate that into lasting and enduring changes in the state of our lives.