The 7 Essential Elements of Productivity
Element #3: Focus

This is the fifth article in the series: The 7 Essential Elements of Productivity. Read the other articles here.

If all else fails, kill the distractions. It can be that simple. But, we all know that focusing on one thing can be incredibly more challenging than that simple statement leads us to believe.

Photo Credit: ed10vi

About a year ago I was listening to an interview of Dan Miller, author of many books including 48 Days to the Work You Love. Dan was asked about the most effective productivity strategy he was currently implementing.

Without hesitating, Dan quickly replied, “Focused blocks of time.”

Focus is More Than Will Power

It’s common to believe that in order to focus we have to try harder — that if somehow we can muster up the strength to give all of our attention to one thing, and hold it there for a long period of time, we will improve our ability to focus.

Honestly, this is party true, but it misses the true essence of what focus really is.

Focus should not be simplified to a muscle that you grow over time or to a skill that needs to be gradually developed. The essence of focus relies more on the lack of distractions than on your own ability to ignore them.

It’s All About (the lack of) Distractions

What’s easier, studying at the library in a quiet room by yourself, or in the middle of crowded bar on a Friday night?

Duh, Jeff! The library.

Ok, but why?

What makes the library a superb location to study, while a crowded bar is one of the last places you would ever consider?

Shouldn’t you be able to focus in either location because you have gradually developed your focus muscles?

Doubt it.

The reality is that the multitude of distractions in the bar will pull you away from studying faster than your focus muscles will ever be able to fight them off.

You might really, really, really want to study. But, the mixture of loud music, social pressure, and alcohol will likely make studying a distant (and fading) memory.

By choosing the library over the bar, you are proactively avoiding obstacles, as opposed to trying to force your way through them.

Create Your ZDS

Your ZDS, or Zero Distractions System, is your ticket to freedom. If you want to focus, you must first make focusing easy. You must eliminate, kill, destroy, squash, squish, suffocate, and/or annihilate all known, current, and potential distractions.

Your ZDS will act as the stronger muscle. When you want to rely on your focus muscles, but find they are getting tired, your ZDS will be there to save the day, helping you stay busy at work while the distractions stay far, far away.

Zero distractions might be a little far fetched in some scenarios, so do your best to make zero the ideal target. Turn off your cell phone, your computer, and your spouse (whoops! I mean ask the other people around you to politely give you some space for a little while).

Imagine Yourself Hard at Work

In the book Psychocybernetics by Maxwell Maltz, there is a classic example of two groups of basketball players. The first group practiced shooting free throws for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for one month. The second group practiced visualizing shooting free throws for 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, for one month.

Guess which group was better at shooting free throws at the end of 30 days?

Both. They tied. Even though the second group didn’t shoot a single basketball for the entire month, all of them were able to improve their free throw ability by the same margin as the first group.

How?

They used the power of their brain to focus on the goal they wanted to achieve. They gradually developed their tangible skill with deliberate, focused practice.

The cool thing is that you can do the same thing. Only in our case, your task is to focus on focusing. In other words, harness the power of your brain to visualize yourself studying, working, or getting your most important task accomplished, even if you are not presently able to work on it.

Then, when the time comes to focus, you will have developed the mental framework to put yourself in the right place, at the right time, without any of those pesky distractions.

Becoming a Focus Machine

This argument may seem counterintuitive to what I just said, which is that relying on your focus muscles isn’t a good idea. That’s true. However, improving your focus muscles with deliberate practice is also a great strategy, especially for tasks you tend to repeat over and over again.

Imagine if you combined both strategies: (1) eliminating all possible distractions and (2) improving your ability to focus on important tasks. With both of those strategies working for you at the same time you would become a focus machine.

If I had to choose between the two, I would always rely on eliminating distractions as my most effective focusing strategy. Then, over time, I would incrementally improve my ability to focus, which would create the ideal opportunity for abundant productivity.

Next Week

Next week on the blog I will be sharing Element #2 in the series: The 7 Essential Elements of Productivity.