Focus is a key
concept of cognitive psychology, referring to one’s ability to concentrate and
sustain attention on a target stimulus for any period of time. It plays a vital
role in performing most of the tasks on an everyday basis; allowing us to be
precise, improve results, reduce errors, come up with innovative and divergent
methods of performing the same task.Focus helps us perform at the maximum of
our ability (i.e., peak performance).
What
are some barriers to focus?
Identifying barriers to focus is
essential to understand where we lose our focus.
·
Distractions:the
biggest causes of dwindling focus; be it your emails, Facebook, colleagues, or
family members, all of them can impact your focus.
·
Distressing or
intrusive thoughts that are occupying your mind might force you to focus on
them or getting rid of them.
·
Procrastination is a
big contributor to making an individual unfocused.
·
Being uncertain about
the purpose of what one is doing, being unable to start, or lack of motivation or
interest are also some factors that contribute to lack of or decreased focus.
How
do we maximize focus and improve performance?
·
Identify when and why
you lose focus. Understanding what factors hold you back from putting your
complete mental effort on the task at hand will help in addressing it.
·
Setting realistic goals
helps with motivation.
·
Elimination of
distractions, for example, switching off mobile notifications, removes
disturbances.
·
Avoid multi-tasking; it
focuses your brain to switch your focus back and forth very quickly from one
task to the other,making it impossible to sustain attention.
·
Recognizing your peak
focus time in the day and scheduling your most demanding task at the time helps
you in being your most productive self.
·
Adopt a lifestyle that
allows you to engage in healthy habits; this means exercise regularly, eat
healthier, practice mindfulness and get adequate sleep.
·
Most importantly, take
regular breaks and give your brain a rest!
Focus allows us
to reach our peak performance but remember, it is a process that requires
practice and effort and is a long but worthy one. Ensuring alertness and
agility in your mindset and eliminating distractions will help you improve your
focus.
References:
(2013).
Various Barriers That Prevent You from Focusing and How to Tackle Each One. Psych2go.
CogniFit.
(n.d.). Focused Attention. Cognitive ability-Neuropsychology.
CogniFit.
Patel,
N. (2016). 7 Brain hacks to Improve your Focus at Work. Forbes.
