Do you ever find it tough to focus? How about when you need put your attention on an important task, meet a deadline or complete a project you don’t even want to do? Well, I have an easy technique that will help you get focused and get down to business in just 5 minutes.

Photo Courtesy of Andrew E. Weber

Focusing can be a challenge for any of us depending on the action at hand, the environment, your current emotional state and desire (or lack thereof) to become focused.

Yep, I Have Trouble Focusing Too

I had received a request to facilitate a workshop on mindfulness and needed to build out the content. Yay! A great project! The topic or task wasn’t my challenge for this request, instead, it was my ability to get settled, focused and do the work. I’d been thinking about the content for several weeks – which exercises to use, the order and flow, what the break-out groups might look like, etc. But I just hadn’t sat down and put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) yet. And while I knew that time was ticking on the deadline, I just couldn’t get myself where I needed to be regarding focus.

The Infamous Runaway Brain

It’s interesting how even work that we enjoy and look forward to can sometimes be a challenge to settle into. Which is exactly what I had been experiencing. We tend to believe that if a task is pleasurable, that we should just quickly and automatically be able to get it done. But that’s not true for me personally. My mind will, at any given moment, be switching from one to-do to another, one sporadic thought to another and it’s my job to slow it down and reign it in.

For this particular situation I knew that I needed to create an environment that would quiet my mind. Finding my focus was critical if I was to get anywhere on this project.

The Zen Brain Process

Several years ago I attended The Zen Brain Retreat at Upaya Zen Center in New Mexico. It was an intensive retreat combining lectures, meditation and zen practices. The lectures were wonderful, but somewhat challenging to follow at times due to their technical content regarding the brain and science. A good portion of the participants did not have the science or medical background needed to easily follow the instructors.

Enter a new technique…

Because this is an annual conference, there was a strong underlying rhythm and flow that carried the participants and instructors along gracefully. There was an abundance of valuable information presented by the instructors, but that wasn’t the standout for me. The standout was the “process” around the lectures.

Here’s how it worked.

Before and after each of the lectures, the group would meditation for 15 minutes. And it was WONDERFUL! Honestly, I was amazed at how much more effectively my mind was able to both grasp and retain the learnings. It was as if my mind was more open and available. I was able to connect with the concepts easily and retain the knowledge. Very cool. (If only I had known about this process during my two tours of graduate school!)

It had never occurred to me prior to the conference, to use meditation as a way to focus on tasks at hand. The bonus was, that it also created a clarity and spaciousness that allowed me to almost become one with the learnings in those moments. I understand that for some of you, my description of this may be a little too abstract. However, if it’s focus and effectiveness you’re looking for this is a way to get it.

If it’s focus and effectiveness you’re looking for this is a way to get it.

 

Find Focus in Five Technique

At first, sitting still for 5 minutes before beginning a project might seem like a lot. Especially if you aren’t a regular meditator. But I would encourage you to give it a try. Maybe start with 3 minutes and work your way up to 5.

Keep in mind that you can use this process for anything. It doesn’t have to be work. Consider it for your personal tasks too. Anything that requires focus qualifies.

Here’s the detailed process. (The specifics for my scenario are in italics just to give you an idea of how it works.)

1. Prep the environment where you plan to work on the project. This makes it easy to start immediately following your meditation. (a clutter free and organized desk)
2. Spend a moment envisioning what the project or task is fully, so that you are clear on what you want to accomplish. What is the end goal? Envision that end goal. (a successful mindfulness workshop)
3. Decide what aspect of that goal you would like to focus on. (the outline for my workshop)
4. Set a clear intention on that aspect as you begin your meditation. (a clean, crisp and clear outline)
5. Use a timer for your session. My recommendation is for 5 minutes. If you need to work up to 5 minutes try beginning with 3. (The Insight Timer is a great tool for this.)
6. Begin meditation. Your intention has already been set, so do your best NOT to problem-solve. Instead, focus on your breath, become present and allow any information to flow in and out of your awareness without any attachment. What needs to remain accessible to you after the session will.
7. Once you are finished, reorientate yourself and begin your project.

Give It A Try

What do you have to lose? Five minutes maybe? But you’ll probably only gain…a sense of focus, clarity and build a new habit that helps to ground you and make life just a little bit easier. And who doesn’t want that?

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