Ways to distinguish yourself #128 Set yourself up to focus better

posted in Distinguish, General on by

OK this is a tricky one. I didn’t say “Focus.” I said “Set yourself up to focus better.”

Many things in life are like this. The event in itself will be a breeze if the preparation is right. A few examples:

* You want do well on the day of your speaking; prepare well beforehand

* You want to perform better in a sporting event; prepare well beforehand

* You want to ace your exams; prepare well beforehand

Yes, they say preparation is not everything; performance on the day of the event matters. I agree. Preparation may not guarantee success but lack of preparation guarantees failure.

Now, coming back to the point: There is no question about “focus” being an important ingredient when you are at a task. However, while deciding to focus is easy, we all know that practicing it is hard. The trick is in preparing to focus. This is where setting yourself up to focus comes in. Let me give a couple of examples.

Writing: Long back I realized the powe of a computer [what an insight 🙂 ] and also its power to distract me from doing what I set out to do. With broadband internet, the problem gets worse. The trick for me when I want to write is to write and not type. Since a note book is not a good multi-tasking device, I can focus just on writing.

Blackberry and other tools: Blackberry is a great tool if you can control it. Typically it controls you. Some of my firends call it crackberry 🙂 meaning they can’t leave without it. It is almost like a part of their body. While a blackberry kind of tool can help you with “always on” access to your emails, without discipline, it might be a big distraction when you want to focus on a conversation or just spending time with your family.

Setting up yourself for focus requires a lot of discipline and effort. If you set yourself up well, focus won’t be a big issue.

Good luck!