How To Focus
Spoiler alert - do one thing at a time.
The people who get the most done, who are the most ‘productive’, are those gifted creatures that can focus.
Multitasking has long been debunked as a red herring. If you want to be a productivity ninja, do one thing at a time.
2020 hasn’t been the best year for concentrating (or much else for that matter). One of my favourite articles of the past few months was a piece in the NY times entitled “The Year of Blur”. “...one problem is that there is too little going on in our lives, another problem, it seems, is that there is also too much”. The thrust of the article is that the weird combination of acute monotony and acute stress which has characterised the 2020 for many of us, has led to a kind of brain fog that makes it difficult to make sense of passing time, to remember the sequence of events and - critically - focus on anything for any length of time - flitting between “doing something” and compulsively checking the news headlines. It’s a lousy set of circumstances.
2021 can only be better but, for me, I’d like to feel more confident that whatever the world throws at us, I can at least do better at the task at hand rather than spending half the time doomscrolling.
With that in mind I’ve tried really hard in the past few months to concentrate. It’s so much easier said than done - but it can be done. There is always too much to get on with - there’s a degree of focus to be had in resigning yourself to that fact – in accepting that doing anything necessarily entails, at least for that moment, neglecting everything else.
Not doing something makes you feel anxious about it, so you dart between everything as a way to mitigate the stress associated with each. That’s a guaranteed way to never finish anything which adds yet another layer of stress to the mix. Guardian columnist Oliver Burkeman coined the brilliant phrase “anxiety of not accomplishing things”. His theory being that you “consciously postpone everything you possibly can, except for one thing which you then complete.” You won’t lose the anxiety of not doing everything, but you gain the satisfaction of completing something. The effect is cumulative - as you finish more and more, you’ll have less about which to feel anxious. The hardest part is starting because, for that first task, you have the full weight of your anxiety about everything else without the satisfaction of having completed your task. So start small - do something you can’t possibly not complete. Go from there.
The other piece I read that really helped me shift my mindset was Jessica Abel’s “One Goal to Rule Them All”.
In approximately font 72, she has a paragraph header saying “Too many projects = no projects.” The rest of the article is brilliant but that phrase has stuck in my mind for many more reasons than its sheer size.
When your projects are your babies (literally - you carry them around with you all the time) how on earth do you pick your favourite child? Sometimes circumstances force your hand and money makes the decision for you. Others go for the small wins strategy - breaking things down into smaller chunks that add up to a cumulative big win. I find it helpful to look at ‘future self’ projects - things that take time and energy, but will be worth it in the end, you will feel proud of and create opportunities. “Future self” projects help build new roads.
These are extremely personal decisions and no single one is better than the others. In fact you’re likely to base your project planning on your current situation; sometimes money-based decisions have to come first and other times you go for a small win that means you can clear your mind to work on a future self project. There are always variables so pick a strategy that means you will definitely finish whatever it is you decide to start.
Finally, we live in an age that prioritises “productivity” over everything else. I find the constant drip feed of positive affirmations like “make today your best day ever” and “be the best you can be” anything but helpful. Whatever happened to just having a nice day? Or having the sort of day that means you get everything done that needs doing and then you go home (or, in pandemic times, close your laptop and call it a night)? Not every day can be “amazing” so let’s get comfortable with that - in doing so we might be a bit less productive be we’ll also be saner, less anxious and ultimately the better for it.
As ever this is just the tip of the iceburg in terms of the research, articles and op eds you can find. Let me know your clever productivity tips, sticking points and what helps you get through the anxious times.
