Focus and Background Noise
When I’m putting focused effort on a specific activity like working, exercising, or reading, I find that music playing softly in the background somehow helps with my flow. I’m not entirely sure what neurological processes are happening, but it just works, so I do it.
However, if I’m not careful with the playlist or the volume, the background noise can steal my focus and lead me off task. Sometimes I don’t realize it right away, and recognize only after I’ve begun to get frustrated over my lack of progress on the primary task. Sometimes the session becomes a complete loss.
But when I am able to channel all my energy and focus and complete the task with a high level of precision, I walk away satisfied- a bit happier and more confident for having conquered the task and overcoming distractions.
The music in the background is relatively easy to control, but there are many other distractions to have to manage in our lives in 2020. We have an endless supply of time-wasting, energy-draining distractions: social media, 24 hour news, Netflix, emails, texts, politicians, sports, and video games all come to mind for starters.
Not to say that these things can’t be valuable, just like music, but if not managed, they can very easily steal your focus from the things in your life that are actually most important.
The first step in managing distractions is to consciously identify what is actually important. What do you really value? It sounds obvious but I think many (…maybe most) people spend most of their time on Facebook because they haven’t sat down and defined the things in life that are more important than Facebook. If you don’t decide what to focus your energy on, other people and companies will decide for you.
Next you have to identify the distractions so you can manage them. You don’t have to eliminate them—you just need to consciously make them background noise. If they become any more, then you need to make changes to ensure that they stay in the background.
This is key. The above short list of distractions are all driven by people making a lot of money, and they are very good at filling your time and attention. The only way to avoid it is to be conscious at all times of both the things you should be focused on and the things that are distracting you.
Over the last week, the entire world has been completely overcome by one word- CORONAVIRUS. It has forced us to change our lives and many are afraid that the impacts are only begun to be felt. It’s largely out of our control and that’s scary.
The general reaction, though, has been to jump on social media and glue our eyeballs to the news. To give this 100% of our mindshare.
Of course, we can’t stick our heads in the sand and pretend that it doesn’t exist, but is it the most important thing in your life right now? Is what Donald Trump tweeted about toilet paper really worth more of my focus than everything else?
My answer is no. Here is the short list of things in my life that are more important to me personally than Coronavirus:
1. My family
2. My job
3. My (and my family’s) health/fitness
4. Getting better at something today
Of course I have to be in touch with how the things in the world affect these priorities, but those things should be the background noise, not the activity. The more I can manage distractions, the more productive, calm, grounded, and ultimately happy I am.
I wish the same for all of you.