AlittleBetter.net

The ADD Blogger’s Guide to Focus

September 12, 2009

Post by Justin Dixon follow me on Twitter Photo courtesy of orangeacid

When I was in second grade I was tested for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). My parents were told that if they did not put me on Ritalin, a drug related to morphine, that they would have to pull me out of school. Thankfully, my parents chose the latter. Up until seventh grade I taught myself, and my parents would check my work. I got through the rest of school with better than average grades. When I got to the workforce however I realized that even at a job that I enjoyed, I would be easily distracted. It was a pain for me to alphabetize books with no mistakes, and if something shiny was thrown by… I was gone. I knew I had to do something, but I had committed to work through my ADD rather than medicate it. I started immediately working on ways to increase my focus. Today if I am really focused on something than no matter what happens around me I will stay focused.

Here are the things that have helped this ADD blogger.

Do not accept a negative identity. Who you think you are, you become. Do not accept the idea that you can not focus. Do not accept the idea that there is something wrong with you as a human being. Do not accept the idea that your lack of focus is because you are dumb. In fact one of the common factors in people who have troubles focusing is a high IQ. Just because you haven’t been able to focus as well as you’d like to in the past means nothing. There is a reason your mind works the way it does, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Do not identify yourself with your past troubles focusing. You past does not have to define your future. You have the choice today, to start becoming more focused.

Know what is important to you. This is what focusing is all about. Keeping your mind, and effort on the things that are most important to you, so if you don’t have that worked out, you are making it impossible for yourself to focus. Sit down, and make a list of the top five things that are most important to you. Be sure to include why these things are important to you. Also try keep them in order of importance. The reason why you want to limit the number of important things is that no one can focus on everything at once.You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.

Meditate Making a regular practice of this will increase your ability to focus. You start seeing just how sacred this world really is, and you learn to keep your mind completely in the present. If you have no idea where to begin check out my How to Meditate article to get you started.

Eat when you are hungry. If your body doesn’t have enough nutrients this is going to affect your mind. Make sure that you eat when you are hungry. Also avoid simple starches such as white flour or potato, and avoid really sugary things. You want good fuel to go on. So some nuts, or some whole wheat cracker will do better, than sugar and energy drinks which will only help for a little bit.

Make sure you get enough sleep. I know that sometimes it can not be helped. Don’t worry about those times. Its when you opt to stay up late doing something unimportant that you will start having troubles. Your body, and you mind need rest. If they don’t have that it is going to be extra difficult to study.

Exercise. A healthy body means a healthy brain, and a lot of the chemicals released during exercise make it much easier to focus.

Get rid of the excess. This means anything that is not what you need to be focusing on at that time needs to temporarily go away. Close the door, put all the shiny objects away, turn off the radio, turn off the TV,and don’t do more than one thing at a time. Do one important thing, just do it well.  For me it meant no TV for three years, and it has been every bit worth it!

Know why you’re doing the thing you want to focus on. Focus is designed for important things. If you can not figure out a reason for why you are doing something than not only will you not be able to focus, you are not supposed to be able to focus on it. Think really hard, there has to be some important reason to be doing this. If you still can’t find anything my next point will be more useful.

Don’t do it. If you find yourself doing something that you just can not find a good enough reason to focus on, than stop doing it. Either get it completely off of your to do list, or find someone else to take care of it. There is no guarantee that you even have the rest of today. Life is way too short to be doing things that aren’t important.

Ask yourself, “is this the most important thing I could be doing right now?” If your answer is no, than stop. What is the most important thing you could be doing right now? How would you get to doing that?

Focus isn’t about being able to keep up with everything. In fact its just the opposite. Focus is about deciding what is most important for you to be doing, and choosing to only put your energy in to that. As Bruce Lee said …

“It’s not the daily increase, but the daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.”

If you keep up these steps you will find that you will start to have better focus. It won’t happen all at once, so just take it one day at a time. As you get better you will also start to notice that you’ll feel better about yourself, because you’ll be doing things that are worth doing. You won’t be letting the things that are important to you get by anymore.

So how bout it? Are you up for doing what it takes to increase your focus? These things have helped me, and I’m a blogger with ADD. What could it do for you?

Did I leave anything off? Feel free to add your own tips and tricks for focus in the comments.

Entry Filed under: focus. .