Unf*cking your focus

One of the struggle that I face from day to day is focusing on the task at hands. In the past, I’ve asked around on how people deal with this and I’d get these kind of answers:

“Just do it”

“Grind, grind and grind more”

“Forget about everything, just run straight through”

I agree with these statements but I felt something is missing. It feels like walking mindlessly and simply noticing that you’ve arrived at the destination when the path ends.

At one point I realised, my concern was not the problem of focusing during the day because I do get things done, it was the state of being in a trance in front of my monitor and the empty feeling of accomplishing nothing by day’s end. In short, simply working for the sake of work.

So over the years, I’ve picked up some lessons and techniques from books, articles, youtube videos on productivity. One I closely follow is Ali Abdaal, am ex-doctor turned productivity expert. Those lessons helped me build my very own daily ritual.

Morning preparations, evening reflection

“I make use of this opportunity, daily pleading my case at my own court. When the light has been taken away and my wife has fallen silent, aware as she is of my habit, I examine my entire day, going through what I have done and said. I conceal nothing from myself, I pass nothing by. I have nothing to fear from my errors when I can say: ‘See that you do not do this anymore. For the moment, I excuse you.’” – Seneca

This is one of the quote that I now live by and have incorporated to my daily ritual. Basically, what I want to achieve from this is the act of planning my day and where to put my focus at.

In the morning - depending on the day, I would want to spend my energy and focus on different things in my life . I jot down the date on my notebook and started to think. On a usual weekday I’d usually want my main focus to be on my work, chores, reading and spending time with my loved ones at the end of the day. Then I’d list down the top 3 things that I want to achieve.

Now, those 5 goals should be realistic enough to achieve. The reason being - I would like to prevent myself from multitasking tasks at hand and maintaining consistent effort and level of discipline. Of course, this happens after my morning coffee and sitting down at my desk.

After the day is over and it’s time to mentally clock out from everything and go to sleep, I’d reflect on my day. A sentence is enough for me to describe how my day. If I completed my tasks then I’d write down how content I am with how the day went or how excited I am for tomorrow or even, to be honest if I was having a bad day where I make mistakes I shouldn’t have. After that, a short summary of how the day went and including highlights of “what good did I do today?”, “what could I do better?” and “what I’m grateful of?”.

Doing this also helps me keep track of my growth to become a better version of myself.

Pomodoro - many tomatoes good, rest in between to taste

There are moments where I’m so dialed in and stuck to the monitor that I totally blank out, hours zipping like a speedrun. When I snapped out of it, it felt like I time traveled to the near future with my stomach grumbling. I admit, it’s an unhealthy habit of mine.

Here’s where Pomodoro technique helped me get some timeout in between. Pomodoro is a time management technique that helps me set an interval of period of deep work, short rest and long rest. I’ve managed to get things done and get the needed break using this method. Here’s a break down of how I use Pomodoro:

1. Choose one task to concentrate on.
2. Set a timer for 25-30 minutes and work uninterruptedly until the timer rings.
3. Take a constructive 5-minute break - have a snack, stretch, walk around or simply relax.
4. Repeat the second and third step for four cycles.
5. Take an extended break of 20-30 minutes.
6. Repeat until lunch break then continue again after

Taking care of the programmer (and by that, I mean you)

Look, everyone and their parents know that you’d have to have some decent amount of self-care to be able to function like a normal human. That’s the reason why we hear things like these when we were kids:

“you’re not getting enough sleep”

“go play outside and be like a normal person”

“that’s because you don’t drink enough water” (this one’s a classic)

They’re probably right seeing that they’ve been adulting for more years than us (also another classic, “I have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice”). Taking care of your health is super important when you want to focus before they become a distraction.

• It well and on time
• Get some amount of exercise - hit the gym, go for a run or something simple like walking around the neighborhood
• Get good sleep - less sleep leads to cognitive impairments. The next episode of whatever is on Netflix will still be there tomorrow

For remote professionals - different rooms, different moods

I’m a remote worker so that means I spend my time alone in my own personal home office. Over the years, there are changes in my environment that helps put me in my zone. Back when I first started working, I’d setup my working place wherever I can. I’d put a table in my living room sitting on a plastic chair and start mashing my keyboard but it gave me major distractions and severe back pain.

Now, I’ve set up my own office in the house perfect for focusing on things I should be doing at the same time being comfortable. I find that having a dedicated office space provides a quiet and distraction-free environment and a separation of moods between my living space and my work space. Once I walk through the door of my office, I’m invited by the vibe of the room gives me and that puts me on work mode and when I leave it, I’ve mentally checked out from work. By having my own work environment I’ve separated my work life and life life and actualised the meaning of work-life balance. I’d also use this space for studying and doing research.

I’ve also invested on a good table(for my height), an ergonomic chair(so that I wont go numb sitting for a long time), a footrest and a monitor arm. These changes saved me a lot of my pain points (especially my back) by having a more comfortable working space.

Music is also an important part of my workflow. There are times where I want to match my brain frequency. I’d listen to slow beat musics when in deep focus and my thought process fast - faster beat musics like dubstep when executing (typing the keyboard in furious mode)

Remember, these are not hard rules. Experiment different methods and techniques to match with your lifestyle. How you shape your daily routine matters in the long run. Maintaining focus is hard where distractions these days are just at the tip of your finger. It takes discipline to be consistent and it takes consistence to be disciplined. My previous post delved deeper into this topic.

"The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times... The best moments usually occur if a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile." Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi