What Do I Do When I Can't Focus?

What things should I eliminate to make my life simple enough to focus on easier?

Do you focus on your tasks at work and struggle to finish them? Do you often get distracted by phone notifications, social media gossip, or anything random?

In this case, you and I are the same. Because focusing on a single task is one of the hardest things in the workplace.

There is always something(s) that is bothering you or upsetting your focus, isn’t there?

– Someone else
– A phone call
– Meeting
– A false emergency
– By yourself
– A stranger’s cat
– News about last night’s NBA or Football matches

Sure, you can blame such things, but it’s a weakness. We both know that this kind of thing can never bother you without your permission.

This means that you are not focused enough. You are allowing someone or something to enter your mind.

This is a terrible thing, isn’t it?

This is how I look at the focus problem. But I have to admit that I can’t always focus. Sometimes I surrender to this situation. This is not good, of course.

Surely your life cannot benefit from gossiping, checking Instagram 439 times a day or more, watching 49 YouTube videos, and reading negative news.

So what can you do to improve your focus? Here are two things I always do when I can’t focus on what matters.

…

1| Eliminate, Eliminate, Eliminate

We collect something every day. I’m not just talking about what you buy, such as clothes, kitchen utensils, home decorations, toys, tools.

For example, we collect ideas.

Have you ever thought about it? We are exposed to so many ideas that we adopt them and make them our own.

For example, many people are asking me to create more YouTube videos. My family, friends, team members, readers, and students, so everyone has a set of ideas. And they want to help too.

Likewise, I share my ideas with others. These are ideas for improving your life, career, business, or relationships. We all do this in one way or another, albeit differently. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But what’s wrong at this point is that if you don’t filter out the input you get from people, problems may arise. After hearing from people that I needed to make YouTube videos, I thought to myself, “Hey! I have to make YouTube videos!“

I’ve been thinking a lot about this for the past six months. I also spent a lot of time creating a strategy.

– “What should my videos be about?
– “Where should I save it?”
– “How should I arrange it?”
– “What music should I use?”

I’m working hard on this right now. And I recently posted a video as well. Feedback is positive so far.

I have only one problem: It requires much attention and time. As a result, I have to spend less time writing, podcasts and creating new courses.

And frankly, these are exactly what I want to do. I also started a blog site for a reason: I love to write, and I can say that I am good at it. Therefore, my current job is more manageable than creating YouTube videos, which is an area I’m not so good at.

I also love to write articles, books and materials for my online courses. Frankly, I don’t care if I face some difficulties because I do it with love.

However, I get outraged and stressed while working on YouTube videos. And because of this, I had trouble focusing, and my ongoing work suffered from it.

So what did I do when I wasn’t focused? I asked myself the following question:

“What things should I eliminate to make my life simple enough to focus on?”

In this case, I stopped focusing on YouTube. Elimination is actually a key strategy I use in many areas of my life.

Over the years, we accumulate so many unnecessary things that we constantly have to eliminate and remove them from our lives:

– Ideas
– Projects
– Work
– Some objects (seats, tables etc…)
– And similar things…

If you have trouble focusing, try this strategy. Simplify your life so much that living is like a breeze.

And let’s be honest with ourselves at this point. Who wants to live an impossible and difficult life? Life is hard enough already. There’s no point in making it any more complicated.

…

2| Think About Past Successes and Happy Moments

Thinking about your past successes and happy moments increases the production of serotonin , a chemical hormone produced by our cells.

Serotonin is an essential chemical that affects every part of your body. Serotonin plays a massive role in our bodily functions. But it also helps reduce depression, increase libido, stabilize mood, control sleep and regulate anxiety.

Serotonin also plays a significant role in our overall well-being.

But at this point, that is, in your ability to focus, serotonin is of great importance. Serotonin also regulates delayed gratification. When your serotonin activity decreases, it can cause a lack of focus in the long run. In this case, you are less likely to act according to your plans.

When you lose your focus, your serotonin activity is likely to be low. So you give in to short-term pleasures like going out, drinking, shopping, having sex, watching TV, or anything else that gives you short-term pleasure.

Increase your serotonin activity to improve your focus. Research shows that bodily exercise can do this. But another equally effective and much more straightforward way would be to do a simple mental exercise.

All you have to do in this mind exercise is to remember positive events that happened in the past.

Alex Korb, a neuroscientist at UCLA and author of the book “The Upward Spiral,” explains why remembering positive events helps you focus on the things that matter:

“[Serotonin seviyesini artırmak için] All you have to do is remember the positive events that have happened in your life. This simple exercise increases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex, an area just behind the prefrontal cortex that controls attention.”

When serotonin rises, your focus increases. After all, that’s what you should do.

I know it sounds cheesy, but you have to fix it when something goes wrong.

When I can’t focus, the first thing I do is admit that I have a problem that needs a solution. Unfortunately, some people live without acknowledging that they have problems.

– No, it’s not normal to check your phone every two minutes.
– No, it’s not normal to gossip all the time.
– No, it’s not normal to be bored.

Focus on your life. Think about what is important to you, and you will know best. Then do these things and don’t get distracted, so you don’t lose your focus.

Good luck.

Want to hear more about improving your focus? Your answer: If yes, then you can listen to my podcast: