September 19th, 2023

Coach Jen

Jennifer Farmer

Moderator  ·   · 

Mental Focus

Do you ever find it difficult trying to balance all the moving parts in your day? Perhaps even have a difficult time concentrating on the task at hand. Writing an email…”Doesn’t the dishwasher need unloading?”. On a conference call…”Was that an email notification?”. Reading a story to your kids…”What do I have on my schedule tomorrow?”. Dr. Amishi Jha, in a recent episode of The Genius Life, discusses a few strategies to exercise our mindfulness so we can truly be in tune to what matters in the moment.

Before I get into the exercises, I’ll preface with saying, if you experience a wandering mind, you’re not alone! Our mind typically wanders upwards of 50% in the day. It’s normal to have a wandering mind- it’d actually be abnormal to have a mind that never wandered. Our goal isn’t to completely eliminate this tendency, but rather to have the awareness when it happens and be able to return back to a place of balance and focus

Exercise #1: STOP

S: Stop

T: Take a Breath

O: Observe Your Surroundings

P: Proceed with the Task

This is a wonderful exercise to train your mind to return to a place of focus when you notice it wandering. I’ll actually use an example from just a few minutes ago. Here I am writing this post and I think, “Hmm I should probably check my email”. As I notice my mind wander away from writing and towards my inbox I should first S: Notice the act of my mind wandering. T:Take a breath to regroup my self. O:Observe where I’m at and what I’m working on, bringing awareness back to my goal. P:Proceed with writing this. In order for me to be successful at doing this in a moment of wandering, it can be helpful to practice throughout the day-during a walk, while sitting at a stop sign (the sign is the perfect reminder), or cooking dinner. Think of this exercise as 4x:20 flat strides at the end of a run in preparation to run a race personal best- doesn’t always seem necessary in the moment you’re in, but pays high dividends when you need that sprint finish for your finish line photo.

Exercise #2 Breath Focus

This next exercise is another excellent tool at focusing and redirecting your attention. Again, this is something that should ideally be practiced daily, in preparation for key moments of focus. Start small, building a little at a time-and when I say small I mean really small! Even if you think you can do more, it’s better to start with a truly attainable amount and be consistent then try to be a hero and burn out.

Sit on a chair with good posture. With eyes closed focus on your breathing. No need to alter your breath’s pattern, simply notice it. Then once you notice its pattern, shine a flashlight onto one specific area that you notice your breath going towards. Perhaps you simply feel your chest going up and down or maybe you’re aware of it in your fingers. Tune your mind into that one single body part, staying focused there. When your mind wanders (I say when not if, because it will wander) simply notice the wandering and redirect it back to your breath going to that body part. This allows you to practice sustained attention while redirecting your thoughts when they wander. Start with :30-:60 at first and build to 5:00-10:00 minutes. After practicing this technique for a few days, try it out in a real world situation. You’re talking with a friend and while they’re speaking you notice your mind wander to what you’ll make for dinner that night. Notice it wandering and bring it back to be fully present in the conversation.

The goal of sustained focus is not perfection! Rather, it’s the ability to notice when we are losing our attention to another priority and refocusing to the task at hand. I’m a huge fan of podcasts and have noticed a common trend among high level performers-being able to tune into one task with solid focus and then seamlessly switching to another when it’s appropriate. Did you know it’s actually impossible for anyone to multi-task. Instead, all we’re really doing is intense task-switching. Some scenarios that can work, but more than not, it leaves 20 tasks 60% done rather than 5 tasks at 100%. So here’s to doing our mental exercises and crushing our focus game!

P.s. These are great exercises to practice while deep in the pain cave of a difficult workout!