Hacks On Focusing!

One of the biggest reasons our generation is having a hard time getting ahead is because we have overdeveloped our ability to “try things out” and underdeveloped our ability to complete a single task from beginning to end.

More tools to be productive and less clarity how best to get things done. Everything we consume has been brilliantly designed to make us keep coming back for more. There are teams of people that engineer our technologies and their only job is to figure out how to make you click, share, swipe, watch, consume, and ultimately convert.-Daniel DiPiazza

Life can get in the way with family, school, kids, or even small distractions like the delivery guy ringing the doorbell with your double stuffed crust pepperoni pizza…

There will always be someone or something waiting to distract you. But don’t let those distractions get in the way!

Here are several focusing hacks for you to use:

1. Start With Your Morning And Evenings Expressing Gratitude

Start and end with Vishen Lakhiani’s meditation.

When you take a shower, say express gratitude that you can take a shower in the morning.

When you drink a cup of joe, express gratitude for doing so.

2. No Social Media Mondays

Or Tuesday.

Pick one day per week free of social media (or pick one that you won’t get on).

How many times have you said you will get on Facebook for 10 minutes, and it ends up being an hour?

EXACTLY!

The point is to get to the point where you don’t require instant gratification. Technology and social media like Facebook is very addicting. eliminates alternatives to itself. As soon as you’re sucked in, it’s hard to get out.

I’ve stopped posting on and getting on Facebook for most of 2016 in a form of experiment. I get on in occasion to “check in”, like once every two months. And I do respond on messenger, for the most part.

• I decided to focus on Instagram. My personal account and engagement on there has grown.
• I said I wanted to step it up in the music arena. I ended up forming a band and being involved in a independent record label.
• I found EYTech!
• One of my posts on here slightly went viral. I’ve been writing on Medium and was not expecting that. Was my goal for writing that particular post to go viral? No. But it happened.

What you choose to focus on and choose to ignore is a defining quality of your life. Who you are and what you feel IS what you focus on. Don’t forget who you were before the world told you how to be. If you are constantly trying to please others, how can you distinguish yourself and your ideas from everyone else? If you are constantly influenced, how can you see things from another perspective?

“Knowledge work is not an assembly line, and extracting value from information is an activity that’s often at odds with busyness, not supported by it.” -Cal Newport

3. No cell phone for the first 30 minutes of your evening/morning

Rather than start your day getting thwarted into work work — take 30 minutes for yourself. Wake up, allow your own thoughts to influence you at the beginning of the day. Journal or mediate instead of hopping on the phone right away.

4. No internet either before or after work for an half an hour

Just because we exist in a wifi world doesn’t mean we don’t have the power to turn it off. It might be hard because you want to see what everyone is doing. Without the internet, you can focus deeply. You can make far-reaching connections that constant distractions make impossible.

Have you been trying to write a book?

Re-connect with an old friend?

Heard that one quote that we might not have Wifi, but we might have a better connection?

Writing that book or actually talking to someone in person requires focus and deep concentration and kicking the internet to the curve for a bit. It can start a habit and you may find yourself focusing more than ever before!

Hello! I’m Alesha, I’m on team EYTech! I lead projects relating to search marketing & optimization, social media marketing, brand & content development for clients in varied industries. You will also find me writing a lot of posts for EYTech too! I also eat food, write love letters to food (I’m not joking, I confess my love @aleshampeterson) act and play music! Nice to meet you!