PRODUCTIVITY
Find a Perfect Blend Between Focused & Diffused Thinking
Make the most out of your “Time”.
Has this ever happened to you that you get stuck on something while working/studying? It happens to the best of us from time to time. And when we achieve that state, it can be pretty difficult to move on and know what to do next.
On the other hand, It’s a great feeling when you’re on flow at work. Everything is going according to your plan, seamlessly & hasslefree. You get everything done that you are supposed to do. You successfully ignore all distractions and dominate procrastination like a champ. You get motivated and prepare for the worst. “Everything you touch becomes a piece of gold.”
I can sense a question popping up on your mind: “Is there a way to achieve workflow”. Don’t we all like to know the answer to that? Well, the good thing is that you don’t have to be all focused to be productive. Even if you got everything right, it is quite impossible to be productive for perpetuity. Because you just can’t do that. Our brains aren’t biologically designed to focus on a particular thing for eons. They just hit shores of random thoughts. Did you guys know that our brain produces information (thinks) in two different ways? It’s Focused Thinking & Diffused Thinking. Let me unveil the meaning of these two terms for ya.
Focused Thinking
As the name suggests, Focused thinking is pretty easy to guess, its focussed. When our brain operates in focused mode, we are concentrating on something, be it solving a math problem or writing an essay. Focused thinking is a highly attentive state of mind where the brain uses its best concentration abilities in the prefrontal cortex to ignore all irrelevant information. The prefrontal cortex is also known as the part of the brain that is responsible for attention, short-term memory, decision making, and execution of tasks. This allows your brain to get into more depth in the subject at hand and quashes distractions. The focused mode of thinking is connected with the concept of deliberate practice.
Examples of focused thinking
- Aiming a Dart
- Solving a Math Problem
- Writing an Essay
Diffused Thinking
Diffused thinking, on the other hand, is a more relaxed state of thinking and is not constrained with any particular part of the brain. Unlike focused thinking, diffuse thinking is all about distractions. This mode makes subconscious and unconscious connections in your brain, which allows the understanding of new and abstract concepts. This model looks at the big picture and can approach a problem from different angles. Diffused thinking is when you’re not thinking about anything at all in particular. Generally, it happens simultaneously with other activities. It is activated in all those instants when you are not explicitly concentrating on something. While your conscious mind is free from tension and anxiety, your brain is more likely to come up with a creative solution to a problem or finally tie in ideas that had been sidestepping from your brain. That’s why going for a run or playing a game to take a break from working can actually lead to a groundbreaking breakthrough.
Examples of Diffused Thinking
- Aiming a dart while eating a snack
- Trying to solve a math problem while listening to music
- Contemplating “ Mind Map” of an essay during a run
Which one is Good for You?
To exemplify this point, let me present to you an epitome. Let’s say it’s almost night and you are walking back home. On your way home there is a dark alley. With a flashlight, you can get a clustered beam of light, which will illuminate an areola very brightly. But with a Flat LED Torch, you can get a less clustered beam of light, which will illuminate a much broader area with dimmer light. Which one would you choose?
For effective & productive learning, we swap between focused and diffused mode to fortify our neural networks and reinforce the new pathways we are trying to create. First, we use the focused mode of thinking to understand the basics of a topic without any distractions. Then we use the diffused mode to passively interiorize what we have learned and linked to other things we already knew. Afterward, we go back into the focused mode and taper down the connections that we made to the best, most helpful ones. Diffuse thinking allows your brain to make bigger-picture connections involving your new skills so they become second nature.
We can’t maintain the effort of the focused mode for long. It is the natural tendency of our brain to relax and slip into the diffuse mode. Too much focus on the specific problem can be inhibiting and we can experience “Tunnel Vision”(this means your vision is constrained to a tunnel and outside the box, thinking becomes almost impossible). This phenomenon is known as “The Einstellung Effect”, it removes our ability to reset the parameters or premise of the problem and blocks creativity. That’s why when you’re feeling stuck or frustrated with a topic, just let go of it; let yourself rest. It’s best to step back and take a break to let the diffuse mode run for a while. Too much diffuse thinking, on the other hand, will prevent you from ever getting the details of anything straight, hereby resulting in Procrastination.
Think about it this way: when you were at the initial stage of learning how to reverse a car, it seemed like a delicate and sensitive task for which you had to focus and sharpen your senses to avert a car-crash. But time passes by and you turn into an experienced driver, and you can now reverse a car without even looking backward. We master the details in focused mode, then comprehend how everything fits together in diffuse mode. Focused thinking is what allows you to form initial skills.
Both modes of thinking are equally worthy, but it’s the blend between them that matters. It’s about combining creativity with execution.
How to find a Perfect Blend of the two?
As you know I am a writer, and generally, I publish at least 5 articles a month. My job is to be creative and productive simultaneously. My writing process takes about 5–6 hours per article. These are some techniques that I have used to find a perfect blend between the two of the thinking process.
Sleep on It
Have you ever struggled with a problem and you woke up the next morning and had a solution in mind? Yeah! me too. This is because all the information that you have gained throughout the day gets processed in an absolute manner. One of the best ways to activate diffuse thinking is by taking a quick nap. Our brains naturally go into the diffuse mode of thinking when we go to sleep. So, if you are struggling with a problem, it can be helpful to look at it right before you go to bed for a nap.
The Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo within the late Nineteen Eighties. The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, typically 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. This can be done in six steps :
- Choose a task that you’d like to get done
- Set the Pomodoro timer for 25 minutes (for the next 25 minutes, attempt the task you intended to do. Be alone with it and turn off all the distractions. This is when you go into focused thinking)
- Work on the task till the Pomodoro Timer rings
- When the Pomodoro rings, record it with putting a checkmark in your work checklist
- Take a short break (5–10 minutes long)
- After every four Pomodoros take an extended break
This is exactly how to get your work done. After you finish your task in a short span of time, you will feel very happy about yourself. This will motivate you to become more productive. The breaks in between will be the time to switch into diffused thinking. This is how you will be always involved with your task.
Here is an Online Pomodoro Timer
Take Productive Breaks
When you feel stuck and your comprehension is inhibited, it’s time for some diffuse thinking! Taking a short break of 5–10 minutes interrupts your focus and puts you into the diffused mode. The best thing to do is to shift into more relaxing activities like jogging or listening to music. Sometimes, taking a break for a few minutes might seem like a waste of time, but it’s an essential part of creating something valuable. After you got a grasp of certain information you are looking for, you should be ready to focus again.
Avoid Procrastination
Procrastination is the act of delaying tasks or avoidance of doing a task past their deadline or putting off tasks until the last minute. It is just a symptom, a symptom of the fact that you don’t realize just how short and precious your time is. Or how illogical it is to waste it away. It is a very serious problem which no one acknowledges. I have written an article on How to dominate Procrastination? Do check it out if you need more information about it.
Rounding Things Up
As it turns out, our brain probably has two modes of thinking for our own well being. We need to master them both of them in order to process the information that we come across. Now that you have got this information, you are ready to apply this in your daily routine. I am 100% positive that you will notice changes because I know, I did. If nothing else, you finally will have a scientific excuse to take that nap you always wanted.
Quick Fact- Video games can help ameliorate Focus by allowing kids to practice their focusing skills.
