Improve Focus — Stephanie Attwater

Hello from a safe, social-distancing distance away!

For everyone new to working at home, you’re about to discover some fun challenges. At the best of times, making the switch to working from home comes with its own set of hurdles. If you have kids or a tumultuous home environment - not gonna lie, this is going to be a fun new challenge for you. Even without that added fun-time bonus of extra distractions, getting used to working from home can take some time. So first things first – give yourself a break if you’re struggling to be productive right now. Between friends and family trapped in other countries, or sick, or you yourself just getting home and facing an empty fridge and 3 day waits for grocery delivery, trying to get any work done right now is going to be hard. It’s understandable if all you’ve managed to do is stay glued to the TV or your phone, constantly refreshing for updates. A lot changes in a few hours right now and staying on top of who’s locked down where and what’s newly closed or restricted is about all many of us can do.

At some point we’re going to start to settle in to this new normal. This post isn’t to make anyone feel guilty for not being super productive right now. You have every right to be struggling at it. That’s okay. This is just to help give you some ideas to try that might help out with that, should you be ready for them. If not, totally cool. The nice part is this will be here for you when you are ready.

First thing’s first – working from home will at least be similar now than before COVID-19. There are some new challenges to face with the addition of everyone being at home right now, but they are generally challenges of scale rather than anything specifically new. The key is going to be finding the routine that works for you and your family. That’s going to take a few weeks to figure out. It would even without the current world events, so don’t feel bad if it takes a little longer now because of them. It’s at least to be expected.

These are a few suggestions of things to try, not an exhaustive list of surefire strategies. What works for you might not work for someone else.

Create an Office– Find a room with a door you can close. Even if you can get work done while supervising your kids from your kitchen table, there will inevitably be times that you need to make private phone calls. Having a room that’s separate with a closed door that you can make the ‘whoever is using this room needs to not be interrupted’ and enforcing it can make your life a bit easier in the long run. Just make sure that you reward folks for respecting it when you emerge from it.

Be Upfront– Do you have kids at home? Caring for an older parent? Let people know that your work-time phone calls and video conferences might not be interruption-free. Also be upfront with your family – yes, this may feel like vacation days to them, but you really do have to get some work done. Expect that it may take a couple of weeks for the routine to become, well, routine, so the sooner you start setting boundaries the quicker that transition will happen for everyone.

Virtual Babysitting– Can you set up virtual playdates with grandparents via skype? There are Skype a Scientist programs that might be useful for you right now. There are museums putting stuff online for free. There are a lot of resources starting up to help parents entertain their kids for a few hours so they can get some work done. I’ll include a list of resources at the end of this post, but I trust you can google. By the time I post this my list will likely already be out of date. Keep that in mind. If you find some excellent resources, be sure to share them via social media for other parents.

Work in Shifts– You might have to break your day up into chunks and either get up earlier or stay up a bit later to get a bit of extra uninterrupted time. If you have a partner and you’re both working from home, work out a schedule for who entertains the kids for an hour so the other one can make phone calls and conference calls. It will require a bit more coordination and communication to ensure you can both get work done, but it gets easier once it becomes more routine.

Have a Routine– I’m sure you’ve read the advice to get up every day at the same time, shower, get dressed, etc. It actually is important. It’s surprising how quickly things can break down without it. Also keep in mind that there is, in fact, a giant global pandemic happening so all routine is kind of out the window at the moment. If you need a week or two to get that out of your system, take it. Just keep it mind that you’ll have to figure out a routine eventually. And working in your pajamas might be the new normal that works for you. If it does, have at ‘er. If you find that your productivity is waning, try adding a bit more structure to your day and stick to it. It’s difficult to be the one in charge of your own productivity if you’ve been relying on other people to do that for you. There will likely be all kinds of apps and gadgets coming soon to help people create structure in their lives during all of this, so help will likely come soon.

Be Kind to Yourself– Most importantly, remember that you’re doing the best you can with what you’ve got right now. We all are. Remember to reach out to family and loved ones because it will become easy for people to feel isolated and alone at this time. We’re all in this together. So if you find yourself overwhelmed and struggling, please reach out. You don’t have to do this alone – social distancing, yes, but that doesn’t mean alone.

I’m here if you need me.

Online Resources

https://www.skypeascientist.com

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/75809/12-world-class-museums-you-can-visit-online

https://www.housebeautiful.com/lifestyle/gardening/g31746949/gardens-you-can-virtually-tour/

https://www.khanacademy.org

https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html

https://www.livescience.com/coronavirus-kids-activities.html

A one-time work colleague just accused me of ‘work = happy’ in a way that seemed derogatory. Upon further questioning, she asked if the only way I was happy was if I was working. This colleague has been struggling with her mental focus for a while. It’s an issue she’s been asking me for tips combating so she can get more work done. Now, I know I work a lot. Like, a lot. And yes, my work brings me unbelievable amounts of happiness. But it’s not the only thing that brings me happiness. Lots of things in my life make me incredibly happy. Because I’ve worked really hard to design it that way.

I legitimately almost never do the things I don’t want to do. It’s rare that I have to work on something that doesn’t make me happy. But I’ve changed my entire life around pursuing the things that I am incredibly passionate about. So there’s also very little in my life that I don’t consider a hobby that I get paid incredibly well for. Most of the things I do, I would do for free. In fact, many of the things I get paid to do now started out as me volunteering my time and energy towards a project I felt passionate about. I believe in following the things that make me happy - or, as Kevin Smith so aptly puts it, ‘chasing your whimsies’.

I am a dogged believer of chasing your whimsies. And when those whimsies are no longer fulfilling, either changing the circumstances so that you are focusing your talents only on the aspects that excite you, or changing the whimsy. Because when you are hunting down and pursuing the things you love more than anything, none of the hours and effort you put in feel like ‘work’. It’s all just exciting learning. I want to learn as much as I can about these things. The fact that I get paid for it is just bonus.

If you’re toiling away at a job you secretly resent or hate because you’d rather be doing anything else, then it’s time to ask yourself what you’d rather be doing and chase that thing. A lot of focus problems stem from the fact that you actually would rather be doing anything other than what it is you’re wasting time procrastinating not doing. So where are you spending your time? And what are you using those things to avoid doing? Why are you avoiding your work? What aspect of it makes you cringe inside? How can you design your life to work around or change that one or two things that might be stopping you?

For instance, do you long to write a book but sitting and typing it makes you die inside? There are lots of great apps that take dictation and write it up for you, and then just pay a great editor to make something from it. Or maybe you can’t handle a whole book and what you love is the social media promotion of yourself instead and you just think you have to write the book so you have something to promote yourself with online? There are tons of people who make great livings on social media. The key is to find something interesting and keep at it. Maybe you want to learn art or business, etc., but don’t want to go back to school? Luckily, there are so many great institutions now that have put their entire course content online for free. You can take any Harvard or MIT course for free, or pay $50 and get a certificate that says you’ve taken a Harvard course. So you can learn in your spare time and then transition towards your dreams as your confidence in your knowledge base increases.

There are all kinds of ways to make your dreams come true. The only one stopping you from doing so is you. So the better question is why? Why aren’t you passionately pursuing the thing you say you love? Why won’t you allow every fiber of your being to fall so passionately in love with something that you want to stay up all night researching it? When you find the things that captivate you and hold your attention, then focus isn’t a problem. The trick is to make a living at it, but there is always a way to make money. Money flows in the direction of joy. I’m living proof of that.

So, that’s all nice and rainbows and unicorns, but what are some concrete things you can do to help improve your focus?

Eliminate distractions - this should seem obvious, but do you typically work with your phone right beside you in case someone needs you? Do you sit in the middle of the bustling living room while your kids play around you? Try setting yourself up for success and set aside an hour a day for working on a passion project where you turn off your phone and shut the door between you and the rest of your family and just dedicate time to something you love. Can’t handle an hour? Start with 15 minutes and then build up. Which brings me to:
Set aside time every day - people often wait for ‘inspiration to strike’ and do all of this busy work instead of just sitting down and doing the actual work. Get a routine going where regardless of whether or not you feel inspired, you put in at least 15 minutes every day. Start small and build up, like exercise. Often, that 15 minutes will turn into 2 hours once you get started, but there will be days when 15 minutes drags by. And that’s okay. The point is, if you train your brain into ‘this is the time when work happens’, it’s surprising how often it’ll show up to do just that.
Blockages smockages - if you’re sitting around searching down all of the reasons you aren’t working in an effort to enhance your ability to work, guess what? You’re not working. That’s likely your blockage. You don’t actually want to work on whatever it is you say you want to do work on. Be honest and change your goals to something you actually want to be doing and see how fast that ‘blockage’ goes away…
Get adequate rest and nutrition - your brain can only function if you’re giving it what it needs to be able to do so.
If you still can’t focus - it’s time to seek outside help. Maybe there’s an underlying pathology sapping your focus. There is a very strong link between gut health and brain functioning. I usually refer patients to a naturopath or for osteopathic treatment to see if there’s a physical reason for their lack of focus. If that still doesn’t clear up the issue, then I usually send them to someone who specializes in focus and attention problems to get to the underlying cause and give them personalized guidance. Of course, you should also always have a visit with your doctor for a chat about it. Sometimes on-going focus and attention problems can indicate depression or an underlying medical pathology and should be followed by a primary care physician.

The point is, often times the only thing standing in the way of work = happy is you and your limiting belief that work is supposed to make you miserable. When you love what you do, everything you do is love. What wouldn’t make you happy about that?