Put down your phone and focus!
Can you? Can you put down your phone and focus? Or do you find your hand reaching for it when you’re bored? Or waiting for the bus? Or stuck in a boring lecture? How often are you picking up a book versus picking up your phone? And the notifications on your phone… How often do they interrupt your day? Have you ever answered a text during a family dinner?
Sure, we’ve all done the above. There’s no judgement here. The phones are a distraction. They keep us on some tasks, and off others. We are all on our phones for work- not just to call in-that’s so early 2000’s…. Now we are banking, running our businesses and our social media accounts, sharing photos, sending emails…Everything can be done by our phones nowadays and on the one hand that’s great- we don’t need fancy offices or cameras to do our work- on the other we aren’t switching off. And it’s making us frazzled and stressed. The line between work and rest is crossed all the time. We don’t switch off- because our phones don’t, so why would we?
Multitasking Is A Lie
According to one estimate it takes us anywhere from 7- 25 minutes to regain focus on a task we’ve been distracted away from. In order to get back into focus, we need to limit that which took us offline in the first place. Even though we may pride ourselves as being multi taskers- it’s actually less effective than we think. Spreading ourselves over too many different projects risks leaving behind a trail of unfinished tasks. Hands up if you have too many open tabs on your computer 🙋🏼♀️ It also makes us feel more frazzled. There’s only so many different tasks we can do before we feel overwhelmed. Instead, if we focus on one thing at a time and finish each task, we actually end up accomplishing more with less mess.
Make Your Phone Your Tool
⏰No one is getting rid of their phones anytime soon. But we can put up boundaries. For instance, you can remove all your distracting apps from the phone- leaving it solely on your laptop. Timers help as well to guard your time. Try setting your timer for 10 minutes to start a task… watch how many times you hit snooze on the timer in a GOOD way because you are actually fully absorbed in your work!
🌳There’s a great app (I know- I just said to delete apps, but bear with me…) called Forest which plants a tree for every hour or so of undistracted work. The moment you pick up your phone- a tree dies. It becomes a game then to see how you can become super focused and build a forest as well!
Why We Are Driven to Distraction
- The psychology behind us using our distraction boxes, aka our phones, is that it helps us avoid difficult tasks. Sure, we need to get that project done, but it’s hard/boring/scary so I’m just going to do something easy like scrolling…. However short-term relief spells long term disaster! No one wants to be up all-night cramming for a paper or deadline because we avoided the work.
- Messy Workplaces or working from home can hold us back. Doing twelve loads of laundry makes us feel productive, but it’s laundry- it’ll be there when you finish your work- trust me! Find a corner of the house and make it YOUR SPACE, as clutter free as you can
- Bad Habits Need Better Visual Cues One of the stressors in life is not having enough time. But really, we don’t have good habits to prompt us to do the workout, or finish that task. Need to workout? Put your workout clothes on the floor of the bedroom, set your alarm and then slip in unconsciously to the gym gear. Dressing for it is half the battle and your brain likes visual cues.
- Focus on the Finish Line Welcome to the Woo Woo that actually works! Here you focus on your end result- not the actual thing itself- but how you’ll FEEL when you’re finished. Take your time to imagine the end result, how you’ll feel- relieved, jubilant? Will you be smiling? Will your shoulders be less hunched? Will you finally feel relaxed? Focusing on the final feeling of relief or pride in your accomplishment keeps us on task.
Nutrition is also KEY to our focus and for helping us in times of stress too. Are you eating enough good, wholesome food? Or are you eating on the run? Yes, we are all busy, but skipping meals makes us lose our energy faster, and when we scramble for a quick burst of energy in a chocolate bar and a coffee, we only end up spiking our blood sugar and our work will suffer as a result. Taking time out for a nice lunch in the middle of the day, even if you’re at home, means we can tackle the second half of our workday full of energy and focus. My beautiful blend of amino acids, Lion’s Mane mushroom and B vitamins in fabÜ FOCUS BRAIN allows you to manage all the levers in your life to get a better balance and maybe build a forest too!
You’ll notice I haven't called for a ban on phones. I really think that banning them would be very like banning foods. (Although I think for kids in schools they should be restricted for the day- but that’s a topic for another day!) Being too restrictive tends to backfire and make us more stressed. Instead, if we build a better diet of attention, on our plates and in our focus, we might find a balance somewhere in the middle that ends up being more sustainable for the long run!
Let me know your thoughts about phones and focus….
Laura x
