We live in an increasingly distracted world. Notifications are constantly begging for our attention, whether an email popping up or a Slack message coming through. With so many things competing for our focus, it feels nearly impossible to get into a state of deep, concentrated work.
But what if mastering focus could take your productivity to the next level? What if tapping into your ability to direct your attention could unlock skills and creativity you didn’t know you had?
Focus is the most overlooked superpower when it comes to productivity. While we praise the idea of being busy and multitasking, the single-minded focus allows us to do our best work. We can boost productivity and creativity by training our ability to tune out distractions and direct our mental energies.
The Power of Focused Work
Deep focus allows us to tap into a state of flow. In this state, we are so absorbed in the task that everything else fades away. Research shows that flow states are measurably more productive than simply getting busy. For example, a study by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi found that people who frequently experience flow report increased creativity, better learning, and more job satisfaction.
Flow states cannot happen when we constantly multitask and divide our attention. Imagine a musician trying to get into flow while checking email every five minutes. It would be impossible! Getting into flow requires long stretches of uninterrupted focus on the task.
Many highly successful people purposefully carve out periods of deep work to experience flow benefits. For example, novelist Jonathan Franzen disconnects from the internet and doesn’t answer phone calls when working on a book draft. He can fully immerse himself in the novel’s world by eliminating distractions. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg is also a proponent of long blocks of focused work, even leaving her phone in another room to avoid disruptions.
Both Franzen and Sandberg recognize that fragmented attention prohibits their best creative thinking. It’s only by sustaining focus that they can access flow.
Why Focus is Overlooked
If focused attention is so powerful, why does it seem undervalued? A few key reasons:
- Our culture praises busyness. Being “busy” is seen as a badge of honor. We imagine busy people are more critical and in demand. But busyness and focus are incompatible.
- We underestimate the mental toll of constant context-switching. Every time we switch tasks or get distracted, there is a biological “refractory period” where our brains must re-orient. This provides significant mental drag.
- Immediacy has warped our patience. We’ve come to expect instant responses to emails and messages. A singular focus feels “unproductive” when letters are piling up. We’ve lost our patience for depth.
These forces combine to push focus out of favor. But the truth is favoring constant fractured attention over depth robs us of our ability to do brilliant work.
Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages
A great example of using focus strategies comes from the writer Julia Cameron. She starts each morning with three pages of “Morning Pages” – writing out longhand stream-of-consciousness thoughts.
These pages allow Cameron to direct her focus inwards, tapping into creative thoughts not yet fully formed. By focusing inward first thing in the morning, she can block out distractions and create a place of flow.
Cameron credits the Morning Pages as essential to her creative process and ability to generate copious writing. The singular focus primes the pump for a productive day.
Tips to Build Your Focusing Skills
We all can tap into states of deep focus. Here are some tips for honing this superpower:
- Reduce active distractions. During focus time, turn off phone notifications, close extra browser windows, and silence chat notifications. Every ping pulls you out of the flow.
- Build “focus blocks” into your schedule. Mark out 1-2 hour blocks in your calendar dedicated solely to one project. Guard them zealously.
- Start small. If an hour feels intimidating, start with 20-minute focus blocks and build stamina over time.
- Use apps to block sites—applications like Freedom block sites, apps, and even your whole internet connection during a scheduled block.
- Take mental breaks between blocks. After intense focus, give your mind time to recharge with a walk outside or deep breathing.
By scheduling blocks of focus and eliminating distraction, you can start experiencing the benefits of deep work: more creativity, productivity, and flow. We all have 30 spare minutes to convert to focus time – imagine how developing this habit could multiply our achievements!
As billionaire entrepreneur Paul Graham says, “Having [unbroken periods] just makes you better at what you do.” Focus is the hidden key to excellence.
Bill Gates and “Think Weeks”
Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, is one of the natural world’s highest and most influential people. How did he get there? By ruthlessly protecting his ability to think deeply.
Twice a year, Gates would isolate himself for “think weeks” – 7 to 10 days spent reading, reflecting, and pondering big ideas. He would take hundreds of papers and books to a secluded cottage. No phone calls or emails were allowed.
By giving himself expansive time for focused thinking and learning, Gates was able to tap into powerful insights and solutions. Think weeks became the engine for bold ideas that would later shape Microsoft.
Gates knew that it was hard to carve out space for real contemplation in the busyness of day-to-day business. But by designing this ritual, he gave himself the gift of uninterrupted focus.
We likely don’t have seven straight days for solo contemplation. But even building 30-60 minutes of focus time daily can pay huge dividends. Brilliance can emerge when we give our minds the space to dive deep.
Conclusion
In our fragmented world, focus is rare and undervalued. But the deep focus allows us to find flow, unlock our potential, and do brilliant work.
By purposefully building focus into our routines – through designated blocks of time free from distraction – we can all tap into this productivity superpower. Start by scheduling 30-60 focused minutes daily, or even try Julia Cameron’s Morning Pages.
When we strengthen our ability to tune out distractions, we amplify our achievements. Focus grants us access to depths of creativity and knowledge that multitasking can never provide. It is the gateway to excellence.
In the race for productivity and creative insights, focus is the undisputed winner. It may be overlooked, but it holds the keys to our best work. The most successful people know one thing: invest in focus, and the returns will astound you.