When you aspire to accomplish a goal, you certainly want to steer clear of all potential distractions that will eat up your time that could otherwise be used substantially. If you are reading this text, you are probably an inquisitive individual keen to explore ways to make your work more efficient as proactively as possible by improving your sense of time management through attention and focus skills. Focusing refers to paying particular attention to something or someone. It is the act that allows you to persist with your work despite shortcomings which is why many people claim that “focusing is an art and not a science.”
In today’s highly digitized and automated professional environment, productivity is all the buzz. Everyone wants to be productive all the time. There are even cases when many people can be observed striving for more productivity in less time—but keeping that all aside, how does one actually focus? The kind where you don’t think about anything and nothing else can distract or sway you away until you accomplish the task set forth. Have you ever thought about that?
Through extensive research, it has been found that focusing might not be such a technical process after all. Productivity systems are a great way to keep your efficiency in check but do they actually put value to your work profile that may benefit you in the future? That’s a question only you can answer for yourself.
Why is focusing being referred to as an art?
Focusing is here referred to as art for a reason. You see, just like any other art form, the more you do it, the better you get at it. For example, A swordsman gets better almost every time he picks his sword up to joust because it sharpens him physically and mentally by instilling agility. For him, it’s his art that he strives to do constantly better by practicing persistently and never giving up. The same can be perceived about focusing. The more one tries to focus and rid themselves of distractions, the more they’ll be able to do it each time they try.
Most people are out there promoting a science-based framework to get things done quickly and effectively. The fact of this matter is that the word science is solely used to deceive you. Science can’t tell you how to be productive. Science is not subjective in that sense, and neither can it be. There is nothing known of the ‘science’ of success or productivity.
Doing anything great and worthy is art. Research cannot determine how to live and work most proactively. The world that we live in is a vast one, and the variations among demographics every 50 miles are incomparable. Certain scientifically backed sources, for example, a research paper, might provide you with clues on the working of the mind, but they can’t prove or provide solutions to why and how individual experiences differ when it comes to focusing on goals to be achieved.
To master the ‘art’ of focusing, one must be ready to put their soul and heart into it. Hard work is a given, and so is consistency. Inevitably, this results in everyone going through a subjective experience while learning how to effectively use focusing as an art. Thus, everyone shall go through this in their own way through experimentation and relentless dedication.
If you want to build a career by working hard all the while being satisfied with its results, in the long run, You must develop relative hard skills and instill the ability in yourself to focus for even hours at a time. Hence, focusing is an art because you need to rid yourself of all your vulnerabilities to distractions and urges to procrastinate before indulging in it, just like an artist needs to do before starting a revolutionary piece of art.
Attention & Attention Management
Focusing is a crucial functioning of your mind. And as quoted by Marvin Minsky,
“The mind is what the brain does.” If one wishes to comprehend the workings of the mind, one must look at neuroscience, psychology, and also the functioning of the brain. This can also say that any sort of injury or interference with the brain’s physical structure affects perceptual experience and the brain’s analytical activity.
Attention is what allows us to focus. We pay extensive amounts of attention to something and can focus on it as much as required. But attention can potentially be a complex thing to understand. It is universally described as “the behavioral and cognitive function to process user information.”
Not only does attention management empower and motivate productivity. The deliberation towards how much attention is required towards what is termed as attention management. Attention management, in a way, acts as an antidote to the various distractions one faces on a day-to-day basis. It is a structured process which when implemented properly, can be beneficial in the long run as it boosts cost-efficiency as well as time management.
Attention and consciousness are very interrelated. When you pay attention to something, your consciousness becomes aware of it. When you shift your attention, the consciousness ceases to retain that information. Attention, like, all others is a limited resource, and there exists a limited capacity for all sorts of workings of memory.
Distractions are the most prominent type of external limitations to memory. They can be avoided by meditation and proper time management.
There are primarily two types of factors that influence the functioning of attention.
Internal and external
The internal factors that affect the basic functioning of the attention of a human being are as follows-
- Interests
- Motive
- Mindset
- Attitude
- Moods
Whereas, A few of the external factors that affect the functioning of a human’s attention are noted down below-
- When the stimulus is repeated
- The definite form of attention
- The sound and touch to the source of the attention
A process like attention management is crucial when one wants to master the art of focusing. Like any other form of art, one needs to control their attention span If they want to effectively produce an expected result.
All in all, focusing is an art because even though we may feel stressed at times due to the eye for detail, yet we carry the little joys and wonders that certain aspects of human attention bring along. Just like while creating art, the success rate for the anticipated result depends on one’s ability to eliminate distractions.