The Challenge Today
While technology was meant to enable more leisure time, it in fact has increased our inability to focus and complete our daily tasks. Not wanting to miss the latest twitter post, the Facebook comment, or the latest picture on Instagram we find ourselves in a world of destruction. If someone texts, you feel the need to respond right away regardless of the urgency. Our necks are sore, our eyes are weary after a day of staring down at our phones.
We are constantly bombarded by emails reminders that your order was shipped or an add to buy some new product that you probably don’t need. All of this has led to an age of Defocus. It has become increasingly hard to pay attention to anything for more than a few moments. We read news from short posts, books by audio, important ideas are cut to 140 characters, important decisions made in between text messages and orders via the Internet.
We have busy lives, pressures to get things done and the ongoing external pressure from parents, spouses, managers, and peers to work faster and smarter.
The result of poor focus and reduced deep thinking
The ability to think deeper and to make deeper connections between one’s inside world and the outer world requires focus. Without focus new connections are quickly made and lost. Deeper learning requires deeper thinking as well which leads to enlightened awareness. This requires comparing and contrasting new learning with one’s current knowledge. This is not always easy.
Without deep focus, poor decisions are made, errors increase, productivity goes down, relationships suffer and one’s overall quality of life resembles a pinball machine.
How to improve one’s focus?
Start to do one thing at a time fighting off multiple distractions and interruptions. Have more face to face conversations. It is common knowledge that the majority of what we communicate is done non-verbally so this is lost when always communicating through technology.
The other day just before one of my college classes which I teach I approached the door of the classroom to find it locked. As I waited for the key, my students gathered. I looked around, and no one was talking to anyone. All 30 students had their heads down staring at their phones. To enable better focus, it is important to be organized and in control of one’s time.
Time is one element that is equally shared for everyone. We all have 24 hours a day, no more, no less. Start to become more aware of where you are using and wasting your time. Once your time is lost it can’t be reused.
What occurs with deep focus?
Deep focus enables a greater awareness of oneself in the world. Deep focus is important for stability, calmness, confidence, and better relationships with others. One has a better quality of life with deep focus. New ideas are processed on a deeper level, conversations have more meaning and one feels better about themselves and others. Most important that with deep focus people have greater self-insight and a better understanding of the environment. Time is used more wisely, creativity and energy soar, and joy for live increases! Additionally, relationships are no longer taken for granted.
[Tweet “Here are ten practice steps to take now to enable deeper focus and attention”]
- Avoid the phone and Internet for 2 hours straight per day. Use this time instead to think or walk, read a book or talk to others.
- Get outdoors with nature and observe.
- Read one book a week in your hands.
- Take 20 minute naps and eat healthy throughout the day.
- Take 30 minutes to think about a challenge you want to solve in your life and aim to solve it after walking or running for 30 minutes.
- Take 20 minutes a day to plan what you will do and what is most important to complete for the day.
- Include and show appreciation to people daily.
- Start to have more face to face conversations.
- Smile, laugh, tell jokes, amuse yourself, don’t take life so seriously.
- Find the ways which work best for you to slow down, de-stress, and calm down.
Final thoughts
Build a road map for your life aligning your core purpose and where you want to contribute. Match your purpose with your most important values and goals. Follow healthy behavior that supports your values and identify and avoid unhealthy behavior which doesn’t support your values. What is most important to you? Slow down, focus, pay attention more to your thoughts and to those around you. You will start to have a renewed sense of calmness and happiness about your life and what could be better than this?!
Craig Nathanson
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Great write up Dr Nathanson
Excellent advice! Thank you for sharing!
Good advice, Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Dr nathanson
Good information to go by.
Thank you, Dr. Nathanson!
Great advice Dr. Nathanson. Thank you!
Thank you very much for your sharing, which made me reflect on my time management and realize the importance of concentration.
Thanks for sharing Dr Nathanson.
I remember seeing a picture of how people generations of the mass population in congregations such as public tranpsort would escape the present by immersing themselves into reading material. I believe with phones and social media is just another wave for humans to escape the world that’s in front of us. While I do truly believe in being present in the moment will allow us more focus, I do want to add that deepening connections by focusing on what’s and who are important is something modern technology allows. Maybe we have bills to pay, maybe there’s someone we love across the world we’d like to be in touch with. Focusing on those tasks or conversations on the my phone allow me to maximize my time and attention. I’ve never been good at multitasking and finally I can give my wife a scientific explanation as to why I shouldn’t be.
Outstanding advice!
These tips are impactful, thank you for sharing.
Doc,
This is in conjunction with what our small group at church is studying: John Mark Comer’s The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.
Gary
I am just now getting to this article. It was really helpful to remind myself to slow down and practice more self- care for clarity of mind. Thank you!
I do agree taking timing away from the internet and cell phones. I walk daily it is so relaxing and it does give me time to destress and calm down from the day
Thank you, Dr. Nathanson.
This is a fantastic reminder and incredible insight that allows me to view the challenging and taxing season my family and I are going through as part of a bigger picture. Life stressors often make me forget not to take life so seriously and smile more often. I am certain I am not alone in facing life’s stressors, as many people encounter their challenges. I will make a conscious effort to remember to slow down and take everything one step at a time.
Best Regards,
This was well written and very informative. I do not know one person who cannot benefit from reading this. We all can use reminders sometime to help keeps us on focus and on track.
Thank you for this insight and the added positivity. This is exactly what I needed to read as I work to find a balance. I have started coming outside to read assignments so my little can get some sunshine. It does not remove his need to constantly talk, but it is a healthier alternative than him channel surfing.
Thank you for providing practice steps. Very helpful.
Great article, thanks for sharing! I really like the list. It’s so important to stay laser-focused on everything that we do in life, all the noise around us can be such a distraction. I’ll keep this in mind!
Excellent advice! I appreciate you sharing this, Dr. Nathanson. Thanks.
-Chris Edwards
Thank you fro sharing this Dr. Nathanson! It has some great steps to try. It was very helpful.
Thank you
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing Professor! This is great!
Thank you for sharing this with us, Dr. Nathanson.
Over the years I have learned that meaningful work usually happens when I slow down and give my full attention to one idea or conversation at a time. When I started my first company, Rent-a-Teen Hawai’i, at the age of 11 in my hometown of Kailua on the island of O’ahu, there were far fewer distractions competing for attention. Actually, that’s not true: There were different distractions competing for attention as I lived near the beach and in a state where the best things to do as a kid were free. And I had lots of friends. But I had a “need” inside and outside of me: I had to make money for my mom, sisters, and I to survive, and I had to make something of this passion to create something that could take me farther over the course of my lifetime.
I remember spending more time than most talking with my neighbors, listening to what they needed, and thinking about how I could organize my friends and other teens in my neighborhood to help out. That experience taught me early that focus and real conversations are often where the best ideas begin.
In my work over the past 40 years as a Small Business Development Specialist, I have seen the same pattern with entrepreneurs. The most successful business owners I work with tend to step away from constant notifications and take time to think deeply about their goals and their customers. Most of those from the older generation don’t even carry a smartphone, nor a phone at all (nor any other electronic device). They are the ones that have truly taught me how to intentionally create space to think, listen, and connect with people in a meaningful way.
Thanks again for sharing this with us. Best of continued success to you.
Horacio Albert Bustos
Dr. Nathanson,
Thank you for your thoughtful guidance and the encouragement you continue to offer throughout this course. Your reminder that “when we try and work on multiple items at once, especially when interrupted, we drain our energy” (Nathanson, 2017, para. 3) is both timely and practical. Balancing school, work, and family responsibilities can feel overwhelming, but your emphasis on intentional focus, structured study intervals, and protecting our peak energy times provides a realistic framework for managing these demands.
I especially appreciate your suggestion to work in focused twenty minute segments followed by brief movement breaks. This approach aligns well with research on cognitive stamina and helps create a rhythm that supports sustained attention. Your article further reinforces the importance of designing our environment and habits to reduce distractions and strengthen our ability to be fully present in our learning (Nathanson, 2017). I look forward to applying these strategies more intentionally in the weeks ahead.
Thank you for cheering us on and for offering such meaningful support in our learning journey.
—Lesallan
References:
Nathanson, C. (2017, February 6). How of focus and pay attention in the age of distraction. Welcome to Dr Craig Nathanson. https://drcraignathanson.com/importance-focus-paying-attention-age-distraction/