We live in a distracted world. One of beeps, dings, buzzes, and so on and so forth. Concentration, the ability to focus on something for a prolonged period of time free of distraction is a lost art in this world. We stop what we’re doing to check our phone every time we get a notification (which is several times a minute for most people with the amount of apps that are available to be downloaded today). Like a muscle, the less we use concentration, the weaker it gets. On the other hand, if we practice it more, it will get stronger. In order to do this, we need to enter into a state of deep work which will allow us to concentrate distraction free for a progressively longer and longer period of time. At first, like going to the gym for the first time, this will be difficult and disheartening. With enough training and practice, your concentration muscles will strengthen and your productivity levels will skyrocket beyond your peers and what you never realized was possible for you.
Everything is made for attention
At any given moment, there are dozens of things vying for your attention. Phones and apps were designed to develop a compulsion habit to check it out whenever a sound rings off. Some apps even have their own recognizable ding like ESPN so the user is even more drawn to check their device at the sound of their custom ding. Beyond your phone, there are so many other things that are primed to distract you and compel you to do something. Ads are everywhere on the internet. It’s difficult to accomplish things when we are on a device with a network connection because the temptation for distraction is always a click away.
While of course, there is a usefulness for the internet and you can accomplish some incredible feats harnessing its power, there is an argument to be made that being in its presence 24/7 like most people weakens your ability to concentrate dramatically. When something distracts you, you lose your train of thought and all the momentum you had in this thought needs to be rebuilt from the beginning. This can be extremely problematic when attempting to be as productive as possible. Working distracted lowers your quality of work significantly and forces you to take longer doing specific things than it would otherwise. For the average 9-5 employee, one could argue a small fraction of it is spent actually working. The rest of the day is fraught with directionless meetings, web surfing, and other time passing distractions.
What if you could regain this ability to concentrate and complete in 3 hours what would take someone else a full day or more? Well, it’s possible. It’s also actually pretty simple. But…. it sure isn’t easy, at least not at first.
A simple trick
Working deeply requires one thing and one thing only, the elimination of all other possible distractions from your immediate radius. That means no phone, no email, no internet if possible, no noise, just complete isolation. When your concentration muscles are weak, you will bend to the first thought of distraction. This is why it’s so vital to turn off the noise to the best of your ability so you can purely and simply focus for an allotted period of time. Start small and work your way up. If you’re new to this and the idea of being unplugged for hours at a time scares you, start small. Try 30 minutes, then 45, then an hour, all the way up to 2 hours. I’ve found that by using this strategy, I’ve been able to complete days worth of work at a higher quality than I thought possible in just 2 hours. Those two hours are exhausting as focusing, like working out, consumes a lot of energy. If you’re not mentally fatigued, you’re probably not focused enough or you can focus beyond what you currently believe your limitations are.
This focus time has allowed me to read complete books in less than half the time it normally would given a text break every few pages. It allowed me to write a week’s worth of blogs in one sitting. It’s gotten me through intense training, content creation, brainstorming and filming sessions for my real estate business, and more. I am just at the beginning of my concentration journey and I’m just really starting to experiment with its power. If there is something that’s been on your mind forever and you “just can’t seem to find the time to do it”, try this method. You’ll make more progress in one sitting than you’ve made in one month. Try this out. It won’t be easy but I promise the results will speak for themselves.
A confidence level worth the sacrifice
Accomplishing all that you will be able to accomplish will undoubtedly lead to a massive confidence boost. It’s a similar feeling to when you’ve been working out for 6 months and start to see results in the mirror. It’ll motivate you to work even harder and double down on what got you to where you are now. I’ve marveled at some of the things I’ve accomplished with just a few hours of concentration and you will too.
Reintroducing busyness
Busyness for most professions will always have a place in our daily lives. For me, my daily life contains a lot of busyness due to the nature of the work I do. I have to talk to people a lot! But that doesn’t mean I don’t make time for my deep work. I just schedule it in and put everything else on hold until I’m done. This is proactively creating a schedule around my needs rather than reacting to things that get thrown my way. So many people are scared to do this, but I can say this honestly, nothing really changes. People get a feel for when you’re available and when you’re not and they usually respect your time. Nothing is that urgent, you can call them back in a few hours. One thing I do to add some more regimentation into my schedule is use a Calendly link to allow people to book around my time so I have a specific predetermined period already dedicated for phone calls. I also ask people to state the purpose of the call prior in the notes section of the Calendly link so we can get right to the crux of the call without having to go on a directionless tangent.
There is no way to skip busyness, and we shouldn’t have to. The brain is designed for a few hours of concentration a day and can be available for the rest of the day for the busyness that follows. Plan your day accordingly and work on your concentration muscles. Resist the urge to react to your surroundings and proactively plan your day to fit your needs. This is the best way I know to get the most of your time and not leave anything on the table. Get after it and go train those concentration muscles!