Focus exercises

Key Insight

● Focus exercises

● Focus is directly proportional to success. All success stories begin with manic focus, which lasts for a very long time. It’s very unlikely that we won’t succeed if we are 100% focused. Focus and perseverance are mentioned as key topics in almost every success book.

● Research shows (described in detail in the book "Stolen Focus") that in modern times it has become extremely difficult to maintain focus, and currently the average focus time on a single task is measured in seconds. Yes, you read that right: seconds. What can you do with seconds of focus? Probably nothing.

● This tells us that indeed a large majority of people have attention disorders. Too much content, flashy colors, moving images, viral content, ads everywhere, cheap dopamine, all this strongly stimulates the brain and trains it for a very short attention span (measured in tens of seconds). The modern world changed quickly, but the brain did not evolve, and simply isn’t ready for it. We evolved to live in nature at a much slower pace, with far less stimulation, and that’s why we see a mental health pandemic in modern times. Technology has brought huge benefits to humanity, but it doesn’t come without challenges.

● What are the ways to regain our focus?

○ All the other chapters of this book—the topics in this course have synergistic effects and ‘everyone affects everyone,’ and almost all affect improved focus. Everything matters (I hint to my professor), but we’ll mention the most important again:

■ Dopamine management.

■ Time management, especially the section "What not to do".

■ Complete removal of news and short-term and irrelevant information.

● The Siteblocker tool is extremely useful for these applications.

■ Psychophysiological health, supplements and sleep.

● Cardio and physical activity are very good allies.

● Many supplements also have nutritional effects.

■ Good conditions and environment.

■ Using notes instead of memory (collection).

■ Good routines with 100% planned time.

■ Minimal number of context switches and as few concurrent concerns as possible.

■ All notifications turned off and the phone kept out of reach.

● The need to see a notification instantly is almost always false.

○ Focus exercises, meditation - All scientific research shows usefulness (there are many). Meditation literally increases brain size and gray matter. They reset dopamine receptors, and act opposite to cheap dopamine. There is no productivity book that doesn’t mention it, and a large percentage of successful people have a regular routine that includes meditation. It is the best remedy for anxiety and a very good ally for various other mental health issues. Meditation has a positive impact on mood, happiness and well-being, reduces cortisol and inflammatory processes, increases immunity, and even makes us wealthier (per research). Improves sleep, cognitive ability and memory. All this is achieved better than any medicine and with no negative side effects.

■ First, note that the meditation we’re talking about has no religious function, and while some forms of meditation can be used for such purposes (similar to prayer), here we’ll discuss ordinary meditation, i.e., focus practice. Spiritual enlightenment is a possible side effect but not guaranteed.

■ For initial benefits it takes some time, and at the beginning it may feel uncomfortable or we may feel pain. Your brain will try to prevent the boredom that arises during meditation. My start was very hard, and 5 minutes felt like torture about a decade ago. When I was younger I had many strong thoughts and meditation was extremely difficult. Ironically, the harder it is at first, the more you actually need it, and the more you’ll benefit. When our thoughts are unsettled and wander, we feel anxiety and unhappiness. In the first few years I stopped and started many times, and the strongest effect I felt after the first meditation after a period of not meditating kept me returning to meditation. Now I can’t imagine a day without ~25 minutes of morning meditation.

■ "If you don’t have 20 minutes to meditate, you really need 2 hours of meditation" - I often hear: "I don’t have time to sit and do nothing," but that isn’t true, because you’re doing something: practicing focus. My personal experience is that time spent meditating returns manyfold during the day through increased focus, efficiency (working on more important things) and better decisions. When I meditate in the morning I rely far less on cheap dopamine during the day.

■ Correct decisions - another very important benefit. Meditation often allows us to look at situations from a third-person perspective, cut off emotions and ego (emotions and ego are the main accomplices in 90% of wrong decisions). We develop awareness of awareness. Of course we don’t want to become robots, but we bring emotions to a normal level so they don’t prevent us from making rational, logically correct decisions. Meditation is my number one tool for any important strategic decision, and if during meditation I don’t think about that decision, after meditation I have clearer thoughts that allow me to better evaluate the whole situation. For big decisions I often spend 2, 3 or 7 days until I feel my thoughts are very clear.

■ If we want to wake up we need a stronger and deeper inhalation; if we want to relax we need a stronger and deeper exhale.

■ For starters it’s easiest to use the Headspace app.

○ Self-hypnosis - More and more scientific papers show that self-hypnosis is a good method for solving various psychological problems, improving sleep, improving mental performance, and helping to quit smoking and alcohol. Self-hypnosis and meditation are similar techniques, but self-hypnosis is more targeted toward a specific goal, while meditation is a bit broader. I recommend trying reverie.com. They claim 75% of users permanently quit smoking, so it’s worth trying if you smoke or know someone who wants to quit.

○ Yoganidra/NSDR - Non-Sleep Deep Rest, i.e., Deep Relaxation while Awake. Something between meditation and self-hypnosis. An extremely good technique for relaxation and calm. Also good preparation for learning. I recommend trying this or that.