Hey professionals. Have you ever had times where you just can't focus but you really need to?
Where there's important work to do but your head's not quite in it? And you keep reaching
for the distractions? Well of course you have, we all have! But by the end of this
video you'll have work I know you can do to be able to focus anytime you need to.
My name's Steve and I coach professional people just like you to live and work from
a deeper and more peaceful ground of being so that you can create a happier
and more successful experience of your life and work. And a great place to start is with my free,
simple, five-step process for managing stress in the moment. The desire to be able to recover focus
on demand when we're not feeling it is probably one of the most common questions I get from my
coaching clients. You've been there yourself. The work's there, you're picking at it, but your
head's not really in it, your heart's not really in it, and you keep looking for the distractions.
"Oh I'll just have a quick look at Facebook," or, "I'll just have a quick look at Instagram."
"I'll just check my mailbox again." "I'll just go make myself a cup of coffee." All signs we're not
really feeling the task at hand so we're not really feeling the engagement with the task
and we say to ourselves, "I'll just waste time for a minute and then I'll get back to it." But
one minute turns into ten and you keep going back to it, and the work isn't getting done!
Distraction, distraction, distraction, instead of focus, focus, focus. And you know what's on the
line. Getting away from work on time. Getting time at home with your family. Getting things
done. And you end up working late and missing out on that time because you have to catch up. Now
there can be a level of individuality about why you procrastinate, why you seek the distractions,
but there are three key points which I find are generically useful. It's not a three-step process
as such. Think of it more like three points on a triangle, that when all three points of
the triangle are in place then the triangle is a strong structure. Now triangle point number one
is to deal with the things that might be causing us to show up with low energy. This is the
self-care point on the triangle. So what might be draining our energy? Well maybe we're not getting
enough sleep. Maybe we're not getting enough exercise. Maybe we're not getting enough rest.
Maybe we're not getting enough fresh air. Quite a common one is not hydrating enough. So take
a look at the bad habits that might be draining your energy and start looking for the good habits
instead. So for example if you're not getting enough sleep then do something about your sleeping
habits. Maybe go to bed a little earlier. Maybe even sleep in a little later, but do something
about getting the sleep that you need. And I recognize that that might require looking at some
of the other habits which lead you to not getting the great sleep, like maybe things that you do in
the evening. Maybe staying late at work to make up for the fact that you've had a lack of focus.
If it's lack of rest then look at your habits for getting rest. And on that point something that I'm
going to teach you as part of points two and three might be useful here too. If it is the common one
about lack of hydration then drink more water. This probably is the most common one I come across
people are just not drinking enough water. The second point on the triangle is about a choice,
and that is the choice to do whatever you have to do with energy, enthusiasm and like it's
the most important job in the world. Or if you prefer to put it in these terms, with energy,
enthusiasm, and as if you're going to get paid a million dollars for it. Now I hate ironing. I hate
doing my tax returns. I hate cleaning bathrooms. But I tell you this if I was going to get paid a
million dollars for cleaning a bathroom it would be spotless, and it would be done with energy and
enthusiasm. And by the way I need to tip my hat briefly here to my coach my mentor bill cumming,
who taught me this from his program what every person can do. Now the thing about tasks we
don't like or tasks that we're not enthused for is that we tend to do them slowly. We tend to
drag our heels through the process of doing it and we tend to complain to ourselves along the
way about what a rubbish job it is, but the thing is when you do it that way it takes twice as long,
the result is half as good, and you hate every minute. But if you make the choice
to do it with energy, enthusiasm, and like it's the most important job in the world,
or if you're going to get paid a million dollars to do it, then it happens in half the time,
the result is twice as good, and, well you might not enjoy yourself, but it certainly isn't a drag.
I have learned to probably apply more energy and enthusiasm to jobs I don't like than jobs I do
precisely because I want to get them done. I don't want to be stuck there. And make no mistake you
can choose this. There's nothing that's actually blocking you other than your own attitude towards
it. You can make the choice at any time to do something with energy and enthusiasm and like it's
the most important job in the world, and it's a powerful thing to really exercise that choice and
learn how to access that whenever you need it. Now the thing is using this does cost energy, and that
means that you are going to need rest periods. And it means you are going to need self-care otherwise
you burn out. By the way if you're enjoying this video so far do give it the thumbs up and don't
forget to subscribe to the channel and click the notifications bell so that you'll know when new
content arrives. Now this point about not burning out brings me to the third point of the triangle,
and that is to apply a technique called the Pomodoro technique, or something similar to it.
The idea of the Pomodoro technique is to have 25 minutes where you make a deal with yourself
that you are going to focus on the task at hand. You're not going to deal with distractions. You're
not going to deal with interruptions. For 25 minutes you are focused on that task and the good
thing about it being 25 minutes is that that's not too long to ask of ourselves. That's not too
long to ask for us to stay focused with that one thing, to put the phone to one side, to not be
tempted to go look at Facebook, to make the deal to carry on. But at the end of the 25 minutes, as
soon as the 25 minutes is up, stop! Don't carry on for another two minutes that are going to become
ten. Just stop. And then take five minutes of rest and recovery. Now within those five minutes
you might be tempted to say, "well that's the time that I am going to look at Facebook, that's when
I am going to look at Instagram, that's where I'm going to check my messages." Well that's up to you
and I get it that you are going to need to do that at some points, but that's not high quality rest,
and you might need higher quality rest than that. And for me the highest quality rest comes
when we go to some other place, someplace where we're not working. Preferably somewhere that's a
little bit darker, maybe dimly lit, and just sit in stillness in silence, not trying to
think of something, not trying to not think of something. Just being a still, peaceful, empty
vessel for five minutes. And then once that five minutes is up, go for another 25 minute time box.
Now of course the break between 25 minute focus periods isn't always 5 minutes. Some of them are
going to be longer like when you have your lunch break. And also you might find this too intense to
try and do it all day. You probably will, at least at the beginning. I have to be honest with you. I
don't use the pomodoro technique all day. But try and at least do it two hours a day, or at least
one hour a day. In actual fact two really focused 25 minute time boxes might achieve a lot anyway.
And of course you can always adapt it slightly. You could do two 25-minute time boxes separated
by five-minute rest periods and then maybe a 10-minute social media break if you really need
to spend some time on Facebook, Instagram, check your messages. And then do two 25 minute time
boxes with five minute rests again. Just whatever you do, stick to the time box. Now going back to
point one about things which drain our energy. One thing that might be draining your energy is if you
don't get the full sleep you need because you're thinking too much about work when you go to bed.
If you want to deal with that watch this video up here. Or if you've already watched that
video then watch this video down here instead. This is steve wishing you health and happiness.