FOCUS
The world is a distracting place. We hear phrases like, “Pay attention!” and "undivided attention" along with other demands for personal time and energy.
But, is there a cost associated with distraction?
The cost is personal satisfaction. If I lose focus, I allow little things to distract me from my needs and goals.
With so many things competing for my attention, I’ve decided that I need to focus. Focus intentionally. Focus on what matters to me. Focus where and how I spend my time.
To be clear (see what I did there?), my focus is not about self-care. My focus concerns self-awareness, for self-care without self-awareness is useless. I want to focus, analyze, and be critical of how I think, act, and behave.
With an increasingly connected world, it is easy to fall into a persistent state of distraction. It is easy to convince myself that I am accomplishing things or that I am being productive. Only, that is not true because all the little things amount to broad and shallow work. It is a simple justification.
I want to focus on deep work. I miss the long, solitary concentration that yields a satisfaction of knowing that I was intentional and deliberate. There is a state of flow that comes from deep work, and that requires focus.
To be so focused on the work, to be so engaged in the process, is a wonderful thing...even if the work itself is not stellar. The focus is the reward.