How to Lose Focus and never start working
Are you overthinking the outcome of a significant task? If yes, I can surely tell you that you are not moving an inch ahead of where you are now.
Let me elaborate! When you were in school, you must have heard from your teachers to focus on your studies and not worry about the exams or the result.
This advice was aimed to make you focus on the learning process instead of allowing you to get under the pressure of the exams and fail.
If we pay attention to our performance and not the end result, we become productive and proficient. Therefore, you must focus on the process instead of the outcome.
Now you would be wondering how to keep your focus on the process and stop worrying about the outcome! This article will help you make progress in this regard.
Signs of Lost Focus:
Following are the symptoms of lost focus:
💥 Inability to make decisions
💥 Difficulty thinking clearly
💥 Failure to recall things that happened a short time ago
💥 Failure to perform complicated tasks
💥 Lack of mental and physical energy to concentrate
💥 Difficulty remembering where things are
💥 Frequently losing things
Why Do We Lose Focus?
It would have felt like an insult if someone referring to your short memory called you a goldfish. However, a goldfish should have felt insulted because it has a better attention span than an average human.
According to a new study by Microsoft Corp., humans now lose focus after eight seconds, which is even lesser than the attention span of a goldfish.
Previously, chronic conditions, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or alcohol drinking, were considered to cause loss of focus.
However, the new research conducted in Canada suggests that the reason behind focus loss is an increasingly digitalized lifestyle on the brain.
According to Microsoft, the average attention span had decreased from 12 seconds to 8 seconds since 2000 (when the mobile revolution began).
Now, it’s time for you to learn which circumstances and elements make you lose focus and lead you towards procrastination.
How We Lose Focus – 5 Reasons that Makes You Lose Focus
Besides digital distractions, there are so many other causes of lost focus. Let’s dive deep to discover them so that you can recognize them and get rid of them to hold onto focus.
1. Negative Emotions Towards the Task
Our unwillingness to put effort into doing something complex or uninteresting is the first thing that kills our focus and makes us procrastinate.
Theoretically, we know that we can accomplish a specific task, and we probably will do it.
But we don’t find the willpower or strength in us to finish or even attempt the task, and hence it leads to losing focus and then procrastination.
The problem lies in our emotional triggers, not in lack of capability.
Our negative emotional attitudes, such as boredom, anxiety, frustration, self-doubt, lack of confidence, and resentment towards specific tasks, make us lose focus.
If you have zero attachment to the task at hand, you will not be able to concentrate, and you will give into procrastination.
2. Impact of Mental and Other Disorders
Like physical health problems, mental health issues can also severely impair focus. Depression and anxiety particularly change our thought patterns. These two mental issues rewire our brains.
You must have experienced low concentration when you are highly stressed.
Due to depression, sometimes a task seems meaningless, and you cannot develop motivation. You think that it is impossible to finish this project.
However, anxiety affects us differently. Anxiety sows a seed of self-doubt in you and shatters your confidence, leading you to lose focus, make mistakes or even lose your job.
Besides depression and anxiety, other diseases that endorse lack of focus and concentration are:
👉 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
👉 Insomnia
👉 Epilepsy
👉 Cushing Syndrome
👉 Major Depressive Disorder
👉 Concussion
👉 Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
👉 Alcohol Use Disorder
👉 Dementia
👉 Restless Leg Syndrome
👉 Mental Disorders like Schizophrenia
3. Giving into Distractions
Some people associate distraction with laziness or lack of preoccupation. But in actuality, it means focusing on anything other than the task at hand.
It can be upsetting and annoying because it makes chores take much longer to finish than they should.
If it continues long term, it has the exact shifting costs of multitasking because your brain is repeatedly scrambling to reorient itself.
Your current project seems complicated as soon as you find something more exciting and sensational than your work.
Distractions seem like little lulls from distress. Tasks like scrolling through Instagram, watching a fascinating YouTube video, checking WhatsApp or Snapchat even if there is no update serve as pressure-release valves from a tough day.
But be mindful that smartphones or the internet are not the only distractions.
People have battled distraction by radio, televisions, and other earlier technologies.
4. Pressure of Multitasking
The burden of multitasking is a definite reason for lost focus. It is the consequence of feeling overwhelmed.
It is challenging to stay focused long enough to complete one thing when you are anxious about the other tasks on your to-do list.
The temptation is to switch from one task to another, for instance, attending phone calls and answering emails while working on Excel.
To some people, multitasking appears profitable, and they even try to practice it. But in reality, it makes it tough to reorient ourselves when swapping from one task to another.
Multitasking leads to a loss of focus and efficiency. The outcome of efforts made while multitasking is consistent with inferior quality.
5. Inability to Manage Time
The way we schedule our time reflects our predisposition to prevent discomfort. We lose focus when we cannot manage time productively.
For instance, people who do not make a to-do list cannot decide what to do next. They lose the emphasis on crucial tasks and get distracted by other recreations.
On the other hand, the people who make a habit of deciding their day also make a big mistake. They do not prioritize the tasks.
They put unimportant or less important tasks first and accomplish them before the deadline. But when it is time to do critical tasks, they are already tired, so they cannot focus.
Such people always live in chaos about why they could not complete a job on their to-do list.
Another common struggle is totaling how long things will take. We assume that we will complete a particular task in a given time.
But when we cannot follow this unrealistic schedule, we become frustrated and lose motivation.
One reason is leaving too many gaps of unstructured time between tasks. This habit vanishes our aptitude for top-down, goal-driven selective attention.
Instead, we concede to whatever incentives demand our scrutiny in those moments.
How to Never Lose Focus:
You can improve focus by:
🌟 Switching tasks when getting stuck at one point in a task
🌟 Setting a deadline for completing every task
🌟 Creating a calm, organized, ergonomic, comfortable, ventilated, neat, and dedicated space for work
🌟 Prioritizing important tasks
🌟 Exercising daily
🌟 Connecting with nature
🌟 Taking a short break
🌟 Getting enough sleep
🌟 Practicing mindfulness and meditation
🌟 Reducing multitasking and
🌟 Eliminating distractions
Conclusion
Focus is so valuable for achieving goals and dreams. If you cannot concentrate even on a small thing you do, you will not be able to achieve any goal.
Besides the reasons mentioned above, a sedentary lifestyle, hunger, and lack of sleep drive you far from focus.
Now that you know how you lose focus, you can eliminate these causes and become more productive. 🚀
