How To Improve Your Focus (Newsletter 17)

If you’re alive in the 21st century and reading this letter, you’ve probably had issues with focus. We all have.

Our shortening attention spans are being split even further by the media we’re exposed to.

Short-form content, infinite scrolls, notifications. They're all designed to keep your attention at the cost of reducing your ability to focus.

Social media companies have the best developers, designers and psychologists working to keep you on their apps.

It seems freedom from boredom, critical thought or negative emotion is just one tap or click away. The cheap dopamine keeps us coming back like moths to a flame.

Attention spans decreased significantly as television and mass media replaced books. They've decreased significantly again with the proliferation of smart devices and constant connection to the internet.

The way I see it, the trend will continue as virtual reality becomes more prominent.

To be able to focus, that is, to pay attention and follow through on a given task, is more important than ever.

I believe this ability alone is a major factor in our success now and in the future.

I’ve come around to view social media as an important tool for communication and value exchange.

However, even in my 5-year hiatus when I had the close-minded “all social media is toxic” viewpoint, I still found myself less focused than I’d have liked to have been.

I've recently taken on a project of publishing one YouTube Short video every day. During my “research” into what makes a great Short video, I've regularly caught myself 10 minutes into a scroll.

Everyone I talk to has had the same experience, regardless of the apps they use.

The funny thing is I’ve seen countless pieces of content and ads (oh the ads…) about:

• Increasing your productivity
• Managing your time
• Enhancing the quality of your life and work
• Reducing stress
• Improving memory
• Reaching goals
• Creating better relationships

In other words, all benefits that come from increasing my ability to focus are marketed to me on platforms designed to worsen my focus.

By the way, when I say “funny”, I really do mean funny. I don’t see this as a bad thing or a good thing, just a weird, comical thing.

After all, I play the content production game, too (and I’m writing about focus right now). I'm not interested in experiencing the cognitive dissonance of stating how evil the game is while simultaneously playing the game, so to speak.

My take on focus is simple.

When I’m focused, life is good. When I’m not focused, life is chaotic (which can be pleasurable in the short term but nearly always destructive in the long term).

I can only speak from personal experience (I’m not a scientist conducting expensive laboratory studies).

This letter isn’t meant to be a research paper and I won’t be citing sources—I encourage you to never believe a word I say (or a word you say) and to do your own research.

I’ll try to avoid jargon and I’ll be relying on what I’ve learned throughout my continued research and experimentation.

I’m by no means perfect. I’m actually writing this letter as a reminder to myself as much as (if not more) than a resource for you.

I think we can all agree that better focus will lead to a better life, so I’ll stop arguing that point and focus my attention on what I do to improve my focus when I’m feeling unfocused in life.

With that all out in the open, here are a few strategies I’ve used to improve my focus and, therefore, my life.

But before we get to my tips, let’s first briefly discuss neuroplasticity.

Understanding Neuroplasticity

This blew my mind the first time I read about it. I always had the feeling the brain was malleable, but having it presented scientifically was incredible.

The brain is what we call “plastic”. Neuroplasticity is a process that involves adaptive structural and functional changes to the brain. It is the ability of the nervous system to change its activity in response to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli by reorganizing its structure, functions, or connections.

Without getting into the science of it all (there’s plenty to research and discuss), the jest is that the brain will actually change to suit its environment. This is largely how habits are formed (and broken).

In short, our brains adjust to our current media consumption and screen time habits (which restrict our ability to focus).

On the flip side, they can adjust and become more capable of focusing with the right environment and stimuli (or lack thereof).

So with that, let’s get into it. Once again, this is all from my experience in the hopes of improving your experience.

Getting Into The Circadian Rhythm

Getting an appropriate amount of sleep is essential for being able to focus and perform at our best.

Over my 32 years, I’ve had nearly every possible sleep cycle, including a time experimenting with polyphasic sleep cycles.

The one that works the best for me and my focus is 8 hours from 20h00 to 04h00. That one’s tough to make habitual, but it’s my preferred.

And 8 hours seems to be the sweet spot for me.

I can do 7 or under and feel good for a few days, but burn out pretty easily.

I can do 9 or more but always feel sluggish the next day.

Mind you, I love sleep. Left to my own, I’ll sleep 10+ hours. But oversleeping, to me, is just as bad as undersleeping, in terms of my focus throughout the day.

A big part of dialling in the circadian rhythm, for me, is not staring at a screen before bed. Blue light is not good for you in general, but even with blue light blockers, the light from a screen can’t be good for the winding down process before sleep.

For years, I’d have my phone on in bed (typically watching chess videos) to “help me fall asleep”. But in reality, it worsened my sleep.

I feel better physically and mentally when I’m getting off my devices early and getting to sleep early.

But this is just advice—do whatever you want to do.

Fasting And Low-Carb Diet

In 2019, I was dealing with some health issues. They weren’t life-threatening or particularly severe, but I felt fatigued and irritable and I knew it had to do with digestion.

I’ve never had luck with solving ongoing issues with the Canadian healthcare system, so I did my own research and got into fasting.

I started with intermittent fasting and eventually got to one meal a day, then one meal every two days, then to three meals a week. I supplemented with salt water and made sure I was eating low-carb, micronutrient-rich foods.

Because I was eating low-carb foods, I wasn’t spiking my blood sugars and having crashes, which signals the body to eat more food (that’s a vicious cycle to get into).

For one, my ailment seemed to have disappeared, even once I started eating “regularly” again as my wife and I backpacked through Australia (beans and toast for breakfast were very different from my 4-month fasting journey).

But something even more fascinating happened. I wasn’t feeling weak or fatigued from prolonged fasts so long as I was hydrated.

I still lifted weights and trained Muy Thai on full fasting days. I wasn’t at peak strength, but my endurance was fine. I felt improved focus and productivity at work and, in some instances, mild euphoria.

I always say “Diet is like religion or politics, anyone can be convinced of anything”—remember that I can only speak from experience. Furthermore, here’s my legal disclaimer that I’m not a doctor, so don’t listen to anything I say or read anything I write!

That out of the way, it seems obvious that eating triggers digestion and digestion demands energy that could be used to focus. It’s also obvious that we need sustenance, so play around with your eating schedule and your time for focused work.

Be conscious of how well you can focus around your eating schedule. Consider doing your own research and finding a system that works best for you.

While we’re on the topic of diet and fasting, I wanted to mention caffeine and other drugs (notably alcohol).

Caffeine is a tricky one. I fast from caffeine for a few weeks a few times a year but always find myself back at it. It’s certainly an addiction, but I always feel the benefits of black coffee outweigh the cons.

With drugs, pretty much everything affects me negatively in terms of focus, at least in the days afterward.

Again—I invite you to experiment for yourself.

Meditation

Of all the habits I’ve repeatedly started and stopped, I’d have to say the toughest one to stick to has been flossing. And right behind it would have to be meditation.

I’ve tried guided, unguided, eyes closed, eyes open, passive, active—and have seen success after weeks of time spent (I almost wrote weeks of effort, which might be part of the problem).

I’ll work my way up, improve my mood, energy and focus, and then get distracted with other responsibilities and drop the habit.

It’s then a battle to start again without seeing immediate benefits—which again, is part of the issue.

Meditation is undoubtedly beneficial, but looking at it from the perspective of self-gain is the wrong way to go about it. Nonetheless, I'm a Westerner and sometimes I just can't help it.

It’s one of those habits that never took priority in my life but has given me immense benefit when it has been a habit. Improved focus is one of those benefits.

Being able to sit silently and focus on the breath (or nothing at all) and allow thoughts to come and go without attachment or judgment is an incredible skill. Being able to master that, to me, makes focusing on actual material seem like you're playing on easy mode.

I’ll be revisiting this habit and I invite you to give it a shot, too (trying my best to not turn this letter into a “do as I say, not as I do” piece).

Walking

It’s dark out as I’m writing this and I literally got up out of my chair and onto the treadmill to write this portion on my phone.

Yes, even if I’m typing into my phone, I’ve found that walking helps improve my focus.

My goal is 10,000 every day, and I notice a big difference in my productivity when I hit that goal.

For one, the mind and body are one and the same. Walking helps to keep the body healthy and, therefore, the mind healthy.

Sometimes I’ll listen to audio and take notes as I walk. I live out in the woods, so I don’t have to dodge people and traffic while looking at my phone.

When I’m walking my dog, I’m focused on interacting with him and the environment.

Otherwise, I’ll let my mind wander or try focusing on a single thought. I’ll make games out of my walks (maintain a certain pace, look for a certain number of birds, avoid stepping on any cracks, etc.) to gamify the process.

Some other times, I’ll treat walking as an active meditation. I’ll purposefully be as mindful as possible, allowing thoughts to pass by without attachment or judgment.

I use walks to break up my day, clear my head when I feel overwhelmed or uninspired, and always return to my work more focused as a result.

Reducing The Workload

Sometimes we’re just overloaded. Reducing our workload and the time we need to be completely focused will help us to rest and recharge for improved focus when it’s needed.

You wouldn't train in the gym for 8-12 hours a day, and likely not even an hour a day at full intensity. We need rest. And just like our muscles need rest from physical load, our brains need rest from cognitive load.

This is particularly important when we’re just starting out in improving our focus.

Just be sure not to fill your resting time with focus-destroying activities (scrolling social media, for example).

Low-Information Diet

We live in an age of abundance and much of our disease and distress come from overconsumption. Why would information be any different?

This one’s a tough one for me. I love consuming information.

But it’s all too easy to overload the mind and reach diminishing or even negative returns when it comes to information consumption.

The brain can only process so much information at once. Overloading it won’t lead to improved performance, memory or focus.

This is much easier said/written than done, but for me, this means two things:

1. Only consuming information that applies directly to my goals (stuff that’s immediately actionable).
2. Only consuming information when I can take notes or take action.

I’ve tried the “university on wheels” approach where I listen to audiobooks while I commute to and from work.

I’ve tried putting on audiobooks, podcasts, lectures, etc. when I working on other “undemanding tasks” (cleaning, cooking, showering, etc).

It’s always in one ear and out the other. And it’s actually even worse than that.

• My mind is trying to process the information as I’m hearing it, which is cognitively demanding/tiring.
• I’m often distracted as I’m listening, which is strengthening to habit of being distracted.
• And I’m upset about all of it at the end of it all.

And that’s just information I believe will be good for me.

That’s not to mention all the non-essential and downright useless information I choose to consume.

The idea of the low-information diet is one of the only ways I’ve found to improve my focus.

And like my regular diet or eating and fasting windows, I find it much better to have periods of no information and periods of lots of good information.

That gives me time to work with the information or simply rest on/contemplate it.

The Protégé Effect

I love teaching people things they’re interested in. I also love it for the selfish benefit of improving my own understanding of (and focus on) the subject at hand.

I recently came across the idea of the protégé effect, which puts what I’ve always intuited into words.

The protégé effect is the effect of improving our knowledge of given material when we actively teach, prepare to teach, or even pretend to teach it.

Have you ever had to give a speech or presentation? How does your focus sharpen around the topic leading up to the performance?

Yes, there may be some sense of overwhelm and excessive focus on the anxiety of the situation. But in most cases, there’s a significant amount of focus invested in the topic leading up to the presentation.

Teaching others has forced me to focus on truly understanding the ins and outs of a subject. It exposes the gaps in my knowledge and helps me find a clear path forward for my own development. In other words, it makes me focus on the important stuff.

To-Do Lists

If you want to add order to a chaotic period (it could be a short 10-minute work block, a full day, a weekend, a week, amonth, a year, or whatever you’d like), make a to-do list.

Work at completing one task at a time and try to focus solely on that until it’s complete.

This requires discipline but the to-do list can help direct your actions to get things done.

I can’t remember where I first heard this, but it was an acronym for FOCUS that went Follow One Course Until Successful. Whoever said it was talking on a long-term scale, but it works just as well on shorter to-do list tasks. I like it, so I figured I’d share it with you.

Gamify Your Work

If you’re having trouble focusing, you’re likely looking at the task at hand as “work”.

We generally don’t have trouble focusing on scrolling social media or playing video games. A big part of the reasoning behind this is that they’re gamified.

Gamification is the application of game-like elements (rewards, challenges, levels, competition, notifications, etc.) to non-game activities to make them more engaging.

Really, it’s a way to hack our psychology to make us more invested in tasks. Social media and other apps do this all the time to keep us on their platforms, but we can use it to our own advantage to focus on our work.

To gamify our work to improve our focus, we can utilize the following psychological triggers:

Positive reinforcement: rewards for focusing for a period of time or for completing a task.

It sounds lame, but I reward myself with walks.

Progress tracking: building and keeping track of a streak or checking things off a to-do list.  

I do this for almost all of my important daily tasks, though you might get more mileage out of tracking weekly and monthly tasks as well.

Goal setting: clearly defining goals and milestones to hit (think of it as levels)  

I always have short-term and ongoing goals to achieve.

Deadlines: time limits on completing tasks.

Parkinson’s law states that work expands to fill the available time. Focus increases as we approach the deadline (like me starting this letter on Wednesday night before publishing Friday at noon).

If we gamify our work, we should be able to improve our focus. From there, we can develop the habit of focusing on those tasks we deem “difficult” and slowly reduce the gamification “training wheels” if we’d like.

By the way, I just reached my 10,000 steps (a game for walking) and am getting off the treadmill—back to my office!

Build Up To It

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither will your focus. It takes time to develop focus with best practice, and even longer as we inevitably fall off and get back on the proverbial wagon.

I’ve been conscious of my focus and productivity for a long time (since I first began freelancing and running my first online business). There are times, like right now, when I need to remind myself of the importance of focus and the techniques to improve my focus.

Like everything in life, there are seasons. Getting to a point where you’re happy with your level of focus may be temporary. You’ll have setbacks like the rest of us, but it’s important to keep pushing forward and building back up when you fall down.

Alright, that’s my take on focus and the techniques I use to help with my focus. I sincerely hope they can help you. Write them down. Save this letter for later reference. Do what you have to do to live a creatively fulfilling life, and you’ll have another letter from me next week!

Cheers,

-Art