Monk Mind: How to Increase Your Focus

I confess to being as prone to the distractions of the Internet as anyone else: I will start reading about something that interests me and disappear down the rabbit hole for hours (even days) at a time.

But my ability to focus on a single task has dramatically improved, and that one habit has changed my life.

While a few years ago I couldn’t sit down to work on something without quickly switching to email or one of my favorite Internet forums or sites, today I can sit down and write. I can clear away distractions, when I set my mind to it, and do one thing. And that changes everything: you lose yourself in that task, become so immersed that you pour everything you have into the work, and it becomes a meditative, transformative experience. Your happiness increases, stress goes down, and work improves.

I know that lots of people have trouble focusing one one task for very long, and so I thought I’d share a few things that have worked for me.

There is no one way to find focus, but what works for me is to clear everything away and create a little space of tranquil focus. Some tips for doing that:

Close the browser and your email program. If you need to work in the browser then make sure no tabs or windows are open other than the one you absolutely need.Turn off all notifications. Trying to focus while something is notifying you of an incoming email or tweet or Facebook update is impossible.Turn off the Internet. Shut off your connection, unplug your router, or best yet, go to a place where the is no Internet (yes, those still exist). This is the absolute best way to find focus.Close all programs and windows other than what you need for this one task.Have a very important task to do. Not just “check email” but “write chapter in my novel” or “write that kick-ass blog post I’ve been planning” or “write that new Android app”.Clear your desk. No need to spend all day on this — shove everything in a drawer or put it in a box to be sorted later. Don’t fiddle with this now. In fact, don’t fiddle with anything — don’t worry about the perfect setup or perfect notebook for writing or the perfect anything.Plug in the headphones. If you have people around who might distract you, wearing headphones and playing some good, peaceful music is perfect.Use a simple program. For writing, I like plain text editors (TextEdit, TextWrangler) or writing programs that block everything out (OmmWriter, WriteRoom). No distractions.

Once you have this environment (and you shouldn’t spend more than a few minutes setting it up), get going on your task. Do nothing but that one task. Don’t switch to another task. Having trouble doing that? Read on.

If you can’t focus on one task for very long, don’t worry. That’s normal. Our brains have been trained by technology and society to switch tasks often.

One way we’ve been trained is that switching to check email or blog updates or Facebook/Twitter is rewarding — we are rewarded with a little nugget of satisfaction in that someone has sent us a message (social validation!) or we have something new and interesting to read (shiny and bright!). Switching tasks becomes a positive feedback cycle that is hard to beat by single-tasking.

The way to beat that is to set up a positive feedback cycle for focusing. Here’s how:

Start small. You only need to focus for one minute at first. Clear everything away, pick your one important task, and just do it for one minute without switching. This is hard to do in the beginning but if you consciously focus on focusing, you can do it. It’s just a minute.Reward yourself. The reward for focusing for one minute can be one minute (or 30 seconds) of checking whatever you want. Email, Facebook, whatever. Or get up and take a one-minute walk. Stretch, drink some water, massage your neck, enjoy your small victory. Empires are created with small victories.Repeat. Keep doing one minute focus, one minute reward (or 1 minute to 30 seconds if you like) for about half an hour (15 of each). You’re done. Repeat that later in the day. Rejoice in how much work you got done! And notice how you’ve set up a positive feedback cycle for focusing.Increase in small steps. Tomorrow, make it two minutes on, one minute off. Repeat that for 30 minutes, do it later in the day too. Feel free to go wild and do three focus sessions in a day if you like, but it’s not necessary.Keep taking baby steps. I think you can see the pattern by now. Make it three minutes on, one minute off on the third day, then 4:1, then 5:1. When you get to 10 minutes, be crazy and take a 2 minute break. When you get to 20 minutes, take a 3 minute break. At 30 minutes of focus, you’ve earned a 5 minute break. And once you’re at 30 minutes, you can stay there. No need to become a monk.

Set up a positive feedback cycle for single-tasking focus and you’ll reverse the years of training your mind has gotten to switch tasks. You’ll get more important work done, and it won’t seem hard. You’ll find that focus becomes a form of meditation. It’s a beautiful, beautiful thing, and you can thank me by sending me a craft beer from your hometown.

Or buy my book on this topic — called focus — and I’ll use the money to buy myself a beer.

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5 basic tools to increase your motivation

How do I increase my motivation?

Look back on your life.You can still two or three times when you felt great? on a couple of points during your life will be there are times when the incredible life felt.

Think about it.

Now I bet a guess that for each of those times, was at least one of these acts.

You had done something new. You had something to look forward to you felt the love for something or someone. you had experienced a boost to your sense of self-worth.

If you find that this is not the case, then think again about your self-esteem at the moment. it may be on the smallest scale, but I work for one reason or another you felt a little better about yourself. you find that you are the importance of self-esteem to be underestimated.

So why do these events and situations do you feel so good? And how can they help to increase your motivation?Let's run through them.

Something new to do

New things, as long as you enjoy them, create just a good feeling for new and exciting.Remember when you were a kid, you looked at everything with excitement and anticipation. life is so much more entertaining, because everything that you did was full of wonder.There is no lack of motivation then. now that you're older, you no longer need to surprises, there are fewer and fewer new things left for you to experience. most of the things you do are routine. So, its no wonder that something new to do feels right.

It is difficult to motivate yourself if there will not be surprises or new feelings.

There will always be things you have not already done so, but want to do. Where possible, this figure things out and they do!

"As a still to learn, one is young.If we are not learning, is an old. "

Gets a boost to your self-esteem

This can come from many sources, but it is important you nor on the basis of non-reality. Learn to the self-esteem of your creations, honest and in reality.

Abraham Maslow (1908-70), American psychologist and leading exponent of the humanistic psychology, developed a theory of motivation, in which an individual would reach a State called "Self Actualization" – they would be completely justified. In order to achieve this would be that a person have to meet their needs-these needs are broken down into the primary and secondary needs.

Maslow says that the Basic are physiological (food, sex, body temperature, etc.) and security must, and the secondary needs for social interaction and esteem.

That's right, to fully motivated, an individual must have confidence. A lack of self-worth will have an effect on your motivation, so be careful. People will trust you, they make you paranoid, pointing out the errors, or even forgotten to give you praise when they should.
Keep your head. your self-esteem is crucial to your success. you should not rely on the judgment of others – especially when something as important as your self-esteem is involved.

Feeling love for someone or something

Another great reward in life the feelings of the fair love for someone else. don't underestimate the benefits of sharing of your dreams and satisfaction of life with someone you love.It can often be the missing link in your motivation.

But also as a driving force in your own mind, it is powerful to someone to whom you are responsible for your success are. you have someone that makes you want to be the best that you can be.Keep in mind that this is not always have to be a lover, it can also be his child, parent, brother or sister, or who you these feelings that make the best of your life.However, it is important that you do not feel under pressure and this person again to grow.Your success is to your liking, and no one else.

Again, be careful relying on this person your sense of self-worth. still, with someone to share in the good and the bad times can be incredibly uplifting.

In addition to the feeling of love for someone, send us your motivation letter can be increased by doing things that you love. finding your passion and spend your time doing this and you will find motivation will, of course, much more to come.It's much easier to run downstream by doing something you love then try to fight upstream doing things that you think you should, because they have more money or of someone else's opinion.

To make an effort to finding your passion and find out the enormous benefits to your motivation.

Something to look forward to have

With something that look out, do you hope and motivation, and your whole Outlook on life can change.To make an effort to make things for which to look forward.Not only now, but for the rest of your life!Make a list and continuous search for the things on the item to be added whenever you can.

Try writing down your list.This will be clear in your head and the items on your list more tangible.In fact, it is recommended that you write now.

Having a positive attitude

You will see the glass half empty or half full? Maybe you are looking at yourself as a realist. This is just a pessimist the way of the fault of his or her misery on his or her environment. Reality is both good and bad – say that something is bad, even if it is, is still a pessimist view! Reality cannot be changed, but you can use your outlook is. This can only be positive, negative, or indifferent.

A negative attitude leads to negative things, you can reduce the moral and the people around you, lower self-esteem, and it does not indicate a good impression of you.

A positive Outlook makes you happier and increases your motivation, so to increase your productivity and sense of self-worth. This makes people look to you to be favourable.

This should not be confused with positive thinking, the law of attraction or other pseudo-science. you're not going to change things with your mind, you are physically that the immediate world around you with your posture. see how a simple smile the feelings of everyone in the room change. it is a simple psychological effect, not the rearranging of the universe, as some would have us believe.

It takes a hard effort and power of the mind to a positive attitude to achieve if you're not used to it, but it is one of the most important things you can do about it.

Review

Do something new every day. looking for ways to expand your horizon, your knowledge and your experiences. find someone you love. do you want for them the best you can, and your life gets more meaning and purpose. finding your passion. do what you love makes much more natural. motivation always have something to look forward, and make plans. don't get stuck in a rut. Constantly focus on driving forward, allowing any day better than the previous. try to keep a positive attitude at all times.

Many other tips to to increase your motivation and success in everything you do on poweressence.com. We specialize in the achievement of the essence of self improvement that gives us a unique angle.