BEING FOCUSED

What are the benefits? Asks Life & Business Coach Eric Gilston…

With the abundance of coffee bars that now take up space in the high streets in the UK, I must be one of many that venture into them at least once a week, either to have a coffee inside or to take one away?

What fascinates me, during the week, is seeing the cross section of people that they attract. This ranges from the mums in their groups with babies and pushchairs in tow, through to the retired couples, and in-between the business people with their laptops on the table and the mobile phone in their hand.

It’s the latter group that interest me. Either I’m missing something, or they are unable to focus on one thing at a time, or they are excellent multi-taskers. Up comes the screen on the laptop, and off they go, typing away much quicker than I can, but within 10 seconds they have to get hold of the mobile phone and start inputting some message on it.

For me, it’s either the laptop or the mobile phone, one at a time. I have to be focused on whatever I’m doing, otherwise I do not believe that I’m being as efficient as I should be. What about you?

Maybe, this is a generation issue. I remember when I used to study, then there was no music playing in the background, and no TV on. However, I remember my son studying with both things going on at the same time. Now that he’s a lawyer, I suppose that being a multi-tasker did him no harm?

This whole question about being focused makes me think about when I drive the car. This is the time when one should be thinking about nothing else but what’s happening on the road all around you. However, how many times do we find our minds wandering all over the place thinking about all the issues currently going on in our lives? This is easily proven if I ask you, ”how many times have you completed a journey and yet you can’t remember going through certain places on the route?”

For those of you who enjoy reading a book, whether it’s a hard copy, paperback, or on your kindle, and however good the book is, how easy do you find it to just focus on the content of the book?   It doesn’t matter whether the reading is taking place at home, on the train, on the plane going away on holiday, the mind is very powerful in taking the focus away from simply the book.

What about those of you working in an office environment, and with so many things going on at any point in time, how easy is it to be focused? Having been there, I can say, “not easy”.

So, if you can train yourself to become more focused, then here are some key benefits that are worth thinking about – in my view.

• You might actually spend less time getting a specific task completed, because of fewer distractions.
• Your time management will improve considerably.
• You will be more relaxed and be more enthusiastic about tackling issues.
• You will learn to concentrate better and be more productive.

To me, being focused can be considered a ‘life skill’ and one that is worth acquiring. However, the choice is yours, but the benefits quoted in this article are worth thinking about.  What do you think?

If you would like to know more about Being Focused, then please feel free to contact me at eric@coachandcourses.com