Note about audience: This post is directed toward those who are familiar with the Objectivist concept of being "in focus". If you don't know what this is, I recommend starting with the Ayn Rand Lexicon link in the first paragraph below.
Since getting settled in and ready for this semester, I've been making a strong effort to stay in full, self-conscious focused awareness. That's not to say that I didn't think being in focus was important before, but I'm making a point of being consciously explicit about choosing to go into and remain in focus. So far, I've learned three things:
1. When I'm fully focused (which needs to be distinguished from concentration, see the third entry in the link above), I can get so much done and be a lot happier about how things are going. Coming from a person who, by the end of his second semester of sophomore year, will have more credits than the average graduating senior, all while being in the OAC, this means a lot. Making a solid, conscious commitment to using my mind to achieve my long-term goals has already made a difference. This isn't to say that I wasn't goal directed before, but I'm starting to add a whole new level of self-awareness to the picture.
2. Focusing is hard! It takes serious mental effort to go into focus (especially in the morning!) and to stay in focus despite all of the things that tempt me to passively drift along. This is a point that's made often in the Objectivist literature, but I didn't really get it until now. Of course, dealing with the consequence of not focusing is even harder!
3. I drift, a lot. While a few days of working on this has already made it a bit better, I still have to consciously remind myself all the time to fully focus on accomplishing my overall goals and the particular task I'm working on. It's often scary how far away from important issues I let my mind go. I'm not sure if this is an issue of concentration (I don't think so, I've never had serious issues concentrating on any given thing in the past), or a broader issue of staying constantly "in the game", so to speak. This is a serious issue, and while I'm heartened that it's gotten better already, I'm a bit shocked to find how bad it is. It's not that I make the conscious effort to shut my mind down, but it's still a problem that I don't have a more automatized "reminder" system set up (I know focusing itself is never automatic, but my understanding is that the frequency with which the question of being in focus or not makes itself apparent is dependent on how committed you've been to being focused in the past, among other things).
Overall, I think this effort is a very good thing, and is something I will continue the rest of my life. If I remember, I may do an update on this issue in a few months.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
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5 comments:
> "Focusing is hard! It takes serious mental effort to go into focus (especially in the morning!) and . . ."
Two points:
1. You are right. Focusing is hard, just as lifting weights is hard. Both require dedication, and both can bring gains. However, both require rest too. In the case of focus that can mean switching to a different project, or to leisure activities (that is their purpose), or to sleep.
2. Each person -- if he is ever awake! -- seems to have a peak time of the day. For me ("a morning person"), it is the time between half an hour after arising (at 3:30 am) and the time for my morning walk (about 9:00 am). For my son, years ago, it was the time between about 9:00 pm and 3:00 pm.
Whichever we are -- morning, afternoon, or night person -- it is up to us to take full advantage of that seemingly biological fact, and make the most of it, for example by scheduling the simplest, most boring projects in the "off" period.
Mr. Laughlin,
Thanks for bringing up your points. I think I'll have to make an effort to keep in mind the "time of day" issue, or to be a bit more general to recognize when my mind and body simply can't do what I want them to do.
A good post. You should MONITOR your mental processes. Edwin Locke, in his Sudy Methods and Motivation, suggested this idea, which I have personally found extremely helpful.
Every human being drifts every now and then. The solution is to establish a psychological standing order in the form of: Is my level of focus appropriate to the nature of the activity? By consistently applying the principle of monitoring your mental processes, you won't automatize focus, but you would definitely explicify the issue; and thus you will more often remain in "the Zone".
Yes, focus is hard, but you are right when you say "the frequency with which the question of being in focus or not makes itself apparent is dependent on how committed you've been to being focused in the past." Practice does make perfect, as it were. You'll be pleased to know that it gets much easier the more you do it.
Thanks for writing about this. I've been trying to work on focus / drifting myself and found this very helpful.
Wm
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