First Published 7 September 2023

Our topic in this month’s Therapists in Conversation was all around focus and direction.

We covered neurodiversity, procrastination, being stuck and lots in between.  Please do tune in and have a listen to Episode 40 (remember you can speed us up on YouTube too if you are short on time.)

So, what is Focus & Direction?

A definition in this context is:

• Focus is the ability to concentrate on one thing at a time
• Direction is the ability to move towards a specific goal

Why are they important?

They can help us to achieve our goals, avoid distractions, and be more productive and efficient.

What I do want to highlight though, is that we are all very different.  For some of us we need silence and no distractions to be able to focus.  For others we need noise and ‘stuff’ going on to be able to focus – whether that be listening to loud music and/or working in a busy coffee shop.

Pay attention to how you best work.  When are you the most productive? Is it when you can get in the zone and spend hours on something undisrupted?  Is it when you have loads of stuff to get done, with a tight deadline and a sense of urgency? Or, something completely different?

A few suggestions I have regardless of your style are:

• Set a goal – what are you wanting to achieve? Whether it is one thing or many things, make sure you have a way to track them – that could be a list on paper or a sophisticated system, and even if you work with lots of stuff running at the same time in your head, it is worth getting it out of your head and on to paper or a screen.
• Work out the steps.  You might then choose to do them all or jump about and do them in a different order maybe even taking shortcuts – having the steps helps to decide with more security if you can skip parts safely!
• Eliminate distraction – now bear with me… work out what is going to distract you from getting stuff done – if it’s silence add noise, if it is noise then find the quiet.  Silencing your notifications on the phone might be useful for all though 😉
• Take breaks – which might be as simple as standing up and sitting down again, a lot of people find a break and doing something else for even 5 minutes can help with focus and bringing creativity to the task.

Another tip from me is to share your goal.  Find someone you trust and tell them.  Get their support even just for them to ask for updates from time to time.  You don’t necessarily need someone to validate your thoughts and goals.  So be picky on who you chose to share with.

If you need a non biased impartial supporter then my door is open (literally today cos it’s sooo hot in the office) so grab a timeslot in my calendar for a natter, and if you need longer term support we can work out a plan.

Remember, a marathon is completed one step at a time.  So pick a direction to face and take that first step…