Creative Ways to Build Better Focus
Building better focus cannot be found in a step-by-step guide. It is a process, one that is filled with starts, stops, leveling up, and many missteps along the way. In fact, improving your focus might just be one of the most challenging things you can try to do in the Twenty-First Century.
We have limitless distractions, stress from home and work, and information flying at us 24/7, so here are some creative ways to increase your focus.
Here, you will find a list of creative ways to work on improving your focus. But what you must remember throughout all the steps is to take inventory consistently. Notice your mental state, what is distracting you, and why is it distracting you. Taking the time to stop and take stock will give you feedback on what is and isn’t working for you, as well as how you are improving along the way.
1. Consider Your Attention
Throughout the day, stop and consider how much attention you are paying to the task at hand. Are you fully focused? Or are you only half working on a project while the other half of your brain thinks about lunch?
2. Consider Your Mood
Consider your mood throughout the day and why it may be that way. This should be paired with your attention to what you are doing. Are you anxious while you only half-think about the project? Are you annoyed and typing an email?
3. Write Down Your Distractions and Look at Them Objectively
Every time you catch yourself being pulled away from the task at hand, write down the distraction and what you were doing, then get back to work. At the end of the day, look back on what distracted you and when. You may be able to pinpoint weak points in your day and find ways to remedy those distractions.
4. Stop and Breath
Ever feel like you’re being pulled in ten different directions? Are the distractions flooding at you becoming overwhelming? Stop and breathe. Clear your mind for a few moments, write it all down, and make a plan. While you may not be able to solve all the problems, at least you can do your best to work through each one with a clear mind.
5. Visualize
You can use visualization at any time to clear your mind and focus on one thing. This will allow you to push away distractions and build your mind’s ability to concentrate for a lengthened time. You can visualize colors, images, anything that you focus your mind on.
Building better focus is not a race. It is a journey that takes time and patience. Consider incorporating creative, focus building exercises into your daily routine.
Creative Ways to Build Better Focus to Improve Your Life Experience and Your Business
Train Your Brain to Look for Creative Ways to Increase Your Focus
You might be surprised to hear that you can actually train your brain to be more creative. Oftentimes, people think that creativity is some mystical, innate skill, and you either have it, or you don’t. But research has shown that there are some strategies you can use to stimulate creativity in your everyday life and benefit from new ways of thinking and problem solving.
1. Switch up your regular routine
It’s easy to get stuck in a rut of doing things the same way every day. But the more you stimulate your brain with change and novelty, the more flexible and creative your brain gets.
Keep your creative mind on its toes by reading new books, trying different foods and places to eat, even trying different routes through your neighborhood. Switching up your usual routines will stimulate your mind and get you thinking about new possibilities and approaches to life.
2. Relax the rules as you strive to achieve creative ways to increase focus
So much of what you do is bounded by shoulds and oughts. From those eight glasses of water you’re supposed to drink, the right foods to eat, and how much and when, to whether it’s okay to talk in the elevator, much of your life is probably restricted by how you think you should behave.
Try breaking some of the rules today. Smile and say hi to the waiter or the bus driver. Crack a joke in that silent elevator. Open up a bit and allow your creative, maybe even slightly anarchic brain to flourish.
3. Look around you
Another good way of relaxing your mind and allowing your creativity to grow is to simply sit in the present and observe what’s going on around you. Work your way through each of your senses and really notice your environment. What can you hear, see, smell, feel, even taste? Notice everything and then write down what comes into your head.
When you walk down the street, look up and around. Chances are you’ll be the only person not looking at their phone or frowning into the idle distance. Don’t miss out on noticing the signs of spring or autumn. Look up and around and see how many colors and textures are right there in front of you.
4. Really talk to people
How much of your conversation is either you talking or being talked at? Step back a little and really engage with other people. Don’t just talk or think of what you’re going to say next. Practice active listening and give the other person space to speak.
Real conversation can open up all sorts of possibilities and creative solutions you might never have thought of, but now realize is important.
Why It’s Important to Develop Your Creativity in Daily Life
You might think that creativity is something you can’t do. So many people say, ‘oh I’m just not the creative type.’ But it is within everyone to be creative. And it’s not just good for the soul to sketch or play with clay or embroider. Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes, and it has some unexpected benefits for the rest of your life.
1. Creativity helps you solve problems
Fostering your creativity trains your brain to be more adaptable and flexible in dealing with all sorts of problems. Not just how to get that pot completely balanced and smooth, but how to solve that problem with a work project or a relationship or a career issue.
Being creative takes you out of the linear thinking mode and the confines of regular logic. Options stop being only black and white. Your mind can look at your problem from many different angles and sees potential nuances that you otherwise might miss.
2. Creativity can help you live longer
Surprising but true. Studies have shown that being creative can actually reduce your mortality risk and add years to your life. Making, drawing, woodwork, knitting, or painting all fire different neural pathways in your brain and help to reduce stress and anxiety. Creativity slows cognitive aging and enables you to lead a happier, more fulfilling life.
3. Creativity grows your confidence
Learning a creative skill takes application and lots of practice. You’ll make a lot of mud pies and lopsided pots before you can create beautiful and functional tableware. Mastering your chosen art form helps you develop confidence in your abilities that will overflow into other areas of your life. As you overcome failure and succeed in making beautiful things, you will see that persistence and optimism is the way to success.
4. Creativity is immensely satisfying
There is nothing like starting with raw materials and being able to make something unique from them. Whether you start with a lump of clay or you make your summer wardrobe from scratch, you know you have the skills and creative spark to make whatever you want. You aren’t dependent on stores and other people’s work. You know you can start with zero skills and learn a completely new skill.
5. Creativity helps you express yourself
Making an artwork or a piece of writing or an item of clothing allows you to make something that is completely yours. No one else can make the exact same thing that you can.
Living a creative life can help you see that whatever you bring to the world is unique and special.
Common Roadblocks to Getting into Creative Flow
You know the feeling. There’s a deadline looming, and your mind has gone completely blank. Nothing, nada. It’s like your brain has frozen. Luckily the latest research shows us the most common roadblocks to creativity, and how to move past them and get on with the job of striving for creative ways to increase your focus. .
1. Fear of failure in your life or business
Most people are afraid of failing because they see it as a one-way street to disaster, rejection, and a stain on their reputation forever. Perversely, fear of failure is the mirror image of perfectionism. The idea that nothing you can do will be good enough, and that this failure defines your identity.
Fear of failure means you’re less likely to take risks, and you put off even starting. And those are two things that can kill creativity stone dead. Redefine creativity as a series of experiments, with failure as a kind of course-correction and an inevitable part of the process.
2. There’s not enough time to work on creative ways to increase your focus.
The ticking clock is another creativity killer. If you’re like most people, your schedule is probably crammed, and you feel like you’ll never catch up. If your checklist just keeps growing, you won’t be able to relax in the creative process and let the ideas flow.
A surprising way to find more time is to quarantine some chillout time in your diary. Priorities some downtime to listen to music, meditate, or just sit quietly. You’ll feel much less stressed and open to the creative flow.
3. You’re still staring at the screen instead of finding creative ways to increase your focus.
Sitting at your desk, staring at the computer or the blank page is not a good way to get creative. If you’ve been trying to write or problem-solve and it’s just not happening, the best thing you can do is go for a walk or make a coffee. Get out of the environment that’s keeping you stuck, get moving, and your mental gears can disengage and relax enough to be ready when inspiration strikes.
4. You’re feeling negative about things in your business and personal life
Negative thinking can stop creativity in its track. If you’re sitting there frowning, and thinking you can’t do it, you’re pretty much guaranteeing that you won’t be able to do it.
Pessimism and negative self-talk set up a vicious cycle of gloom and low energy. Reject that self-defeating attitude and give yourself a pep talk. Reframe your task and just promise yourself you’ll write down whatever comes into your head, just to get the process started. Remember, first drafts are invariably not your best product, because that’s what a first draft is for! You’ve done good work before, you’ll do it again. Tell the muse you’re ready and get writing for more creative ways to increase your focus!
I’m bestselling author, marketing strategist, and entrepreneur Connie Ragen Green. There are many creative ways to increase your focus, and I can help you find the ones that make sense to you and achieving your goals.
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