Have you ever wondered how you can be singularly focused in a crisis, completely in the state of flow and yet struggle through an hour of sitting at your desk with only the responsibility of email?
Think about it as having three levels of attention. The first level is full concentration. When you are in that state of flow, it’s like your brain has shut everything else out. It intuitively knows you don’t have space for anything else and you slip into clear-headed focus. You are fully present in the moment with a keen awareness of what is right in front of you. That level of focus actually helps drive your performance. This level of attention is available to you anywhere, it’s just that we don’t always recognize when we’ve slipped out of it so we can bring ourselves back. In addition, the ability to bring yourself back into the moment is a muscle that requires strengthening.
The second level of attention is daydreaming. That calm and peaceful state of gently contemplating life. Many times we think we are in the state of daydreaming but it feels anything but gentle. You can tell the difference because daydreaming feels very open and abundant, flowing with ideas and possibility. Many of us achieve this on an extended vacation or day off where the ideas are suddenly rampant and innovation is high. The interesting thing is that this can be achieved anywhere by shifting your own energy. Again, this is a muscle we have to build and strengthen.
The third level of attention is emotional upset and also what I call “thinking hard”. This level is full of mindless chatter, some of which stirs up very obvious negative emotion, while other times it just feels a little heavier than the gentle contemplation of daydreaming. At this level, our brain is hijacked by thoughts that don’t typically serve us or are rooted in negative energy.
For example, the other day I was driving my son to school and my mind was wandering all over the place. What started as a thought around picking him up to get pictures taken for his passport turned into a long string of tasks that I needed to remember and then ended with a subtle annoyance of myself for getting behind on a few of them. While this seems harmless, I could sense the heavy feeling of obligation and stress that started to weigh on me. It was all rooted in a fear that I would somehow forget something and that would negatively impact him.
How much time do you spend at work in each of these different levels? When you are at your desk attempting to get through email, are you in a state of full concentration or is your brain hijacked by chatter? What about when you are meeting with your team, are you fully present or is there a running list of tasks or thoughts in the back of your mind?
I find that the biggest source of my client’s discontent (and it was mine too!) comes from the fact that they spend the majority of their day in emotional upset and disconnected from what is actually going on in front of them. The easiest thing we can do is create awareness around what is going on and what level we are in. So this week, simply start to check in periodically. Ask yourself “What level am I at right now?” If you are trying to be productive and aren’t in full concentration, signal your brain back to the present and what’s right in front of you. It’s natural to get frustrated when you realize how often you have to do this, but know that it’s natural and human. Increasing your concentration is an ongoing practice with no beginning and no end point.