Too distracted to live?

The secret to truly living lies in your ability to focus

Let's talk about focus.

I am writing this [frantically] at the wee hour of 01:00 because I'd like to publish it today. My good friend, Allen, nudged me to write and publish some days ago. I've been trying to - for weeks now but have yet to fully complete a single piece. My writing has looked like this:

I have half-written stories in my Notion that I still need to complete. Pray for me, as you read this, that this article you're reading doesn't end abruptly. I am not happy about this, but I am very pleased with the fact that I am self-aware. I know why I haven't finished writing them, and I know the very thing that happened for me to "switch tabs." Three words: I got distracted. Now, before someone who is not qualified for the job diagnoses me with A.D.H.D., allow me to explain. Yes, I get distracted. No, It's not A.D.H.D. — I hope.

I believe that focus is a plant that we can nurture — and that the fruits of it are clarity, joy, and ease.

Have you ever experienced deep focus? Maybe you were reading, writing, painting, or texting your ex goodbye. There is a place focus takes us that transcends the physical world as we know it. We enter a different state of being - the flow state. I'd describe the feeling as 'getting swallowed up and being okay with it'.  But let’s learn from a focus guru. Meet Mihaly:

Mihaly Robert Csikszentmihalyi (29 September 1934 – 20 October 2021) was an American-Hungarian guy who popularized the concept of "flow." In his book, "Flow," Man like Mihaly said:

"Few things are sadder than encountering a person who knows exactly what he should do, yet cannot muster enough energy to do it". 

Doesn't that quote perfectly summarize what it feels like when we want to do something but don't? It eats you up! And I'd argue that most of our inability to "do" boils down to our failure to FOCUS. 

But how do we get to this elusive state of flow? 

Here is the 3-word cheat code:

1. Resolve

2. Focus

3. Flow

The flow state is about the mind, but it begins with denying the overindulgent desires of our bodies. Like wanting to take a nap just in the very moment when you need to study, or the insistent urge to keep sliding your thumb up and down over a rectangular block of glass and metal [aka your phone]. Many times, such habits numb us from living full and present lives. And also - I think it is worth mentioning that this is not about just doing doing doing. It is about caring for your mind enough to clear the clutter and air out the fog. There is a lot of joy wrapped up in the discipline of focus — if we can bring ourselves to it. 

“I wondered if the motto for our era should be: I tried to live, but I got distracted.” ― Johann Hari, Stolen Focus

Anyway, I'll leave you with these three words. Resolve, Focus, Flow. 

Try it, and tell me how it goes.