#sevendaysoffocus

[jfellrath]

The #SevenDaysOfFocus are completed. We ended this #meditation program with a discussion of #rejuvenation, a key tactic that many forget when they’re trying to improve their #focus. ⏱ Many of us like to set timers for the period we keep our focus while completing tasks. And that’s a great tactic. But equally important is to get some energy back when that timer is finished. Get up. Stretch. Walk. Squat. Look out the window. Breathe. Get some of that energy back for the next task. 🛌 It’s important to remember to rest and recover after exercise, right? That’s where the growth happens. And it’s equally important to rest and recover during the workday for short periods to keep our focus for the big tasks during the day. So schedule and do it. Don’t power through task after task and try to be a Superman. We work most effectively in chunks with proper breaks during the day. 🧘🏼‍♂️ And don’t forget to keep up with #meditationpractice each day, too - keep that mindfulness going so we’re aware of when we need those breaks. 💪🏻 #meditatorsofinstagram #dailypractice #distractions #digitaldistraction #meditate #relax #breathe https://www.instagram.com/mudlifecrisis/p/Bw3_0KFAWrk/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ogwxodkkj6se

[jfellrath]

One Day at a Time was the theme of Day 6 of the #SevenDaysOfFocus. And the lesson today was #multitasking. 🐒 Hint: it doesn’t exist. We talked about this yesterday a bit, but it’s completely worth mentioning again. The idea that we can rapidly switch gears and go back and forth between tasks, with no loss of #productivity, is entirely false. I will not doubt that some people can do it better than others, but no one can really do it well and not lose focus on their work. 🧠 Figure out ways to keep yourself focused on just one thing. Use #meditation to train your brain to notice the #distractions and move you back to the task at hand. Don’t let #monkeymind rule your work. 😃 You’ll be happier, healthier, and truly get meaningful work done. 🧘🏼‍♂️ #meditatorsofinstagram #meditate #meditatedaily #distractions #digitaldistraction #dailypractice #focus #mindful #mindfulness #awareness #goodhabits https://www.instagram.com/mudlifecrisis/p/Bw1b3h8gAsT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1sx4y54ywm9v8

[jfellrath]

Today’s #meditation in the #sevendaysoffocus was all about #informationoverload. 💻 It used to be believed that each of us could handle focusing on 5-7 things at once. Now, neuroscience tells us that number is more like three, and that most of us can only do one thing well at a time. That definitely me. Keeping one thing in the plate at a time is huge for me. Any more than that and I get less effective. This is one of the reasons I hate being interrupted at work or while I’m trying to do something - ADHD is a real thing for many of us and making myself focus on doing a single thing at a time is one of my coping strategies. I’ve mentioned the #sacredsix strategy of @morningcoach in the past and it’s a system that has worked for me. (Check out his book of the same name). 🖥📱📺📞 It’s tough to avoid distractions and information overload, but with #practice - like a #dailypractice of meditating - we can learn to be more mindful and aware of when we need to step back, take three deep breaths, and refocus. It takes practice, but it can get better, no matter who you are. 🧘🏼‍♂️ #meditatorsofinstagram #meditate #meditationpractice #awareness #mindfulness #mindful #distractions #informationoverload #stayontarget https://www.instagram.com/mudlifecrisis/p/BwzJOUZAd-Y/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1vp9o235rdnxc

[jfellrath]

Completed Day 4 of the #SevenDaysOfFocus today. The #meditation was all about #digitaldistraction and how to wean ourselves off it. 📱 Mostly it was the same stuff you hear elsewhere - turn off notifications. - chunk your social media use. - schedule time for email reading and responses. 💻 The point is that we have more distractions today than we’ve ever had before. And they’re all artificial. We don’t spend enough time getting outside and doing stuff in nature, with our bodies moving in natural, evolutionary ways. We sit in chairs and on couches. 🌲🏔🌊🌵 We lose the connection we have with the real world: the world of trees, lakes, mountains, grasslands, deserts, wetlands, oceans, and tundra. Adding that back into our lives is absolutely key for living as a part of this world. Sure, take pictures while you’re out having fun in the real world, but save posting them till you’re back in the zoo. Enjoy the real world while you’re there. 🧘🏼‍♂️ #meditatorsofinstagram #meditatedaily #meditationpractice #dailypractice #nature #naturalworld #immerseyourselfinnature #distractions #mindfulness #mindful https://www.instagram.com/mudlifecrisis/p/Bwwt4Yig6Ls/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=x7ghu8neaaim

[jfellrath]

Continuing the #sevendaysoffocus with a #meditation session on #concentration. Making concentration easier and more effective is a great effect of the #mindfulness practice of meditation. 🐒 The constant releasing of thoughts and returning to a focus point (the breath) that is a #meditationpractice is the perfect tool for increasing our concentration. It’s increasing the ability to keep our minds engaged with the task at hand. It’s a skill, like any other, and it can be improved with practice. I feel frustrated at times with our culture’s need for quick fixes like drugs to solve concentration issues, when a meditation practice could be so much more useful and less damaging to other body systems. Granted there will always be exceptions to that, as I know from being a special needs parent, but those are more few and far between than most people seem to think. 🧘🏼‍♂️ #meditatorsofinstagram #discipline #daily #dailypractice #focus #mindful https://www.instagram.com/mudlifecrisis/p/Bwtt3GzAy0s/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1xrfjdiw1lk6g

[jfellrath]

Day two of the #SevenDaysOfFocus by @calm brought us a meditation on the importance of #prioritization. ✔️ Sometimes we sit with a list of things to do in front of us and we don’t know where to start. “They’re all important,” we think. And so we try to multitask and work on all of them- or worse, we try to work on one but the rigors/requirements of the others just keep flowing into our attention. It’s time to prioritize. 🔕 Pick one. Just pick any of the ones you see on that list that all have similar priorities. If they all have the same priority, then it doesn’t matter which you pick. Start on that task. Turn off your phone’s notifications, and get to work. Then, when that task is done, take a break and do the next one. It sounds so simple because it is. We make the simple difficult by thinking too much about it. So stop, and just get that first task done. 6️⃣ My mentor @morningcoach talks about the Sacred Six - your prioritized list of six tasks to be done each day. Start each day with that task of breaking the day’s workload into six tasks and you’ll be well on your way to getting them all done. 🧘🏼‍♂️ #meditatorsofinstagram #discipline #daily #meditationpractice #dailypractice #focus #prioritize #sacredsix #morningcoach #mindfulness #mindful https://www.instagram.com/mudlifecrisis/p/BwrKWD0AiJx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1od0hxgvbire1

[jfellrath]

Starting a new @calm program today: #SevenDaysOfFocus. One of the challenges I have is distraction - with so much stuff going on, it’s hard for me to keep my mind on what I’m doing. 📷 We all have a ton of stuff going on in our lives. And while I don’t usually feel any sort of sense of overwhelm, I do frequently feel like there’s too much to do and not enough time to do it. But that last part is frequently of my own making - I get distracted too easily by the bright and shiny. And this is usually the interest I feel most like pursuing at the moment. I love having tons of interests, I love being a polymath type. I can talk to folks about almost anything and have something to say and something more to learn. But the downside is that I’m always having a new project put in front of me to try out. And that makes it hard to get done the stuff I need to get done. 📆 Right now we have a graduation to deal with, a school enrollment for next year, swim league work to do, and of course my regular job. Add to that how I want to read more on my favorite latest topic and also try an instrument and also work on my health interests and...and...you see what I’m going after here. 📓 It’s time to get organized. And the Seven Days of Focus program should help me with that. Today’s session was about identifying when I’m distracted and what’s doing it. So it’s time to be more #mindful all day about this. 🧘🏼‍♂️ #meditatorsofinstagram #discipline #daily #meditationpractice #dailypractice #focus #distractions #stayontask #mindfulness https://www.instagram.com/mudlifecrisis/p/Bwoj8CJgBkQ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=5idqsxukjsuq