A few weeks ago I wrote about the danger of being obsessed. There I wrote that there are three states we can possibly be in: lacking focus, being focused, and being obsessed. The best state is being focused but there is always the danger of falling to either lacking focus or being obsessed states.
Having discussed the topic of obsession, here I’d like to go back to the topic of focus. Focus is essential to achieve anything we want in life. In fact, not only should we have focus, we should have it at every level of our life.
Looking at my life, sometimes I wondered why my progress was slow while I thought that I was already focused on my goals. Only later did I realize that there are different levels of focus. I may have focused on one or two levels, but if I do not focus on the other levels then the results won’t be optimal.
So what are the different levels of focus? In my opinion, there are five levels of mental focus based on the time frame:
- Lifetime
- Yearly
- Weekly
- Daily
- Currently
Of course, you can add other levels like quarterly or monthly if they work for you, but for me these five levels are enough since having too many levels is confusing.
If you want to succeed, you should be focused at all five levels. Lacking focus at any of them will decrease the performance of the rest. In addition, you should also be careful not to be obsessed. The art of maintaining the balance without falling to the lacking focus or being obsessed states is an art that will take time to master.
How to Focus at All Five Levels
Let’s look at the five levels of focus and see how to focus at each of them:
1. Lifetime
Being focused at the lifetime level means that you should have a purpose for your life. What is your life purpose? Have you followed it?
Finding your life purpose is perhaps the most difficult thing to do in all five levels, but it is also the most rewarding. It sets the directions of the other levels. If you have this level wrong, you may end up making many wrong decisions in your life.
Here are some things you can do to find your life purpose:
- Find what matters to you
This is the starting point to finding your life purpose. There is one question that can help you find what matters to you:
“What is the thing that you care so much about that you are willing to do it for free?” - Explore your passions
I believe everyone has multiple passions that are waiting to be explored. Don’t limit yourself to only one passion. Build your portfolio of passions. - Find the intersection between your passions and the things that matter to you
The intersections between the things you are passionate about and the things you care about are clear signs of what your life purpose could be. - Make a mission statement
After you have an idea of what your life purpose is, you should write it in a mission statement. Ideally, it should be a one-liner: ten words or less. - Keep refining
Finding your life purpose is not something you can do in one day or even one year. Just start with what you have and keep refining it. Over time, the direction of your life will be clearer and clearer.
2. Yearly
After dealing with the lifetime level, you should then go down to the yearly level. Here you should have a goal for the year related to your life purpose. Your goal should be both specific and measurable. To ensure that you are focused at the yearly level, you should have only one goal for the year (or two if you must).
One thing to remember is your yearly goal should be related to your life mission. Otherwise, there is a missing link between the lifetime and yearly levels.
3. Weekly
To have focus at weekly level, you should set a goal for the week ahead. What do you want to achieve in the following week to help you achieve your yearly goal?
4. Daily
The next level is daily in which you set your goals for the day. What are the things that you want to achieve today? You can start by setting your Most Important Task (MIT) for the day. Your MIT should be the thing that will make the most difference if you accomplish it today.
Here is a question to help you set your MIT:
“If I can only finish one task today, what will that be?”
You can then set other goals using a variant of the same question:
“If I can only finish one more task today, what will that be?”
By asking this question repeatedly you will get a list of the tasks based on priority.
5. Currently
After setting your goals for the day, the next level is the present. To get optimum result, you should be focused in whatever you are doing. It means that:
- You should not multitask
- You should prevent distraction
- You should use ultradian sprint to accomplish as much as possible within the working session
Where is Your Weakness?
Being focused at all five levels is important to get the most out of your life. I realize this when I look at my own life. I’m focused at some levels but not at the others and as a result I do not get the results I want. Understanding these five levels help me see the levels which need improvement. In my case, my weakness is the weekly and currently levels. While there is still room for improvements at the other levels, those two levels are where I lack most.
There is one thing to remember though: while being focused at all levels is good, we should stay flexible if we want to avoid falling to being obsessed state. Perhaps you have set some goals for the day, but you should be flexible enough to adapt to changes that happen during the day. Your heart is often the best guide since it somehow knows what is right.
Comment by Ruth
#1 15. May 2008, 8:48 pm o'clock |
This is a great article. I really like the way you’ve broken the five levels of focus down, and especially the idea of having a portfolio of passions. I’ve always felt kinda gypped when being told I have to pick one and only one, when it’s all the things I’m passionate about that make up the whole me. That’s one of the things I like about the new breed of self help authors such as Corrie Woods — there are no limits to what your passions are and can be, and to me that’s a much nicer way to find my life’s purpose that having to narrow it down to one choice right from the start.
Comment by HP van Duuren
#2 16. May 2008, 5:30 pm o'clock |
Great post, stirring the awareness and having a closer look at all those levels of focus, and also working with a DAILY Most Important Task. It’s my experience if you use such a ‘MIT’ it is very motivating to be able to see all the other additional tasks - you had time for - as a ‘Bonus!!!’ that feels great.
It also gives me a reasuring feeling that on a few of my Blogspots there are several (third party) ‘Daily Items’ that run automatically without having to worry about them.
I do think that tasks that I don’t have to do myself
motivate me also :)
All the Best,
To your Happy Inspiration,
HP
Comment by Donald Latumahina
#3 17. May 2008, 2:53 am o'clock |
Ruth,
The idea of having portfolio of passions also has profound impact on me. Just like in your case, it allows me to be the whole me. Those passions can also leverage one another to produce much better value.
HP,
Yes, besides increasing our productivity, the MIT concept can also boost our motivation. It’s very satisfying to see how much I’ve accomplished in a day. That makes me feel good.
Comment by Meirav
#4 1. September 2008, 12:56 pm o'clock |
Personally I find it very difficul to focus. I am a mother of 2 kids + I work half a day at the office and then I come home to be with the kids and also work from home. Distractions are comming in every minute and I cannot avoid them (cannot ignore the kids). I realized that I am trying to do too many things and do not really get any hgh quality work done.
Recently I discovered a new tool - the power of Binaural beats and a specific audio file for focus. Frankly, I cannot believe the power it has over me. I get things done, I can even concentrate on what I eat and I feel much more relaxed and vital.
Read about it on my squidoo lens (website) link attached.
Comment by rajeshwari
#5 4. October 2008, 5:31 am o'clock |
Very good site. I felt so good to go through some of your articles. Hopefully I will get benefitted.
Thanks
rajeshwari
Comment by Informatio
#6 6. October 2008, 4:00 pm o'clock |
I was reading this and then switched tabs to read webcomics.
Comment by Sajith Kumar K K
#7 23. October 2008, 9:43 am o'clock |
The article is very good and it certainly give appropriate directions to someone wandering without focus(like me now, but not hereafter!)
Anyway Thank You for that.
Comment by treeza
#8 5. November 2008, 3:29 pm o'clock |
i found all the sugesstions practical and fruitful. i shall re read it again and again to implement it in mah life.
Comment by ainnan
#9 9. December 2008, 1:58 pm o'clock |
right, this article is more like ‘how you should manage your life’ not ‘how to focus’… knowing what your priority etc. is not really going to help with focusing. for instance, i know i should focus on my studies, but my interest is not there, so how? that should be the question that needs to be answered. this article is like, “yeah, if you know what’s best, then somehow you’ll be able to focus”. Honestly, it’s pointless.
Comment by Gurajoga
#10 6. January 2009, 10:42 am o'clock |
Hi:
Recently i bent dyscovering i got sirius problems about focus, i can focus in 1 thing more than, i guess is seconds before my mind goes to a whole diferent world.
That is making me crazy, becouse i dont finish my proppouses. i was wondering if somebody know some simple exercises for start working in my focus, becouse i want a better life.
Thanks.
( sorry if a make mistakes in my gramma or my english )
Comment by Wardell
#11 19. January 2009, 12:44 am o'clock |
Hi my name is wardell and I am starting to do some things that I believe can help with focus. One thing I do is turn on a fan and lie down by it for a minute. In that minute I try to focus only on the sound of the fan and block everything else out. At first it will be hard, but soon It will get better.
Comment by z
#12 1. March 2009, 2:23 pm o'clock |
I found this really useful thanks. Today I have had problems focusing all day and I know that by breaking down all the many things going on in my head to life, year, week, day and current has actually helped me (even tho that was not the purpose of the article).
I am going to take a break now and come back to the one task I set for myself.
I will do this daily - thanks :)
Comment by sam
#13 27. April 2009, 7:08 pm o'clock |
Thnx alot extremely helpful… keep on…
Comment by focus
#14 14. May 2009, 8:41 pm o'clock |
Ta for your ideas step one I write the one thing on my notepad and get started have a great focus
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