Tag: Stress

What is focus?
Focus means “to cause to be concentrated, to pay attention to the task at hand and not let your thoughts wander”. You can focus on what you see or what you hear, sometimes both. Rather than think of focus as a whole you can split it into two categories.

Automatic focus
This is fun, focusing on something you enjoy is easy, a game of rugby or a good movie for example. This kind of focus does not make you tired or bored and you can keep your focus for a relatively long time.

Concentrated focus
The more difficult of the two as you have to concentrate on what you are doing which is focusing on the task at hand. Whether it is sitting at a seminar and listening to a lot of speakers or sitting at the office trying to finish your paper work.

Why can´t I focus?
How long can you focus on any subject or object?

Focus period
You focus period can be very short, it varies from person to person and what the subject is. But whatever you are doing your focus period comes and goes, it fades in and out. Imagine you are trying to get a picture on your television and you have a bad signal, the picture comes and goes, just as your focus period.

Noise
Noise will also distract you, not necessary a loud one but a constant noise that is there all the time and eventually it irritates you so much that you start to focus on the noise. How many times has that happened to you?

Day dreaming
You are driving your car; focusing on the road ahead then all of a sudden your car jerks suddenly. You have started to mix together other thoughts, fantasy and reality become one while driving. If you look at something long enough it starts to change shape, you are getting tired you are day dreaming.

This is in no way meant as a medical guide see your doctor if you are unwell. Like many other things in life it is a combination of circumstances. If you cannot focus on the job at hand then you could become stressed especially if it is important.  There are many kinds of stress provoking situations in our daily lives that can affect your performance at work, school and home.

Daily problems for example, getting the kids off to school on time, catching the bus to work or even worse driving to work and being stuck in traffic. Going to the bank during your lunch hour etc. These apparently daily routines can be stressful which in turn can reduce our ability to focus and concentrate.

Whenever we feel uneasy and a little stressed, breathing is very important
How many times have you heard, take a deep breath and take it easy. They seem to cover all situations from taking  your driving test to going to the dentist. Try to imagine those moments in your life when you needed to take a deep breath how much better you felt at that moment. What are your doing when you take a deep breath you are renewing your energy and focus.

• Relax before you go to work or into that important meeting, don’t attempt anything that may cause you stress.
• Concentrate on what you have to do, focus on the task on hand, feeling in control of a situation helps you relax.
• Try to feel you body, start at the feet and work your way up telling your body to relax.
• Keep things in perspective, how important is your meeting, seminar or deadline, if things do not go the way you want what will happen? Is it the end of the world?
• Make a note of those moments of stress or uneasiness so that you can refer to them if they ever appear again.
• Knowing before hand that you are potentially going into a stressful situation can help you relax, it’s a form of self defense.
• Recognize your symptoms of stress.
• Look at your lifestyle and see what can be changed.
• Try and relax and breath.
• Exercise, instead of trying to park your car as close to the office as possible try parking further away so you have a little exercise and fresh air.
• Watch your diet try to eat a balanced diet.
• Get enough rest and sleep.
• Whenever you start to feel stressed do something you enjoy if only for a few minutes, listen to some music.
• Don’t try to be perfect, do the best you can.

Today’s society is stressful and physical training is very important to help alleviate stress. But there must be a balance between the mind; body and spirit one cannot exist without the other. The ability to concentrate on what you want to do and focus on how to do it helps relieve tension which in turn calms you down, leading to a less stressful lifestyle. To this end I started 3C teaching people to focus and concentrate on what they are doing. If you succeed in your goals then you become more relaxed and which in turn leads to an improved healthy life style