The ability to focus is becoming something of a rare superpower. The unrelenting array of modern-day distractions and demands vying for our attention has reached unspeakable heights.
Every few minutes, phones buzz, inboxes refill, and headlines refresh, all while people around us make demands and requests, tasks hang over us, and the fatigue of task-switching and decision-making drains our energy. Our days are fragmented into ever-smaller pieces, leaving us busy, reactive, and longing for an escape. These factors conspire to diminish our ability to direct our attention and hold it for any significant length of time.
Focus Is Essential
If we pause long enough to think about how great accomplishments are achieved—whether at home, in business, in the arts, in education, or in philanthropy—we find that it’s through sustained attention. If you want to create or accomplish anything of substance, your ability to focus is not optional. It’s essential.
Just 1 Hour
Rather than lamenting your inability to direct your focus for long periods of time each day, you can retrain your focus by concentrating for an hour each day on your No. 1 priority.
Barbara Danza
writer
Barbara Danza is a contributing editor covering family and lifestyle topics. Her articles focus on homeschooling, family travel, entrepreneurship, and personal development. She contributes children’s book reviews to the weekly booklist and is the editor of “Just For Kids,” the newspaper’s print-only page for children. Her website is Barbara-Danza.com
