Tips on How to Stay Focused
Hi everyone. I am Ron White, 2 time USA memory champion, without the ability to focus, I would’ve never become a national memory champion. These are my tips and strategies on how to stay focus.
Now first of all, Why do you need to focus? Why can’t you just continue to be distracted and say “Oh, hey, look over here, let me click over here, let me click on this link and then click on that link, then go to that page.”
Then you’re doing this and doing that, and then watching TV and sometimes that frenzy gets a little bit exciting; even if on a mild scale. It gives our brains rewards and releases dopamine and you get involved in this frenzy and it’s almost like a casino with all the lights popping around.
It’s a fun atmosphere. But here’s the problem with lack of focus, it eventually develops in to brain fatigue. And when your brain gets tired, trying to focus the next time becomes even harder. So it is very important to develop the skill of being able to focus; because if you don’t, over time, your brain is going to get fatigued, and become harder and harder to stay focused.
First piece of advice is to find your mission and define your goals.
Whatever your goal is for that day, if it’s to read something and find out information on it, set your goal to be about wanting to learn whatever the subject is, for example, it’s Abraham Lincoln. When you’re reading about him, and something pops up on the screen, don’t go click on it, unless it pertains to Lincoln.
Set a clearly defined goal and stay focused on that goal.
Know your mission and when you know your mission, it’s easier to say no. Start saying no to things. People will come to me and say “Ron, you have to do a podcast,” or “Ron, you have to do a periscope,” or “Ron, you have to do this.”
But you know what? I know my mission. My mission is clearly defined. It’s building with you guys, or my youtube audience and videos like that. Because I know my mission, when I see all these other things, that aren’t wrong to do but they don’t fit my mission right now, I find it easy to say no to them. Get in the habit of saying “no.” It’s harder to do for some people who say yes to everything, that lack of focus is draining their energy and draining their time and it’s keeping them from reaching their goals.
Another piece of advice is ignore the clutter. Whenever I was training for the USA Memory Championships, my coach, TC Cummings, had me memorize a deck of cards in chaotic situations. I would go to a country western bar, with so many distractions and I would sit down and memorize the deck of cards, that focuses your brain.
You can use that same strategy on everything. Before you open up a book, ask yourself, “what do I want to learn from this book?” ask yourself questions to focus your brain.
I hope these tips help you to focus better.
