The Discipline of Focus in a Distracted World

WEBVTT
00:00:01.260 --> 00:00:04.440
We live in the most distractive time in history.
00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:08.400
Notifications, endless tabs, text messages, emails,
00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:11.060
and social media. They all fight for our attention,
00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:13.720
and here's the hard truth. The quality of your
00:00:13.720 --> 00:00:16.600
life is determined by what you give your attention
00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:20.239
to. Welcome back to the Optimizing Beyond podcast.
00:00:20.620 --> 00:00:22.800
I'm Josh Negron, and this show's all about sharing
00:00:22.800 --> 00:00:26.339
lessons, ideas, and strategies that help sharpen
00:00:26.339 --> 00:00:29.000
your thinking, strengthen your habits, and push
00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:32.000
you to grow beyond comfort zones. And today,
00:00:32.179 --> 00:00:34.320
I want to talk about something that every single
00:00:34.320 --> 00:00:37.020
one of us is struggling with, maybe more than
00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:40.840
we realize. So today, we're going to unpack why
00:00:40.840 --> 00:00:45.090
focus matters. what distraction is actually costing
00:00:45.090 --> 00:00:48.869
you, and I'll give you two simple practices to
00:00:48.869 --> 00:00:52.289
start reclaiming your attention this week. Because
00:00:52.289 --> 00:00:54.750
if you don't control your focus, somebody else
00:00:54.750 --> 00:00:58.750
will. Let's start here. Why does focus matter?
00:00:59.710 --> 00:01:02.490
Think about bandwidth. You've only got so much
00:01:02.490 --> 00:01:05.209
of it. Every distraction you let in, every task
00:01:05.209 --> 00:01:08.370
switch, every notification buzz eats away at
00:01:08.370 --> 00:01:11.829
that bandwidth. Psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson
00:01:11.829 --> 00:01:15.450
puts it like this, Attention is a resource. What
00:01:15.450 --> 00:01:17.989
you pay attention to is what you see, and what
00:01:17.989 --> 00:01:20.969
you see determines how you act. In other words,
00:01:21.090 --> 00:01:24.489
what you focus on literally shapes your reality.
00:01:25.670 --> 00:01:27.569
Think of when you've had dinner with someone,
00:01:27.750 --> 00:01:30.769
and they're constantly on their phone. How does
00:01:30.769 --> 00:01:33.599
that make you feel? Or maybe you've been that
00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:35.920
person on the phone during the meal, an important
00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:38.659
conversation only to finally catch a glimpse
00:01:38.659 --> 00:01:41.540
of that other person's face deciding to disengage
00:01:41.540 --> 00:01:44.620
from you, or cut the story short because they're
00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:46.579
getting the sense that you're too busy for them.
00:01:47.079 --> 00:01:50.239
It's an awful feeling. Because of this, some
00:01:50.239 --> 00:01:53.060
of you may have practiced the no phones at dinner
00:01:53.060 --> 00:01:56.640
rule, which I highly recommend trying. This is
00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:59.819
because our attention is limited. When not spent
00:01:59.819 --> 00:02:02.840
wisely, it can affect more than just our productivity,
00:02:03.140 --> 00:02:06.280
but even our relationships if we're not careful.
00:02:07.180 --> 00:02:10.939
Carl Newport in his book, Deep Work, makes a
00:02:10.939 --> 00:02:13.139
distinction between deep work and shallow work.
00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:16.699
Deep work is cognitively demanding, valuable,
00:02:16.900 --> 00:02:19.639
and rare. It's the stuff that makes your life
00:02:19.639 --> 00:02:23.360
move forward. Shallow work is distracted and
00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:27.300
logistical. Necessary maybe, but rarely transformative.
00:02:28.139 --> 00:02:30.639
It's rare because it usually doesn't happen by
00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:34.800
accident. It takes intentionality, focus, and
00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:38.039
planning to execute. Otherwise, shallow work
00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:41.960
will always win out. A practical technique to
00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:44.979
do this is to first block out intentional time
00:02:44.979 --> 00:02:47.520
in your schedule of at least one to two hours
00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.620
of meaningful deep work. This is the first step
00:02:50.620 --> 00:02:53.659
in starting the habit of engaging in deep work
00:02:53.659 --> 00:02:56.319
regularly. Think of your schedule like an area
00:02:56.319 --> 00:02:58.969
that contains water. If you don't set boundaries
00:02:58.969 --> 00:03:01.650
where you want the water to go, it just expands
00:03:01.650 --> 00:03:04.530
and fills whatever space it can. And Newport
00:03:04.530 --> 00:03:07.669
says this, clarity about what matters provides
00:03:07.669 --> 00:03:11.669
clarity about what does not. That's the battle.
00:03:11.870 --> 00:03:14.669
If you don't block out time for deep work, your
00:03:14.669 --> 00:03:17.870
life fills automatically with shallow work. It's
00:03:17.870 --> 00:03:20.229
like a river current. If you don't swim or paddle
00:03:20.229 --> 00:03:24.680
against it, you will go with it. A very powerful
00:03:24.680 --> 00:03:28.060
mind exercise for a lot of entrepreneurs is what
00:03:28.060 --> 00:03:31.500
is the one thing that if you could do, that if
00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:35.520
you completed it, could make many other things
00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:41.659
unnecessary? Perfect. Now do that first. Now
00:03:41.659 --> 00:03:43.659
let's look at the science behind distraction,
00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:46.740
because it isn't just about willpower. In today's
00:03:46.740 --> 00:03:49.360
digital age, we have an endless supply of reminders,
00:03:49.580 --> 00:03:52.319
notifications, and distractions to pull you in
00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:56.460
so many directions. Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist
00:03:56.460 --> 00:03:59.060
at Stanford, explains that our brains are wired
00:03:59.060 --> 00:04:02.659
to chase novelty. Every notification, every scroll
00:04:02.659 --> 00:04:05.819
through social media, especially every short
00:04:05.819 --> 00:04:08.539
-form video, gives us a little dopamine spike.
00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:11.199
And it's the same intermittent reward system
00:04:11.199 --> 00:04:14.599
that casinos use with slot machines. Sounds like
00:04:14.599 --> 00:04:17.720
the odds are against us here with big tech. He
00:04:17.720 --> 00:04:20.639
says every time you switch tasks, your brain
00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:23.819
resets its dopamine expectations. Which means,
00:04:23.899 --> 00:04:26.519
unfortunately, you need more novelty to feel
00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:29.899
satisfied. Which is why one quick text check
00:04:29.899 --> 00:04:33.160
turns into a 20 -minute detour down one or more
00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:35.889
apps. Have you ever opened your phone and saw
00:04:35.889 --> 00:04:38.550
a notification, handled it, and then forgot what
00:04:38.550 --> 00:04:41.209
you opened your phone to do? Or how about opening
00:04:41.209 --> 00:04:43.610
up a social media notification only to look up
00:04:43.610 --> 00:04:45.930
and realize a significant amount of time has
00:04:45.930 --> 00:04:49.129
passed? The American Psychological Association
00:04:49.129 --> 00:04:52.490
found that task switching can cut productivity
00:04:52.490 --> 00:04:57.439
by over 40%. That's a lot! And researcher Gloria
00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:00.240
Mark discovered that the average focus span on
00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:03.819
a screen task is now just 47 seconds before we
00:05:03.819 --> 00:05:07.620
switch. Here's the kicker. Every time you switch,
00:05:07.860 --> 00:05:10.279
your brain doesn't just snap back into gear.
00:05:10.420 --> 00:05:13.800
It can take minutes to fully re -engage in what
00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:16.579
you are doing. For me personally, there have
00:05:16.579 --> 00:05:18.819
been emails that will take a considerable amount
00:05:18.819 --> 00:05:21.660
of intentionality and language, and even though
00:05:21.660 --> 00:05:24.300
it should only take me 10 to 15 minutes to get
00:05:24.300 --> 00:05:26.959
them done, if I get interrupted three or four
00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:29.980
times through typing that out, that same email
00:05:29.980 --> 00:05:33.079
could take me closer to two to three times to
00:05:33.079 --> 00:05:36.420
complete. So you see, distraction isn't harmless.
00:05:36.899 --> 00:05:40.120
It's stealing your best work, your deepest clarity,
00:05:40.220 --> 00:05:44.100
and your momentum. And as we talked about earlier,
00:05:44.649 --> 00:05:47.750
could have serious implications too, like your
00:05:47.750 --> 00:05:51.689
relationships. A very common example in memes
00:05:51.689 --> 00:05:54.610
and pop culture is the husband and wife both
00:05:54.610 --> 00:05:57.529
in bed, on their phones, quiet, oblivious to
00:05:57.529 --> 00:06:00.529
each other, scrolling away. Night after night,
00:06:00.610 --> 00:06:03.629
this can be a tremendous intimacy killer. Some
00:06:03.629 --> 00:06:06.529
couples I know have changed to a strict no phones
00:06:06.529 --> 00:06:09.129
in the bedroom policy to protect their time together.
00:06:09.430 --> 00:06:12.129
It's a pretty good idea, honestly. I've been
00:06:12.129 --> 00:06:15.319
there. It's so easy to get distracted. Our devices
00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:18.579
have so many distractions built in. I'll be locked
00:06:18.579 --> 00:06:20.939
in writing or working on a problem, and then
00:06:20.939 --> 00:06:23.699
my phone buzzes, I check it, answer a quick text,
00:06:23.720 --> 00:06:26.040
and 20 minutes later I'm like, what was I even
00:06:26.040 --> 00:06:29.740
doing? The zone is just gone. So, here's the
00:06:29.740 --> 00:06:32.740
big question. Why do we keep letting it happen?
00:06:33.639 --> 00:06:36.240
One reason is that it's baked into all of our
00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:39.860
phones by large corporations that only make money
00:06:39.860 --> 00:06:42.920
when we're on their platforms. They are motivated
00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:45.899
to give us every notification possible to keep
00:06:45.899 --> 00:06:49.540
us coming back over and over. But let's face
00:06:49.540 --> 00:06:51.920
it, we're not scot -free either. Think about
00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:55.019
it. It's also because distraction is sometimes
00:06:55.019 --> 00:06:58.560
comfortable. It's an escape. That little dopamine
00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:01.279
hit feels easier than sitting with a discomfort
00:07:01.279 --> 00:07:04.620
of deep, focused work, especially if the work
00:07:04.620 --> 00:07:06.500
you need to do is something you really don't
00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:10.629
want to do. My students know this most. It's
00:07:10.629 --> 00:07:12.589
the homework assignment that you really don't
00:07:12.589 --> 00:07:15.589
want to do. So you'll find every reason why you
00:07:15.589 --> 00:07:18.810
can't do it right now. But as an adult, distractions
00:07:18.810 --> 00:07:21.930
can have a severe cost. Here are some things
00:07:21.930 --> 00:07:24.930
that are at risk. You don't build mastery, you
00:07:24.930 --> 00:07:27.889
don't finish projects, and you don't create clarity
00:07:27.889 --> 00:07:31.550
in your life. Peterson warns that the things
00:07:31.550 --> 00:07:33.990
you ignore will often come back to destroy you.
00:07:34.170 --> 00:07:37.649
The things you focus on become your life. In
00:07:37.649 --> 00:07:39.949
a lot of his work, Dr. Peterson talks about the
00:07:39.949 --> 00:07:43.750
significance of what we attend to. Some people
00:07:43.750 --> 00:07:46.009
attend to the most important things, and their
00:07:46.009 --> 00:07:49.170
life reflects that order, discipline, and benefits
00:07:49.170 --> 00:07:52.129
of that structure, while those that don't attend
00:07:52.129 --> 00:07:54.350
to those things suffer from sometimes severe
00:07:54.350 --> 00:07:57.949
consequences of collapse of relationships, marriage,
00:07:58.209 --> 00:08:01.129
mental health, financial well -being, or worse.
00:08:01.410 --> 00:08:06.689
Yeah, the stakes can really be that high. That's
00:08:06.689 --> 00:08:09.230
the wrestle I want to put in front of you. What
00:08:09.230 --> 00:08:12.050
are you letting shape your life by default? Your
00:08:12.050 --> 00:08:15.290
intentional focus or the noise around you? In
00:08:15.290 --> 00:08:18.470
other words, are you in the driver's seat? Or
00:08:18.470 --> 00:08:20.750
do you feel tossed around from one thing to the
00:08:20.750 --> 00:08:26.410
next? So what do you do? Here are two practices
00:08:26.410 --> 00:08:29.629
I recommend starting this week. The first one
00:08:29.629 --> 00:08:33.539
is time blocking. Cal Newport says to produce
00:08:33.539 --> 00:08:36.399
at your peak level, you need to work for extended
00:08:36.399 --> 00:08:39.759
periods of time with full concentration on a
00:08:39.759 --> 00:08:44.080
single task free from distraction. Start by blocking
00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:47.080
two hours in your calendar one time this week
00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:50.980
for deep, meaningful, uninterrupted work. Phone
00:08:50.980 --> 00:08:54.220
on, do not disturb, no email, no social media.
00:08:54.399 --> 00:08:56.919
Guard it like your most important meeting and
00:08:56.919 --> 00:09:00.200
see what you can get done in that time. This
00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:02.840
is also Dr. Huberman's research that the brain
00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:05.919
likes one and a half to two hour cycles of concentration.
00:09:06.379 --> 00:09:11.059
So it works. Number two is leverage your phone's
00:09:11.059 --> 00:09:14.039
abilities. Now, I know not everyone is an iPhone
00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:17.159
user, and since Androids are much more configurable,
00:09:17.200 --> 00:09:19.559
let me speak directly to my iPhone users right
00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:23.960
now. The iOS focus modes are actually quite impressive,
00:09:24.059 --> 00:09:27.360
and... allow you to customize quite a bit. You
00:09:27.360 --> 00:09:29.980
can invest around 10 to 15 minutes in one of
00:09:29.980 --> 00:09:32.399
those modes and getting it just how you like
00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:34.759
it. You can control what apps are allowed through
00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:37.700
as well as what individuals can get through as
00:09:37.700 --> 00:09:40.019
well. I know many people are hesitant to use
00:09:40.019 --> 00:09:42.360
notification filters because they're concerned
00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:44.919
they might miss the critical call or text they're
00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:47.299
waiting on. Now you don't need to worry. You
00:09:47.299 --> 00:09:49.419
can just adjust it for that so you can be available
00:09:49.419 --> 00:09:52.639
for what matters but productive at the same time.
00:09:53.540 --> 00:09:56.360
Here's a line I use for myself. Your calendar
00:09:56.360 --> 00:09:59.259
is your battlefield for focus. So if you don't
00:09:59.259 --> 00:10:02.059
schedule your priorities, distractions will schedule
00:10:02.059 --> 00:10:05.620
them for you. And remember, focus is a skill.
00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:08.559
You don't need perfection. You need discipline,
00:10:08.820 --> 00:10:11.639
practice, and momentum. You'll get there. We
00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:14.500
just need to get the reps in. So let's recap.
00:10:15.299 --> 00:10:18.659
Focus matters because it shapes your life, not
00:10:18.659 --> 00:10:22.720
just your productivity. Distraction isn't harmless.
00:10:22.820 --> 00:10:26.700
It costs you time, energy, meaning, and maybe
00:10:26.700 --> 00:10:30.580
more. But you can reclaim it, starting with two
00:10:30.580 --> 00:10:33.840
simple steps. Block out two hours this week and
00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:36.419
use your phone's abilities to support that focus.
00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.720
Here's my challenge. Try it this week. Block
00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:42.740
those two hours, guard them, and see what happens
00:10:42.740 --> 00:10:46.820
when you give yourself the gift of focus. Thanks
00:10:46.820 --> 00:10:48.940
for listening to the Optimizing Beyond podcast.
00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:51.980
Remember... Growth happens when you take action.
00:10:52.100 --> 00:10:54.759
So subscribe, share this with a friend, and most
00:10:54.759 --> 00:10:57.019
importantly, put what you learned into practice.
00:10:57.240 --> 00:10:59.019
And if you have any comments on how this helped
00:10:59.019 --> 00:11:01.639
you, I'd love to hear from you. Until next time,
00:11:01.700 --> 00:11:04.799
remember, daily anything changes everything.