UNDERSTANDING FOCUS

UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS OF FOCUS 

When you think about having focus, you may equate it with having tunnel vision—the belief that you can ignore everything, and just focus on the task that is right in front of you. However, attention management and focus are actually much more complicated than that. In reality, you are managing many different types of attention throughout the day, whether you realize it or not. 

These types dictate what you notice, do not notice, as well as what you ignore, or focus on. They can also have some different uses and impose different challenges. Taking a closer look at focus will help this make a little more sense.

Voluntary and involuntary attention Two main types of attention are voluntary and involuntary. Voluntary attention is what you use when you want to consciously, or purposely, focus on something. 

For instance, if you are in a room while someone else is watching television, and you want to read a book, you may find it difficult to concentrate on what you are reading. You would have to voluntarily pay attention to the book and block out the other noises so that you can focus. With voluntary attention, you are in control, and you get to decide what captures your attention and what does not. 

Remember that voluntary attention is like a muscle that needs to be used in order to remain relevant. Unfortunately, most people do not use this skill as often as they should. The good news is that you can strengthen your ability to voluntarily pay attention by using it more. 

Essentially, you can flex your ability to voluntarily focus, the same way that you can flex a muscle!

You will be able to learn how to overcome any distractions and develop a better ability to concentrate on demand, but you are going to have to put in some work to make it happen. It’s important to remember that so many goals, including learning how to focus, take time, effort, and energy. On the other hand, involuntary attention is the exact opposite, meaning you do not have any control over this type. For example, if you hear a gunshot, it is going to grab your attention, no matter how much focus you have. 

If you are concentrating on something important at work, a blood-curdling scream can still break your concentration. This involuntary attention has a lot of value when your safety is at risk. In fact, it has evolutionary value. Imagine for a second, that your ancestors are hunting for food. They would have been vulnerable to attacks from wild animals and any other aggressive tribes nearby; but involuntary attention was a tool that kept them alert and safe. 

Essentially, involuntary attention kept them alive. You are probably not going to be in many situations that threaten your life today. This is because in modern times, we no longer live a hunting-gathering lifestyle or have to kill prey to feed ourselves. However, this involuntary attention is still there and it works hard to draw our attention to any changes in the environment that the body thinks we need to pay attention to. Instead of wild animals, it is going to sound the alarm to things that are relatively trivial. For example, when your phone vibrates or chirps, it immediately draws your attention so that you can check why the phone reacted that way. 

Alternatively, you may notice that there is a new email on the tab and you want to go see what it is about right away. It often can become second nature. Involuntary attention does not have as much use in our lives today since most people are not under a constant threat. However, it can continue to exist in the background, trying to keep you alert. It ends up creating an endless stream of distractions that you will need to learn how to avoid and ignore if you want to get anything else done.

Broad vs. focused attention There are a few other different types of attention as well. Broad attention allows you to evaluate your circumstances from a “bird’s eye view.” You are going to see the forest, rather than looking at the individual trees, as the famous saying goes. For example, if you are a general in a war and are working on a military strategy, you would use the broad attention idea to map out any types of strikes, envision the supply lines, and forecast how a large group of troops is going to move. The broad attention allows you to see the big picture, and plot accordingly. 

After you have been able to see this big picture, you would then be able to use the focused attention in order to address the details. 

Focused attention, on the other hand, allows you to appraise what happens in a specific situation, and you can come up with the best approach, given your specific goals and the resources that you have around you. In the example above, a challenge that you may face is how to overtake some area in the war, given the strength and number of the adversaries. This is when you would use the focused attention to help resolve the challenge. The good news is that you get to be in complete control! Unlike what you find with involuntary attention, you get to decide how you should wield these tools, which means that you get to use this to your advantage.

Keep in mind that both the focused attention and the broad attention can be good, but they do pose some potential pitfalls. For example, if you only concentrate your efforts on the big picture or the broad attention, it is more likely that important details will fall through the cracks. You have to simultaneously keep both in mind. 

The same can be an issue going the other way as well. If you zero in on one specific situation, which is focused attention, and exclude the overall big picture, you are going to end up with what is known as “tunnel vision”. This is going to have the effect of impairing your overall awareness of the situation and can lead you to ignoring or being unaware of important factors. This is just a brief overview of what can happen with attention, and why it is so important to you. There are some types of attention you have no control over, and it can be difficult to ignore them, and not let them take over your day. Some types of attention are going to be voluntary and you will have control over them, which will be discussed in this guidebook. When you learn more about how to control your attention and avoid the distractions, you are going to see so many amazing results within your own work.

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Jose Amoros