Here is an excerpt from a Q&A featured by LinkedIn Pulse during which Dan Goleman explains why the pace of modern life doesn’t always lend itself well to focus or concentration – especially given all the things we try to get done in a day. To read the complete article and check out others, please click here.
* * *
I recently hosted a live Q&A on Facebook about the importance of strengthening our attention in different areas in our lives: work, school and home. Below are simple, effective strategies that can help you move past distraction and enhance your concentration. Additional resources on ways to bolster your focus are available at the end of the post.
Q: I’m curious how to balance the three types of focus in the fast-paced high tech world. It seems there are fewer and fewer spaces for having a focused, connected conversation that embraces empathy and compassion.
A: Good question. The faster the pace, the bigger the challenge. It does take a bit of non-goal focused time to tune in and connect with the other person. You may not be able to do this on every phone call, but it’s worth doing at some point during the day or week, especially with people you work with continuously. A genuine connection, one with mutual empathy and interest creates a better container for communication when the pressure is high.
Q: I am currently working on a venture to help students focus on school work (through the use of mindfulness and creating focused environments for doing school work). I noticed you have several teen podcasts. How do you recommend teaching these to young students? I know that young adults are beginning to realize the importance of mindfulness for daily life, but what is the best way to approach this with elementary/ high-school students?
A: I’m thrilled to hear that you’re doing this. I think it’s important to understand that young people can learn to improve their focus, and that this also makes them more ready to learn. This seems a logical next step to add to curriculum in schools everywhere. I think it’s important to do this in an age-appropriate way. I’ve seen second graders in Spanish Harlem lie on the floor with their favorite stuffed animal on their stomach, and watch it rise on the in breath, counting 1, 2, 3…, and same on the out breath. Five minutes of this made the classroom calmer and more focused for the rest of the day. I know teens who have actually gone on retreats, and done this much of the day. The benefits are very real at the brain level, shifting moods toward the positive, enhancing concentration, and speeding recovery from stress arousal. Here’s an Edutopia video about “Breathing Buddies.”
Q: Why do we see so much variation in kids’ ability (or lack of) to manage those three types of focus? Nature vs. nurture?
A: Our ability to focus on ourselves, on other people, or on the world at large, is a combination of nature and nurture, but mostly nurture. For instance, kids with ADHD may get that label because adults don’t realize that the attention circuitry of the brain continues to develop from birth to the mid-20s. Adults think seven-year-old kids should act like 12-year-olds, and give them the diagnosis on ADHD. However, teaching kids to focus and getting them to practice focusing can help them concentrate when they need to. But schools don’t do this. They expect kids to have the skill. We should nurture these abilities in children by helping them along.
Q: What is the relationship between focus and grit?
A: Grit is the term psychologist Angela Duckworth uses for the ability to keep your focus on long term goals and strive for them despite setbacks. The ability to focus is the center this capacity. Cognitive control, being able to focus on one thing that’s important and ignore distractions, is essential to every step toward that larger goal. Both grit and cognitive control can be classified as self-regulation, which is a major part of emotional intelligence.
Additional resources about focus:
PODCASTS
Focus and education
Focus and leadership
Focus and everyday life
Daniel Goleman on The Diane Rehm Show
Sample Focus for Teens track
Sample Cultivating Focus for adults track
VIDEOS
Daniel Goleman’s Google Talk on Focus
Parents teach focus
The importance of downtime
Breathing buddies
Three kinds of focus
Attention is like a muscle
Focus, flow and frazzle
Focus and compassion
ARTICLES
Cultivating a focused workplace
Organizational attention deficit disorder
Perfect practice makes perfect
Leader’s empathy deficit disorder
Focus on how you connect
Attention and creativity
Systems blindness
The two biggest distractions – and how to avoid them
The focused leader
Three types of focus
How children learn self-control
Cognitive control online
Benefits of a productive cocoon
Attention regulates emotion
Focus and emotional intelligence
Four basic moves to strengthen focus
* * *
Here’s a direct link to the complete article that, in turn, includes links to all the resources listed (podcasts, videos, and articles).
Daniel Goleman’s new book FOCUS: The Hidden Driver of Excellence (Harper 2013) and CD Cultivating Focus: Techniques for Excellence are now available. Other recent books are The Brain and Emotional Intelligence: New Insights and Leadership: The Power of Emotional Intelligence – Selected Writings (More Than Sound). Leadership: A Master Class is Goleman’s comprehensive video series that examines the best practices of top-performing executives.