Finding Your Focus

If you're suffering from what I call "Covid Fog", you are not alone! Almost everyone I've talked to has experienced this phenomenon on some level during the past six months. Covid Fog is when you have difficulty sharpening your focus and/or maintaining it for as long as you used to before the Coronavirus pandemic shooed each of us into our respective corners of quarantine. Several factors contribute to creating Covid Fog: looser schedules, more frequent interruptions, lack of structure, changes in routine, mild depression, fatigue, boredom, grief, a dearth of motivation, and lapses in self-care are just some of them. Whatever the cause, the results can affect everything from your job performance to quality of life issues. Adopting strategies to help you find your focus is an essential first step in coping with the uncertainty that is 2020.

Here are my top tips for finding and maintaining your focus:

1. Create a routine framework. Go on autopilot for everyday tasks like personal hygiene, meal preparation and household chores or errands. When you do the same thing in the same order at the same time of the day or week, you become more efficient and are less likely to forget a step.
2. Plan your day/week in advance. This allows you to do all the focus-intensive strategizing at one time and enables you to create an overall approach that saves both time and effort and minimizes the unexpected.
3. Use calendars and lists to keep track of even minor tasks and appointments. In addition to ensuring you don't forget something, the mere act of documenting your to-dos helps to re-focus your attention and recalibrate your anxiety level about the challenges in front of you.
4. Perform your most attention-demanding tasks during your "prime time". Are you a morning person, or do you work better at night? Plan your day accordingly.
5. Adopt a movement strategy. Engaging in some small physical movement can re-focus your attention. Create a menu of options and keep it handy for times when you feel your concentration slipping. Taking a five minute break to walk around the block, climb a few flights of stairs, or toss a tennis ball in the air will pay dividends in your productivity.
6. Reduce electronic distractions. Turn off all non-essential devices, close unnecessary tabs on your browser, and silent notifications to reduce interruptions while working. 
7. Try the Pomodoro Method to stay focused on a task. This involves setting a timer and working only on the designated task until the timer goes off. Then take a short 3-5 minute break before resuming work. (This break would be the perfect time to engage in your movement strategy.)
8. Create an effective tickler system. Remember things that pop into your mind while you're doing something else by recording these to-do items in a manner that ensures they re-surface at a later time. You'll be better able to continue giving the task at hand your full attention instead of devoting brain space trying to remember the new thought.
9. Make self-care a priority. Resist the urge to zoom in your pajamas. Showering and dressing just as you would if you were going out to work will subconsciously encourage you to take your work more seriously.
10. Create a clutter-free space in which to work or retreat when you feel overwhelmed. Visual noise creates distraction and stress. Spending a few minutes before you begin working to tidy up your workspace is a worthwhile investment. If creating a clutter-free zone inside your home is too difficult, go outside to work or to take a nature break when you feel overwhelmed.
11. Power your brain with the right kind of food. Instead of grazing on snacks while you work, take a break to actually focus on your meals so that your brain registers that you've eaten. You'll feel more satisfied and less sluggish if you're choosing healthy options instead of carb- and sugar-laden junk foods.
12. Establish some boundaries. Make it clear to family members, friends and roommates when you are working and wish to be left undisturbed, but also communicate your work availability clearly to bosses and co-workers to avoid the stress of feeling constantly on-call. By avoiding intrusions on either side wherever possible, you will be better able to meet the needs of each group during their designated times.
13. Build in a cushion for the unexpected. Some interruptions are unavoidable. Reduce the stress they can cause by making sure you have a back-up plan for when hiccups occur.
14. Set flexible goals whenever possible. Shower both yourself and others with as much grace as you can afford to give. Everyone needs more of that right now and it will likely come back to you just when you need it most.
15. Reward yourself for staying focused. Whether it's ten minutes to get on social media, a bubble bath at the end of the day, or a snuggle break with your kids, give yourself something to look forward to after all that hard work spent concentrating.
16. Breathe!

With a little intention, perseverance, and these strategies, even finding your focus through the Covid Fog can be easy peasy.

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