D W Stratton

My fascination with focus started a few months ago when I was talking with a coworker. She and I were commiserating on how difficult it seemed to get anything done at work. We both agreed that we were pulled in so many directions all day long, that it was nearly impossible to focus on any one thing for any length of time. She confided that even when she had a block of time in which she could work, she found it very difficult to concentrate and found herself doing things she hadn’t intended to do. She called it Learned ADD.

I have thought a lot about that exchange. I notice I have that problem. I can set up time to do a task and find myself surfing the web without realizing I switched. I find that if I spend very long on a task, my mind drifts. This wasn’t always so. Even a couple years ago, I was able to concentrate so hard on a task, I would look up and hours had gone by and piles of work were accomplished. It frustrates me that I have somehow lost that ability. How can I get it back?

I have been studying focus, concentration and ‘flow’. I have some ideas that I am trying to see if it helps my ability to focus. If today was any evidence, I am not there yet. I struggled for three hours at work to do something productive and found myself bouncing around from task to task, not really wanting to do anything. I was tired. Exhausted. Burned out. I think I need a vacation, but can’t afford neither the time away from the office nor the vacation hours. We have a large trip planned for July and I need the hours for that trip. Plus, as usual in an organization that has gone through many staff cuts, there is so much work to do, it is really hard to break away.

And yet, I know I need a mental break. Is it possible to use focus to actually relax? That is something else I am thinking about. So, what do I do? Take on another project. I may need professional help.