focus – Momo's Musings

Here’s a sunset picture for happy vibes! Photo Credit: Moumita Dutta

I hope all of you reading this are healthy and well! It’s a hard time for everybody as people face different challenges, but remember to take care of yourself and keep the health of others in mind as well!

As society continues to self isolate, many people are beginning to feel the consequences first hand. Quite a few people must work from home, and schools and universities have closed for many all around the world. Don’t forget to reach out for help with close family and friends, trusted adults, or phone help lines if needed! Your health (mental and physical) must come first before everything else.

We’re all trying to find a new rhythm in our daily lives, and I especially see that it’s also hard to stay motivated. Staying cooped up at home and not being able to meet up with friends is making a lot of people feel down. So, it is important to take some time to relax and bring out some longtime hobbies, such as knitting, reading, and drawing! As of now, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer also said that it’s okay to go out for walks if you stay 2 meters away from others and you aren’t showing symptoms, so get some fresh air!

But what must we be cautious of? In this era of instant entertainment and information at the tip of our fingers, it is easy to spend days without doing anything productive. The worst part? At the end of it, most do not feel any happier. Instead, they feel agitated and anxious about their lack of productivity. So how do we stay happy and motivated during these challenging times?

Set out time for work (and also for fun!): Just as you had routines in the workplace and educational centres, you can make your very own one at home! I like to work for an hour and a half and take a fifteen minute break routinely until I finish all my tasks for the day.
And to help with that, remember to ignore distracting apps on your phone and/or other devices! Keeping it away out of sight is a good plan, as well as keeping it on silent mode. I personally use an app called Forest to remind me to stay focused whenever I pick up my phone!
Finally, remember to not get distracted by your surroundings, and try to find a quite place to work. Time will fly by, and then you’ll feel great once you get some work done. Then you can enjoy your free time! I have a post about focus right here.

We can take this challenge and get through it together! I greatly admire all of the healthcare professionals, researchers, and others who are constantly risking their lives and giving it their all to help the world recover from this predicament. And all students, stay strong! It may be confusing and stressful, but hopefully soon, everything will clear up and we can get back to classes.

Stay happy, and stay healthy! : )

Studying and working is a chore to many, and that’s part of the reason why most people lose their focus when they get around to it. I’m sure we’ve all felt that boredom at some point. No matter how much you love the subject, and no matter how much you schedule your day, sometimes it just doesn’t work out.

“I don’t feel like doing it today… I’ll just get this done tomorrow.”

Sound familiar?

EXERCISE your Focus All Day

So how do we find the focus to sit down and learn? Believe it or not, focus doesn’t start with studying — you need it with you all the time.

It really does make sense: if you let your mind wander for the entire day, playing games and scrolling through social media, do you think it will listen to you when you tell it to focus at 6 PM after the entire day? (This doesn’t mean you can never have fun. Let me explain.)

Practice focus throughout your day; this includes your free time! Focus on playing that game for one hour, focus on reading that book, focus on finishing your food quickly. Once you teach your brain how to focus, once you start practicing it more often, you will see that it comes naturally to you when you actually sit down to get some work done.

Above all, enjoy what you’re doing in the moment — don’t dwell on what you could be doing/what you’re not doing. Then, when you start to study, your brain will enjoy it.

Social Media?

One stumbling block to focus is a huge part of our lives these days: social media. We can easily spend hours on all of the different sites these days without even realising. Many kids can’t even live without checking messages and information every few minutes — I see it happening before my very eyes, and I used to be guilty of that as well. Those apps (like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and Tumblr) are designed to keep people engaged. So how do you break free?

Set a daily limit on your account after 1 hour
Turn off notifications!
Exercise self control
Use another app for music (not YouTube!)
Find news on traditional news sites (perhaps even twitter, but no reposting!)

By following these rules, you’ll find that you have way more free time at the end of the day. You’ll also feel happier and probably even more energetic!

Above All, Take Initiative

In the end, it’s all about what you want to achieve. Embrace the joy of learning and bettering yourself throughout your life. The world is interesting — magical, even — so discover it through your hard work!

Happy Learning!
– Your fellow student

Tag: focus

Staying at Home and Staying Productive!