Interesting observations today on focus and distractions. In Effortless, McKeown explains how Steph Curry trained and focused more on neurological improvements than other players. At first, the way he described Curry’s training sounded like some uber level of multitasking that, from all the research I have read over the past few years, is horrible for the brain. However, McKeown goes on to explain that “By training our attentional muscles, we can improve our processing of complex information moving at great speed.”
The research he refers to sounds exactly like one of the games in an online brain training software called brainHQ, which Damien and I have used for years. The game is called Target Tracker, and in it, you try to keep track of the targeted objects in motion as other objects are added and at the end, properly identify the target objects. It is somewhat simple when there are just four items to track. But as the game progresses, they add more items and increase the movement speed of all the items—making it vastly more challenging. I think the highest I was able to get to was tracking eight items.
In reading this chapter today, I realized that I hadn’t done any of the brainHQ training sessions in a very long time. Part of the reason I started it a few years ago was because I wanted to do anything I could to keep my brain active and healthy, so it had become a daily habit at one point. But, as with any habit (especially for me), not doing it for a few days is enough to break the progress and replace it with some other habit. I think I will reinstate this habit because even though it is another thing on my list, it only takes a few minutes, and the benefits are long-lasting.
While I no longer work in the fast-paced environment of the ER, there are still benefits to being able to focus on the important things amidst a sea of distractions. Because let’s be real here: our worlds are full of distractions anymore. Unless we make conscious efforts to eliminate them, we have to find a way to still effectively function among them. This is an important thing for business owners to understand. So many micro business owners and solopreneurs attempt to wear all the hats at the same time while trying to answer all the emails, texts, social media/blog comments, make content, etc., all at the same time. Our brains just don’t function well in that environment. But through some practice and brain training, you have the ability to learn how to focus on the important things and tune out the distractions.
My favorite quote from McKeown on this topic is, “Distractions that keep us from being present in the moment can be like cataracts for our minds.”
Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!