Feel Like Listening Instead?
Something to listen to while you make tea, fold laundry, or pause for a moment. Note: Audio version includes occasional explicit language.
Sometimes, if I’m lucky, I get into this magical flow state where I feel energized, dialed in, and ready to take on anything.
But most days? Yeah…I can’t wait around for inspiration or motivation to strike – it’s something I have to put effort into. I’m guessing you relate and want to know how to focus too.
What Do I Get Out Of This?
To give it to you straight, there’s no secret sauce for staying focused that works for everyone. However, I’m here to help you figure out your productivity ritual recipe by sharing what’s worked for me.
Your Secret Sauce To Get Things Done
Prep: 30 minutes – 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour – possibly 10 years (growth takes time)
Yield: a successful lifelong habit
Description: If you’re creeping up on a deadline thanks to procrastination and need to get sh*t done (pressure creates diamonds, right?) you’re in the right place. Let’s get started in 3 steps.
You Will Need:
- Energy (¾ cup)
- Patience (½ cup)
- Dedication (½ cup)
- Self-Confidence (generous 1 cup)
- Time (infinite)
Directions
- Get your mindset right: Start by adding in Energy. One way to do this is to treat it like a special occasion, like you would a date night or birthday dinner for example.
- Set the mood: This is where you get to experiment with creating your productivity ritual. Mix together Patience and Dedication to figure out a ritual that helps you ease your brain into the idea of a focus session – maybe it’s putting on some comfy or nice clothes, lighting a candle, and turning on some ambient music.
- Get sh*t done: Sprinkle in Self-Confidence and start the task you planned – add more as needed but make sure not to get too cocky. After performing your ritual you will (hopefully) get a good focus session cranked out.
Tips (aka what I do):
- When I need to get into a deep focus, it’s important that I don’t feel sluggish, so sometimes I will opt for a 15-20 minute power nap to refresh my senses – a great way to boost energy without caffeine.
- Then I put on my noise cancelling headphones so I can momentarily drown out the sounds of my beautiful Punjabi household.
- Lastly, I turn on an instrumental playlist depending on what I’m working on and get to it. (Did you know instrumental music helps because lyrics can compete with your brain’s language centers?)
My Go-To Playlists On Spotify:
- Creative Focus by Spotify
- Perfect Concentration by Spotify
Nutrition Per Serving*:
Serving Size
- 1 Focus Session
- Confidence 120%
- Discipline 45%
- Patience 88%
- Procrastination 0g
- Self-Doubt trace amounts
- Chaos may occur
- Showing up 1% (increases over time)
- Growth – unlimited
*Percent Daily Values are based on your current season of life.
💡 Why I Think This Works:
According to Britannica, this process is called operant conditioning, “a mechanism of learning […] to perform or to avoid performing certain behaviors in response to the presence or absence of certain environmental stimuli.”
Or in regular English: it’s basically human nature – by performing the steps in our pre-focus-mode ritual (the stimuli), we can get our brain to get into a focus mode (the behavior performed as a result).
Okay, your turn — what would you add to your secret sauce for staying focused?
Please note if you try this, be gentle with yourself and remember this is a lifelong journey. We’re all growing and figuring out how to be the best versions of ourselves, one day at a time. (-: