The Invisible Mentor

Posts Tagged ‘Focus’

There is a story which says that when Einstein was a teenager he developed the “Distraction Index”, a method of deep concentration, which allowed him to concentrate totally upon whatever he was doing for up to 42 minutes. I found one reference to this information on the web several years ago.  I also called the university to confirm, but no one could find the information. However, I just conducted research on the Internet again and I found a lot more information, as well as a video which I have included in this post.

Anything “Einstein” makes for a compelling story, so let’s assume for a second that the Einstein Distraction Index information is correct. The ability to focus is important in an age where there are so many things competing for our attention. This is a great technique to focus. One of the best ways to learn to focus is to get a magazine, which will be filled with many distractions. The goal of the drill is to be distraction free for a specified period of time such as three minutes, five minutes, whatever amount of time you choose. It is best to start off with a small amount of time and work your way up.  Einstein is said to have been distraction free for 42 minutes. Wouldn’t it be great if you were distraction free for a time period greater than 42 minutes? Each of us has a bit of genius inside.

• On a blank piece of paper, write the phrase “I won’t be distracted by that anymore” at the top
  of the page
• Set a timer for five minutes and start to read the magazine
• Each time you’re distracted, make a note of it and read the phrase you wrote out, silently to
  yourself
• Start reading your material again
• When the timer goes off, count the number of distractions that you had in five minutes

If you’re honest when doing this simple exercise, you’ll be surprised by the amount of distractions that you have had in five minutes. When you can be focused for five minutes without distractions, repeat the process for seven minutes and then for 10 minutes. If you keep on doing this you’ll be able to learn how long you can be distraction free.

If you cannot view the YouTube video click here.

This is a another good technique to teach  to your children. Let’s keep the conversation flowing, please let me know your thoughts in the comments section below. Many readers read this blog from other sites, so why don’t you pop over to The Invisible Mentor and subscribe (top on the left side) by email or RSS Feed. I created a Mini Learning Toolkit and you can grab a copy by clicking here.

Note: I learned how to use the “Distraction Index” from a High Speed Learning course taught by Lydia Danner, several years ago.

Photo Credit: Fotopedia via Apture

Related articles

• 12 Blog Posts People are Reading on The Invisible Mentor (theinvisiblementor.com)

“…You can only walk down one road at a time, so walk down that road. FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS,” says George Fraser (Chairman & CEO of FraserNet, Inc.) when I interviewed him for my book, Tales of People Who Get It.

What does that quote mean to you?

When Fraser was asked what his favourite quotation was, he responded, “First things first, second things never.” Fraser does not believe in multitasking. What he suggests is to only focus on the first thing on your list, when you have completed the first task, cross it off and the second task actually becomes the first and so on.

Like Fraser, I do not believe in multitasking because when I do too many things simultaneously, I do none well. That has been my personal experience. I try to focus on the task at hand. If I am listening to someone, they become the most important person in the world to me, so I focus on what they are saying. I learned this from my friend Julia Conn Watt a few months before she died from cancer of the adrenals. I always thought that I was an excellent listener, but Julia taught me that I could be a lot better.

What techniques do you use when you want to focus? Here is a simple technique that I use:

1. Close your eyes
2. Take a few deep breaths, breathing deeply into your lungs by flexing your diaphragm (you know that you are breathing deeply when your stomach pushes out when you are inhaling)
3. With your eyes still closed, look upwards, and focus on the point between your eyebrows
4. When you feel a slight pressure, start counting down slowly from ten to one. When you reach one, you are now in the alpha state

The Alpha Brainwave State is where creativity occurs. Whenever you are in alpha – there are four known brainwave states – you never worry. If you have to study for a test, or want to remember large amounts of data, be sure to go into the alpha state before you begin. When you are ready to use the information, go into alpha again and you will retrieve/remember all the information that you studied.

Related articles by Zemanta

Daily Mindfulness (livemindfully.blogspot.com)
How to Reach the Core of Meditation (5min.com)
Mindfulness Meditation (realnutritionsupplement.blogspot.com)
Breathing: A Deeply Overlooked Matter (naturalbias.com)

Photo Credits: Avil Beckford

Have you ever listened for and to the sound of silence? What does silence sound like? On Saturday, I did just that. I escaped to a conservation park to listen for and to the sound of silence. Can one truly experience silence in a major metropolitan city such as Toronto?

I sit on the steps to meditate, and be at one with nature. I was the only person in the park because it’s hidden, and I suspect that even though it’s beside the Rosedale Subway Station, most people do not know that it’s there. I accidentally found this park about five years ago. During the hour that I was there I saw four people walk by, two walking their dog and two cyclists (one of which was riding down the steep steps).

Sound Of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel (live sound)

If you cannot view this YouTube video, please click here.

What did I hear and see while I sat down?

Trains go click clack on the rails, black birds in flight, branches sway to the gentle rhythm of the breeze, a black squirrel scurries about looking for food, and though I couldn’t see them, many different species of birds perform a requiem, singing their hearts out, like they know that they have an audience.

The Path of Life

The Sky Is Indeed The Limit

Things Are Seldom As They Seem

Fallen Tree

Nature At Its Finest

The Bigger Picture

I get up and explore, soaking in the here and now. I see what looks like a beautiful healthy tree and head that way to take a photo. I realize that things are seldom what they seem. The tree is healthy now, but will not be for long because it’s a fallen tree.

How often do we stop to see, if we are really seeing what we are seeing, or hearing what we are hearing? Perhaps silence now has a new definition: the natural sounds of the environment. Being in the here and now is an exercise in becoming more focused. How could your life improve if you were always aware of what’s going on in your environment? Take a look at the photos I took in the conservation park, what do you see? If you could attach a sound to the scene in the photos, what sounds would you hear?

Take a moment to listen for and to the sound of silence!

No related posts

Photo Credits: Avil Beckford

Video Credit: Sound Of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel, Uploaded by Hamp32 on Feb 8, 2007

Related articles

• A Symphony of Silence (sedsemperamor.wordpress.com)
• Where does your silence live? (powerofslow.wordpress.com)
• Simon and Garfunkel (allsongsandlyrics.wordpress.com)