Ponderings…Finding your focus

It never fails. You sit down to work on something important; you've got your cup full of hot tea or coffee, your favorite brain-food snack within arms reach, your mind at the ready and yet... your mind fails to be at the ready. It wanders, it daydreams, it idles without your permission, much to your dismay, because there is work to be done! And no matter how hard you try to reclaim the train that holds all your thoughts, it eludes you almost joyfully, without a concern in the world about “necessities” and “timeliness” and “responsibility.” My mind does this often; so often, in fact, that it is amusing to presume that it spends more time daydreaming than actually focusing on the task at hand, and there always is a task at hand.
For some individuals, the best way around this predicament is a firm hand; a stern-talking to, if you will. You merely have to sit yourself down and say, “Self! Get it together. There's work to be done!” and miraculously, your mind resumes the appropriate train of thought, and you have perhaps the most productive afternoon of your life. For some of us, that doesn't quite do the trick. While it can be frustrating to feel our thoughts elude us, like smoke curling away from desperately clutching fingers, sometimes it is unavoidable. And the more you grasp and claw at your thoughts, trying to reel them in under your control, they escape easily, floating effortlessly away despite your desperation.
I have learned throughout my life that inspiration most often comes back around again only when I stop chasing it, my mind wandering far away and back again, to flutter at long last on the original topic of my intentions.
I wish I had a solution to offer. That is what this column seemed to be proposing in the beginning, right? A solution to help you find your focus? Well, (and I am mildly regretful to say) if there is such sorcery in this world, it is lost on me. I like to think of the concept of a mind wandering in the physical sense; in order to find it again, I need to stop what I am doing and go looking for it. And while I am out on my quest, I might as well enjoy myself. What is life without a little whimsy?
Whimsical thoughts aside, I find that when my mind has trouble focusing on the tasks at hand, it is simply because it isn't in the right mindset to tackle it just yet. If I proceed with the task without the proper focus, it's not likely to be completed to the best of my ability, and there's a high chance that I'll need to redo it. My mother always told me that if you are going to do something, do it right the first time, or you'll be doing it right the second time. You work twice as hard to fix a poorly done job.
So the best course of action I have found, when I have a hard time focusing, is to do something else. Something far away from whatever task I was trying to focus on, just for a little while. There will be a feeling in the back of my mind, a nagging sensation, reminding me that I have things to do, and the longer I allow my mind to wander and do other things, the stronger that nagging sensation gets until, at last, it compels my mind to jump back in gear all on its own.
Efficiency doesn't always look how you would expect it to look. The most effective action is sometimes remaining still, and at times, not taking any action at all until you feel truly ready. We live in a world that values immediate progress, where success is determined by some to be a direct result of constant motion, constant action, without thought about if the actions are of quality or not. At the end of the day, we do our best work when we are properly motivated, properly rested and properly focused, and nobody is all of those things all of the time.
So rather than finding your focus, I recommend that you let your focus find you. Allow your mind to wander where it will, and trust that sooner or later, it will wander on back to where it needs to be. And if, for whatever reason, it doesn't – well, you can always do it right the second time.