What to do when youre distracted and cant focus

What to do when youre distracted and cant focusWhat to do when youre distracted and cant focusDo you struggle to finish your tasks? Are you always distracted by notifications, gossiping, or anything thats random?In that case, you and I are alike. Because focusing on a single thing is one of the hardest things at work.Theres always something that interrupts you, right?Another personA callA meetingA false emergencyYour catA strangers catNews about last nights NBA gameSure, you can blame those things - but thats weak. You and I both know that those things cant interrupt you without your permission.That means every time youre not focused youre giving someone or something permission to enter your mind.Scary, isnt it?Thats how I look at interruptions. But I have to admit that I cant maintain my focus all the time. Sometimes, I give in. Its not good.Your life doesnt benefit from gossiping, looking at Instagram 439 times a day, watching 49 YouTube videos, and reading negative news articles. So, what can you do to improve your focus? Here are 2 things that I always do when I find myself not being able to focus on what matters.1. Eliminate. Eliminate. EliminateEvery day, we accumulate stuff. Im not only talking about the stuff youre buying like clothes, kitchen equipment, house decorations, toys, gadgets, or whatever.We accumulate ideas.Have you ever thought about that? Were exposed to so many ideas that we adopt some of them, and make them our own.For example, many people have told me to create mora YouTube videos. My family, friends, team members, readers, students - everybody has ideas. And they want to help.Likewise, I also share my ideas with others. Ideas about how you can improve your life, career, business, or relationships. We all do it. And theres nothing wrong with that.It only becomes a problem if you dont filter the input you get from people. So after I heard from people that I should make YouTube videos, I thought to myself Hey I should make YouTube videos Ive been thinking a lot about that for the past six months. And I also invested a lot of time in creating a strategy. What should my videos be about? Where should I record them? How should I edit them? What music should I use?Ive been working on it a lot. And I recently published a video as well. The response was positive.Theres only one problem It consumes too much of my time and attention. As a consequence, I can spend less time on writing, podcasting, and creating new courses.And those are exactly the things that I want to do. I started a blog for a reason I love to write, and Im good at it. Therefore, the work is easier, compared to creating YouTube videos, which Im not that good at.Plus, I thoroughly enjoy writing articles, books, and material for my online courses. When the work gets hard, I dont mind.But when I was working on YouTube videos, I got frustrated a lot. And again, my focus and work suffered from it.What did I do when I lacked focus? I asked myself this questionWha t thing(s) should I eliminate to make my life so simple that its easy to focus?In this case, I stopped focusing on YouTube. Elimination is a key strategy that I use for many aspects of my life.We accumulate so much unnecessary baggage throughout the years that we consistently need to eliminateIdeasProjectsWorkObjectsAnd so forthIf you find yourself struggling to focus, try this strategy. Make your life so simple that its a breeze to live.And lets be honest here. Who wants to live a life thats impossible? Life is already hard enough. Dont make it harder.2. Think about past successThinking about past success and happiness stimulates the production of serotonin, a chemical nerve our cells produce.Serotonin is the key chemical that affects every part of your body. Serotonin plays a huge role in our bodily functions. But it also helps to reduce depression, increase libido, stabilize mood, control sleep, and regulate anxiety.Serotonin also plays a massive role in our general well-being.Bu t heres why serotonin matters to your focus. Serotonin also regulates delayed gratification. When your serotonin activity goes down, it can lead to a lack of focus on the long-term. You are less likely to act on your plans.When you lose focus, theres a big chance that your serotonin activity is low. Thats why you are giving into short-term pleasures like going out, drinking, shopping, having sex, watching TV, or anything else that gives you short-term pleasure.To improve your focus, boost your serotonin activity. Research shows that exercise can do that. But something else, thats equally effective, and a lot easier is a simple mind-exercise.All you need to do is remember positive events that happened in the past.Alex Korb, a neuroscientist at UCLA, and the author of The Upward Spiral, explains why remembering positive events helps you to focus on what mattersAll you need to do to increase serotonin levels is remember positive events that have happened in your life. This simple act i ncreases serotonin production in the anterior cingulate cortex, which is a region just behind the prefrontal cortex that controls attention.When serotonin goes up, your focus goes up. Ultimately, thats what you should do.I know that it sounds cheesy, but when something is wrong, you must fix it.When I cant focus, the first thing I do is to acknowledge that I have a problem that needs a solution. Some people go through life without even acknowledging that they have problems.No, its not normal to check your phone every 2 minutes.No, its not normal to gossip all the time.No, its not normal to be bored.Focus on your life. Think about what matters to you. Then, do those things and dont get distracted - stay on the path.Good luck.This column originally appeared on DariousForoux.com.