The Focus Baseline

To effectively complete work, do assignments, and study, it’s critical to develop your ability to focus.

Focus is paying particular attention to a single task or object. If you have good focus, you are able to perform a singular task for an extended period of time.

If you’ve not given it any though before, here is a baseline I think everyone should have:

The focus baseline:

• You should be able to read for 1 hour without interruption or switching to another task.
  • Reading is quite simple when you are enjoying what you are reading, but I maintain that you should be able to read ANY material for a 1 hour chunk of time.
  • To be clear: reading a stream of articles does not count. The frequent switching of topics doesn’t say much for your ability to focus.
• To expand into the realm of writing: You should be able to write about a single topic for 30 minutes without a break.
• You should be able to focus on one assignment for 20 minutes minimum with a 5 minute break. (This is the basis of the pomodoro technique). Any shorter and your effectiveness is severely limited.

Consider this baseline for yourself. Can you even imagine completing this successfully? You don’t have to LIKE doing it, but I feel that it is a very necessary and beneficial skill to have.