Creating an Experience for Focus

Creating an experience doesn’t have to be difficult.

Imagine filling a tub with steaming water. While the tub fills, you gather your current read, a glass of wine or cold tea, maybe light a few candles and put a warmed towel nearby to dry off with afterwards. Oh, and don’t forget a soft soundtrack in the background. Your partner has the children, and it’s time for a peaceful, relaxing bath. Can you feel your toes dipping into the water to test the temperature? Imagine yourself slowly settling into the heated water so it doesn’t slosh over the tub edges?

You’ve just created an experience.

Every time you take that warm, relaxing bath in a similar fashion, you are training your brain that it’s bath time. Telling your brain, it’s time to relax and take some time for yourself.

It’s not the warm water, or the flickering of the candles, or the ambiance that allow us to relax each time – although they certainly help. It’s the fact that you’ve trained your brain, this is what I want you to do when you encounter this set of circumstances. You’ve trained your brain that when those elements are combined, it’s time to relax.

Now, why can’t we do that with other things, like focusing?

The answer is, we can.

Are you wondering how?

The answer is in what you’ve already read.

How Creating an Experience Works:

We have to train our brains that when it encounters certain circumstances, it’s time to focus and get to work. Trust me, this works much better than relying on a random surge of inspiration or motivation. If we did that, we would rarely – if ever – work!

When you go to work at a physical workplace, you encounter certain things. It may be the setting, or the music, or even the smells associated with your workplace – but your brain learns that this is where we work.

Why should it be any different for those who work from home, or simply want to focus on a task when they aren’t physically at their place of work?

It doesn’t have to be.

Creating an experience can be as simple or complicated as you like – and really only requires a bit of repetition to help with training your brain.

Creating An Experience:

So how do you go about creating an experience?

Brainstorm what your ideal work/focus situation would look like. Would there be a certain smell? A certain sound? Consider all of your senses.
Consider, where would you ideally (and practically!) work? If you don’t have transportation, or need to remain at home, there are plenty of viable options around you – consider the backyard, or moving to the dining room when you normally work in the office. A change of location can really help with the “mood”.
Keep in mind the kind of work you want to accomplish! For example, burning incense (while lovely) may not be ideal if you want to cook or bake.
Repetition, repetition, repetition

Note: While I do encourage creating an experience for focusing, I do not recommend creating an experience for each individual task – more of an experience for a general group of tasks, like “work”. “Work” as a term is quite vague, and it is less overwhelming to create a general experience to get you into a work mindset rather than trying to craft an experience for each individual task you want to accomplish.

An Example:

If you are more of a visual learner, you may be thoroughly confused by this point. Allow me to outline my own personal experience for focusing, to give you the general concept. You can use mine, and see how it works for you, or create your own.

My ideal work experience has a warm scent (usually a wood scent) burning nearby, soft music playing, and a cup of hot tea (usually black tea to help with energy) beside my workstation. I will often move my laptop to the dining room table (from the couch) for a work space. I dress comfortably (since I work from home) and will often sit cross legged or with one foot up in my chair.

After much repetition, this set of circumstances signals to my brain it is time to work and be productive. Most of the time nowadays, when I brew a cup of tea and settle down at my workstation I am able to be fairly productive and “in the zone”.

Please keep in mind that this “experience” does not account for outside interference – we are only referring to getting in the zone and allowing yourself the brain space you need to be productive.

Do you have other tips or ideas for creating an experience to help yourself focus? I’d love to hear them in the comments below.