Comments on: Mind Pushups – Build Concentration for Sustained Focus

By: Marc Winitz

Marc Winitz — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:11:35 +0000

For me a thumbs up, Philip. It puts the “active” in “Active Listening”…:)

By: Philip Hotchkiss

Philip Hotchkiss — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 15:53:53 +0000

How do you think caffeine plays into active listening and focus? Do you give a double shot of espresso before an important meeting a thumbs up or down;-)?
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By: Marc Winitz

Marc Winitz — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:49:46 +0000

Thanks for the award Linda! Although I put this into a business context it applies to anything and I am glad you are reading it that way. Good thoughts here, thanks for contributing.

By: Linda Wolf (Insanely Serene)

Linda Wolf (Insanely Serene) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:24:52 +0000

Marc,

Very interesting series here, and makes me think about not just the business setting, where what you describe makes so much sense, but also in personal situations. I’ve learned how to concentrate my listening to other people. I used to be very distracted by my internal thoughts – what I was going to say next, how what they were saying related to something in my life – today I really focus on the other person, actively listen, pay attention. I’ve found that when I do this, my responses flow naturally as if my mind “knows” what to pick up on and how it relates to something in my life that can add meaning to the conversation. I love this kind of internal knowing, natural knowledge. Fits with what some of your commenters are saying about practice leading to more abbreviated execution of the documentation process. Thanks for the posts.

Meanwhile, because I so enjoy your blog, I’ve given you The Sunshine Award for positivity and inspiring creativity in other bloggers. http://bit.ly/aTsDvq.

Linda
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By: Marc Winitz

Marc Winitz — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:09:35 +0000

Glad this works for you Lana, it definitely does for me.

By: Lana - DreamFollowers Blog

Lana - DreamFollowers Blog — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:34:55 +0000

Focus > Actively Listen > Document for Concentration – I actualy use this formula all the time and it definitely works. In the past I tried just focus and actively listen, but noticed that I am still forgetting information even if just some subtle nuances (those might often be extremely important) if I don’t write it down right away. Great and very useful article as always Mark, thanks!

By: Marc Winitz

Marc Winitz — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:36:20 +0000

Hi Christine, not quite in terms of all those little distractions, that’s a bit of a seperate issue I suppose. There has been a lot written about getting those distractions out of your life. What I mean is pure sustained focus or getting it when don’t have it. In a martial arts context losing focus in that way can be hard to recover from so you have to find ways to get it back quickly. My point here was that in critical situations or ones where you need to sustain your level of focus there are ways to develop that. Hopefully that made sense. Certainly the little distractions cause similar problems and honestly, you have to remove those distractions when you are purposefully trying to concentrate or you will be behind the curve from the get go. Thanks for the comment and contributing to this.//Marc

By: Christine Livingston

Christine Livingston — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:45:18 +0000

Hi Marc,

When I’m working one-to-one with people I can focus really well. I stay with them and their energy and am very aware of whatever it is that goes on for me as a result of the interaction, which I can then feed into the work.

My challenge comes outside of that, when I have lots of things to do. It can sometimes be difficult to focus on one thing at a time, with the result that nothing gets done brilliantly, and things get missed. What I’m aware of as I read your post is that I can sit at my Mac, trying to write something, but because I’ve got my Twitter feed on, I get distracted by the little pop-up boxes that flash onto the screen with the latest tweets. I also have my email on, and the pinging noise of new messages coming in can be distracting. If I’m understanding you, this is like looking my opponent in the eye? So I guess to stop myself doing that I need to close my multiple applications down, and focus?

By: Marc Winitz

Marc Winitz — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:54:02 +0000

Glad to help even if it is just short term my friend.//Marc

By: Ben

Ben — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:46:14 +0000

Nice follow up Marc

I agree that a distracted mind can’t focus. My mind is currently very distracted and I’m struggling to focus on things. This has helped me to put some of that right.

Thanks
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