Reclaim Writing Focus in 1 Minute: A Scientifically Backed Tool

Transcripts
1

The transcript discusses techniques for enhancing focus and concentration, particularly for creative projects. It emphasizes the importance of warming up the brain before diving into work. Here’s a summary of the key points:

  1. Brain Warm-Up: Just as the body needs to warm up before exercise, the brain benefits from a concentration warm-up before engaging in creative tasks. This can involve focusing on a single object for periods starting from 30 seconds to ultimately about three minutes to stimulate brain activity.

  2. Duration of Focused Work: After the warm-up, individuals should aim to work in concentrated sessions, ideally between 45 to 90 minutes, as this is the optimal timeframe before the brain becomes fatigued.

  3. Taking Breaks: It’s important to take breaks after these focused sessions. Engaging in low-intensity activities allows the brain to relax and recharge and helps maintain creativity and productivity.

  4. Addressing Distractions: The transcript acknowledges that distractions are normal and advises individuals to use techniques to re-focus if they lose concentration during their creative sessions.

  5. Scientific Basis: The techniques mentioned are backed by scientific research on brain chemistry relating to focus and concentration, and the transcript suggests checking resources like the Huberman Lab podcast for in-depth information.

  6. Application: The speaker encourages trying these warm-up techniques right before starting creative work to see significant improvements in focus and productivity.

Thus, the overall message is about preparing the brain for focused work by implementing structured warm-ups and maintaining productivity through regular breaks and mindfulness of distractions.

Hey writers! Let me know if you know this feeling: you’ve been waiting all day to get to work on your creative projects. You finished work, you’ve dealt with your family, and now it’s time to work on your project. So you sit down at the computer, at the keyboard, at the piano, or at the canvas, and nothing.

Nothing. Your brain actually hurts from the effort of trying to focus in on the words that you want to write or the piece that you want to create.

And you know what? There’s a reason for that! So if this situation sounds all too familiar, stay tuned because today we’re going to talk about a scientifically backed method that can help you increase focus and concentration when writing or creating.

So this situation—when you’re sitting down to work on a project and you just can’t get into it the second you sit down—is okay. Our brains don’t work that way! We can’t be expected to just drop right into concentration mode, especially if we’ve been doing something else all day. If you work a nine-to-five job and you’re jumping into a creative project right after that, trying to shift your brain and shift your focus immediately is just not going to work. And if you try to do that, you might end up using all the time that you have set aside to work on your creative project just trying to get into a focused state, and that’s no good—especially if you are a busy person trying to work your creative projects into an already hectic schedule.

Just like your body needs to warm up before you work out, your brain needs to warm up before you’re expected to concentrate or focus. Luckily, there’s a way you can do this, and the more you do it, the better you will get at dropping into that concentration mode.

So I’m going to share a technique that will help you drop into concentration mode. If you want all the science behind why this works and how it works, you can check out the Huberman Lab podcast. He is an amazing neurobiologist, and he talks about these techniques and why they work. Today, I’m just going to teach you how you can apply them to creativity and writing. He talks about all the science and why they work and how our brains work, so if you want all of that, I will put the link to his podcast below so you can check out all the really sciency stuff behind this technique.

If you’re planning a writing or creativity session and you have that time set aside, here’s what you can do to make sure that you can get the most out of that time: we’re gonna do a concentration warm-up—a little warm-up for your brain to tell it it’s time to focus.

So we’re going to find an object—like this pen—and we are going to anchor our vision to one location, to the object that you choose. You’re going to look directly at that object and focus your attention there without looking at anything else around the room. You don’t have to worry about what’s going on in your head; all you have to do is focus your attention on that object.

You’re going to start by doing that for maybe about 30 seconds. You won’t be surprised (like any warm-up or any exercise) at how hard it is at first! But by focusing our attention on this one object, we increase the neural activity within the circuits that create focus and concentration. Essentially, you are telling your brain it is time to focus.

So do this for about 30 seconds, and actually, you can start to work your way up in time. Maybe start with 30 seconds, then go to 45 seconds, a minute, and eventually, maybe you can even get to about three minutes of this concentration warm-up.

Then, move to the work that you want to do. By focusing our attention on one object and practicing this warm-up, we are telling our brains to release adrenaline, epinephrine, acetylcholine (and I apologize if I’m mispronouncing that!), and dopamine—all chemicals of the brain that we need for focus and concentration.

Then, we’re going to jump into a focused session, and that session could last about 45 to 90 minutes. An ideal concentrated state can last for about 90 minutes before our brains start to get really tired and really need to move focus. But you can start with 45 minutes and work your way up to 90, and then work that warm-up into the time you’ve set aside.

So don’t sit down thinking that you’re just going to jump into your work and then struggle for 10 to 20 minutes to even get focused. Start with this quick warm-up, work that into your time, and then you’re only losing about three minutes to tell your brain it’s time to focus and concentrate. After that, your work will be even more productive.

During that 45 to 90 minutes, what’s going to happen? We might lose focus or concentration. We might get distracted—and it’s totally normal! Life is going on around us. Even if you’ve done your best to block out distractions, your phone might buzz, you might hear a knock on the door, or you might hear something outside.

You’re going to get distracted. If you need help dropping back into that focused state during your creativity session, try this warm-up again. Take a second away from your computer screen or whatever you’re working on, find that object, and focus on it for another 30 seconds to a minute. That will help bring your focus back to the task at hand and tell your brain that we’re still focusing and we’re still concentrating. Then, get back to your work and finish your session!

Instead of looking at your phone or taking a break by going down a rabbit hole on YouTube (which might risk you never coming back to your work), try that little focus and concentration exercise.

And after your session is complete, take time to let your brain relax. After 45 to 90 minutes, don’t continue to try to push yourself. Take a break, and do that by focusing on a menial task or something that doesn’t require a lot of brain power, because your brain might be feeling a little tired at this point—or a lot tired! So take a break, do the dishes, whatever you decide to do.

Don’t bring your vision into a focused location; let it wander! Let your mind wander. Don’t do anything that you really have to focus on, and that includes scrolling on your phone! That’s bringing your vision into a tight location that you’re needing to focus on.

And like I said, if you would like to check out the science behind why this works and why it’s important for your brain and your brain chemistry, you can check out the Huberman Lab podcast. It’s a really great podcast, but he does get very, very technical.

That said, he has done the research, he has done the study, and I am just communicating the methods and information to you.

So the next time you’re ready to sit down and create, don’t expect yourself to just drop into a focused state right away. Give yourself a little warm-up beforehand and see how much that helps you during your creativity session.

And if you try this warm-up and it works, let us know in the comments. But keep in mind, you might have to try it a few times to really start to feel the effects.

If you want to try it right now, grab a writing sprint from the end of this video and before you press play, try your focus and concentration warm-up. Then press play and get some writing done in a 25-minute focused writing sprint.

Thanks so much for listening, warriors! Now go fight for your creativity!

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