Why You're Always Distracted & Procrastinating - 5 Tips On How To Be Focused

Summary

In this video, June Yu discusses the importance of focus in our digital era and how distractions, especially from phones, hinder progress. She offers practical tips to improve focus, such as using grayscale mode, time blocking, avoiding multitasking, and prioritizing self-care. June emphasizes the need for a plan, deep work sessions, and aligning goals with personal values for true success.

Takeaways

• 😲 Attention is the most valuable currency in the digital era, and it's crucial to be aware of how it's being captured by social media and advertisements.
• 🔍 Documenting daily exposure to digital distractions can reveal the significant amount of time spent on unproductive activities.
• 🛡️ Implementing strategies to combat digital distractions, such as using focus apps or setting your phone to grayscale, can improve focus and productivity.
• 📅 Having a plan, specifically a time-blocking schedule, is essential for managing distractions and making progress towards goals.
• 🚫 Avoiding multitasking and focusing on one task at a time can significantly improve efficiency and reduce the impact of 'attention residue'.
• 🌟 Identifying and scheduling peak productivity windows can help ensure that the most demanding tasks are tackled when energy levels are highest.
• 💪 Taking care of oneself through mental, physical, and spiritual health, as well as maintaining honest accountability, forms the foundation for sustained focus and success.
• 🧘‍♂️ The importance of aligning goals with personal values to ensure that success is defined by the individual, not societal expectations.
• 📱 Practical tips for reducing phone addiction are provided, such as using separate alarm clocks and repurposing phones to enhance focus.
• 🎯 The significance of deep work sessions and the detrimental effects of constant switching between tasks on overall productivity.
• 🌱 The emphasis on building a strong foundation through the four internal pillars for long-term success and fulfillment.

Q & A

What is considered the number one currency in the digital era according to the video?

In the digital era, attention is considered the number one currency.

What is the importance of documenting exposure to social media or advertisements as suggested in the video?

Documenting exposure helps to understand the impact of algorithms on retention and attention, which are key analytics for advertisers and social media platforms.

Why is focus considered a bridge between the life you're currently living and the life you want to live?

Focus is the bridge because it is the skill that allows you to concentrate on what matters and make progress towards your goals, rather than being distracted by the abundance of inputs in society.

What are some practical ways to have a healthier relationship with your phone as mentioned in the video?

Some practical ways include putting your phone on grayscale, using a separate alarm clock, using focus apps to limit access to distractions, and repurposing your phone to keep you accountable and focused.

How does having a plan help combat distractions and improve focus?

Having a plan helps by reducing the number of decisions you have to make throughout the day, allowing you to allocate time for tasks and ensuring you make progress towards your goals instead of getting distracted.

What is the concept of 'attention residue' and why is it significant when multitasking?

Attention residue refers to the lingering focus on a previous task when switching to a new one, which can reduce efficiency because part of your working memory is still associated with the previous task.

Why is it important to schedule your peak productivity window in your daily routine?

Scheduling your peak productivity window ensures that you are working on your most demanding tasks during the time of day when your energy and focus are at their highest.

What does the video suggest about the relationship between taking care of oneself and achieving focus?

The video suggests that taking care of oneself in terms of mental, physical, and spiritual health, as well as maintaining honest accountability, is crucial for achieving focus and making true progress.

How does the video define success in the context of improving focus and productivity?

Success is defined as aligning your goals and tasks with your personal values and making progress in a way that is meaningful to you, rather than being distracted by societal expectations.

What is the role of a mentor in the context of the video's discussion on focus and productivity?

A mentor can guide individuals in understanding the importance of foundational pillars such as mental, physical, and spiritual health, and honest accountability, which are essential for improving focus and achieving personal success.

Outlines

00:00

📱 Managing Smartphone Addiction

The video emphasizes the importance of attention in our digital age, highlighting how constant exposure to social media and advertisements can distract us from achieving our goals. The speaker, June Yu, introduces the concept of 'retention' and how it affects our focus. She suggests practical strategies to reduce phone usage, such as using grayscale mode, having a separate alarm clock, and utilizing focus apps to block distractions. The goal is to redirect our attention to meaningful tasks and progress towards the life we desire.

05:01

📅 The Power of Time Blocking

This paragraph discusses the detrimental effects of multitasking and the benefits of time blocking. June Yu explains that multitasking can lead to 'attention residue,' where our focus is divided and productivity suffers. She advocates for deep work sessions and the importance of scheduling peak productivity times. The speaker also introduces a 60-day challenge in their mentorship program, focusing on building internal pillars of mind, body, spirit, and accountability. The emphasis is on aligning daily tasks with personal values and goals, rather than societal expectations, to achieve true progress and success.

Keywords

💡Attention

Attention is the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a particular object or thought while ignoring other things. In the video, it is described as the 'number one currency in our digital era,' emphasizing its value in a world where digital distractions are abundant. The script discusses how attention is a scarce resource that needs to be managed to achieve the desired life, and it is linked to the concept of 'retention' in the context of social media algorithms.

💡Retention

Retention, in the context of the video, refers to the ability of social media platforms or advertisements to keep a user engaged with their content. It is an important metric for these platforms, as it indicates how well they can capture and maintain a user's attention. The script suggests that understanding retention can help viewers become more aware of how their attention is being sought after and potentially manipulated.

💡Distraction

Distraction is the state of being diverted from a task or activity by extraneous stimuli. The video script highlights the prevalence of distractions in modern society, particularly auditory or visual stimuli, and how they can hinder one's ability to focus. It is a key obstacle to achieving the life one desires, and the video aims to provide strategies to combat distractions and improve focus.

💡Focus

Focus is the act of concentrating one's thoughts, attention, or activities on a particular object or task. The video's main theme revolves around the importance of focus and how it can be developed as a skill. The script provides tips on how to achieve better focus, such as reducing phone usage, creating a plan, and avoiding multitasking, all of which are essential for personal and professional growth.

💡Algorithms

Algorithms, in the context of the video, refer to the set of rules or processes used by social media platforms to determine the content that users see. They are designed to maximize user engagement and retention. The script points out that these algorithms are backed by analytics that track how long a user's attention is held, which is a critical aspect of the digital attention economy.

💡Phone Addiction

Phone addiction is a term used to describe the compulsive use of a smartphone, often leading to excessive screen time and distraction. The video script discusses the impact of phone addiction on one's life, suggesting that spending a significant amount of time on phones can detract from more meaningful activities. Strategies to overcome phone addiction, such as using grayscale mode or focus apps, are presented.

💡Time Blocking

Time blocking is a time management technique where one schedules specific blocks of time for different activities or tasks. The video script advocates for time blocking as a method to increase productivity and reduce distractions. It emphasizes the importance of planning and allocating time for both work and leisure activities to ensure a balanced and productive life.

💡Multitasking

Multitasking is the act of attempting to perform multiple tasks simultaneously. The video script challenges the notion that multitasking is an efficient way to work, instead arguing that it can lead to 'attention residue,' where the mind retains elements of the previous task, reducing focus and efficiency on the current one. The speaker encourages focusing on one task at a time for better productivity.

💡Attention Residue

Attention residue is a concept that describes the lingering cognitive effects of switching between tasks. The video script explains that when one switches tasks, their attention is not immediately fully available to the new task due to the residue of the previous task still occupying part of their working memory. This can lead to decreased efficiency and productivity.

💡Peak Productivity Window

The peak productivity window refers to a specific time period during the day when an individual is most alert and productive. The video script suggests scheduling the most demanding tasks during this window to maximize efficiency. It is linked to the idea of aligning work with one's natural energy fluctuations to optimize performance.

💡Internal Pillars

Internal pillars, as mentioned in the video script, are foundational aspects of one's life that need to be nurtured for overall success. These include the mind, body, spirit, and honest accountability. The script emphasizes the importance of building these pillars through daily practices to ensure alignment with one's values and goals, leading to true progress and fulfillment.

Highlights

The number one currency in the digital era is your attention.

Documenting daily exposure to social media or advertisements reveals the importance of retention and attention.

Distraction is more likely in society due to an abundance of auditory and visual stimuli.

Being unaware of distractions can be dangerous.

June Yu introduces the video's focus on four key areas to encourage awareness and combat distraction.

Focus is a skill that can be built, not just a natural ability.

Phones are a major distraction, and managing phone usage is crucial for better focus.

Spending over 12 years on your phone in a lifetime is a significant time investment.

Practical ways to reduce phone addiction include using grayscale mode and having a separate alarm clock.

Focus apps like Freedom can inhibit access to distracting apps and the internet.

Recording yourself or using a study buddy can help repurpose your phone for accountability.

Mental focus follows visual focus, so reducing visual distractions is key to better focus.

Having a plan is essential to avoid being easily distracted.

Creating a time block schedule helps in making better daily decisions and avoiding stagnation.

Time blocking can include work, rest, and play, not just work-related tasks.

Multitasking is less productive than focusing on one task at a time due to attention residue.

Deep work sessions are crucial for productivity and require eliminating distractions.

Scheduling peak productivity windows aligns with natural energy fluctuations for optimal focus.

Taking care of oneself, including mental, physical, and spiritual health, is foundational for focus and productivity.

Aligning goals with personal values and not just societal expectations is crucial for true success.

June Yu encourages focusing on the four internal foundational pillars for daily improvement in focus.

Transcripts

the number one currency in our digital

era is your attention and if you don't

believe me I'd like you to take just one

day where you document all the times

that exposed to either social media or

an advertisement whether you know it or

not all of those algorithms are backed

on one really important analytic called

retention or better yet your attention

you see the bridge between the life that

you're currently living and the life

that you want to live is focused but in

our society we're exposed to such an

abundance of inputs whether it be

auditory or visual stimuli and because

of that it's much more likely that we're

distracted it can be that much more

dangerous when we're not aware that

we're being distracted so in today's

video we'll be discussing the four key

areas that perhaps you're not

necessarily cognizant of that will

encourage you to be and then also how to

combat it so that you can achieve true

Focus too my name is June Yu if you're

new to the channel welcome if you're

returning welcome back focus is that one

thing that whether you're a student or

in your careers so you just want to

improve your personal life that we all

want but most people don't understand

that it's a skill that we can build but

hopefully I can convince you after this

video give this video a thumbs up and if

you have any questions at all please

leave them below I'm more than happy to

respond to you and of course subscribe

with that being said sit back relax and

enjoy the video I think it only makes

sense that I start with all of our

favorite distraction and that's our

phones but perhaps we don't understand

the gravity of this issue and I

certainly did didn't if you spent 4 and

1/2 hours on your phone on a daily basis

and I can certainly attest that I'm

guilty of having done way more than that

you'll have spent over 12 years on your

phone in your lifetime and consider the

fact that you're spending additional

about 36 years of your life either

sleeping or working and the much of your

young life is in school these years add

up very very quickly so imagine the

progress that we can have if we can have

a healthier relationship with our phones

if we can stop our addictions to our

phones then perhaps we can put our focus

in areas that actually matter to us and

then we can have those types of

progressions towards the life that we

want to be living and I believe that

there are practical ways to go about

doing that and I'm just going to run

through really quickly some of my

favorites the first one is putting your

phone on Gray scale in order to reduce

the visual stimuli the second one is

having a separate alarm clock in order

to disrupt The Habit Loop of waking up

in the morning going to your phone to

snooze your alarm and then going and

mind LLY scrolling you can prevent that

all together by having a separate alarm

clock and leaving your phone in a

completely different room number three

use Focus apps perhaps ones like Freedom

or ones that will inhibit your access to

the internet or your favorite social

media apps and so that for a period of

time you can remain focused on whatever

task is in front of you record yourself

or FaceTime a study buddy whatever you

can do to repurpose your phone and make

it something that will keep you

accountable will keep you focused versus

distracted is it a really great idea too

so I believe if you can start

implementing these tips you'll have a

lot of success because we always have to

remember that our mental focus follows

our visual Focus so if we're visually

distracted with our phones we'll always

be distracted mentally too but if we can

prevent that all together that's how

we're able to achieve better focus

number two you don't have a plan the

worst thing that you can do if you're

somebody easily distracted is not have a

plan you have to understand that we as

human beings make thousands of decisions

each day whether they be conscious ones

or subconscious ones it's in those

moments that we are trying to make a

decision that we end up choosing the one

that keeps us stagnant that keeps us

comfortable that keeps us from doing the

things that we know we should or have to

do and that's why we tend to skip our

workouts or tend to skip our study

sessions and I don't want that to be you

and an easy way to combat all of this is

creating a Time block schedule for

yourself and this is an opportunity for

you to group potentially similar task

together and allocate chunks of your day

or blocks of your days Associated to

those tasks and when you can do this in

preparation of that day whether it's the

day before week before however you want

to go about it it allows you to follow

this plan and and I find people

immediately challenge this point and say

I don't think a schedule is meant for me

I'm somebody more spontaneous I don't

believe that I will thrive in a

structured environment like that and

what I want you to know is that time

blocking doesn't have to be only

associated with your work you should

absolutely blocking out times for your

rest and your plays and things that you

just enjoy out of life but you

absolutely also should include your work

and things that are important for you as

you try to move the needle on a daily

basis and that opportunity for you to

create a plan ahead of that day ensures

that you're making the right decisions

that day you don't have to worry about

the chaos that ensues when we're making

thousands of decisions each day so I

really really encourage you to do this

there are many many apps that will help

you facilitate this process it can be

simply your Android Calendar your Apple

calendar your Google calendar however

you want to go about it please start

time blocking number three you are

multitasking I used to be under the

false impression that in order for me to

be a more productive person I to learn

how to split my attention up with a

bunch of different tasks at any given

moment when in reality I've learned that

the way to be productive is by simply

eliminating every other task or any

other distraction and just fixating on

the work that you should be doing in

that given moment that's it and it's

really because of something called

attention residue and people don't

understand the significance of this

issue you see people will say something

along the lines of what's the issue of

me looking at my phone and glancing and

seeing some not notifications and then

just going back to my work that only

took me 5 Seconds just now but in

reality there's something called

attention residue and that explains how

when we try to switch from one context

to another or one task to another our

attention isn't able to immediately go

to that second task it isn't able to at

least 100% go there and actually there's

a shadow there's a glimmer there's a

part of our working memory that's still

associated with that prior task so you

can understand the lack of a efficiency

that happens that's why deep work

sessions are so extremely important and

now that we've talked about time

blocking the one thing that I need you

to start scheduling on a daily basis is

your Peak productivity window now when

you do that it's going to be up to you

it should be aligned with your natural

energy fluctuation especially when it's

heightened right and then of course your

free time but if you can prioritize that

on a daily basis you know that you will

always move the needle that you will

always be able to get your most

demanding tasks on each day so I really

believe the more that you can stray away

from multitasking and learn how to

prioritize your task and execute them

one at a time you'll find yourself being

a lot more productive number four you're

not taking care of yourself and although

that might sound like a cliche I

actually think it's the most important

one on this list recently in our

mentorship program we have initiated a

60-day challenge and all of our members

for the first 30 days will be building

there are four internal pillars the mind

the body the spirit and honest

accountability and so can you on a daily

basis improve your mental health your

physical health and your spiritual

health while also ensuring that you're

holding yourself accountable honestly so

you can meet the depths of those pillars

consistant you see I can teach you how

to have better focus for the task that

you deem to be important in that moment

but in reality if that task or that

responsibility or the goals that you're

chasing after don't necess neily align

with where you actually want to go and

does it really matter if the goals in

your life don't actually align with your

value system and it's actually just

superimposed On To You by societal

expectations where's the winning in that

already in our mentorship program our

members have understood the importance

of this Foundation because it completely

changes your perspective and the way

that you view what you do facts how you

do what you do we know that and if you

can always ensure that you're staying

aligned versus being distracted by what

Society tells you to do there's some

true progress that can be made I've seen

this happen so many times where quote

unquote the people that we deem to be

highly successful in life whether it be

status or fame or a ton of money there's

actually a lot of hardship behind the

scenes because along the way they've

lost sight of that Foundation I don't

want that to be you so whether you join

us in our mentorship program and there's

still some spots left or whether you

decide to take this on your own I really

encourage you to focus on those four

internal foundational pillars on a daily

basis and I promised you there's going

to be some tremendous success and

success in the way that you define it

okay and that's the important part so we

talked about in this video how to not be

addicted to your phones how to actually

construct a meaningful plan how to stop

multitasking and actually increase your

productivity and now the four internal

pillars and I believe if you can start

to be more cognizant of those four areas

of life you will be able to immediately

improve your focus if you enjoyed this

video give it a thumbs up leave your

comments below and of course subscribe

and until next time I love you guys so

much and take care of yourselves okay

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