Excessive focus is no good for us

We keep talking about remaining 'focused' on whatever we are doing to achieve best results. We have been told that the ability to focus is an important driver of excellence. Focused techniques such as to-do lists, timetables, and calendar reminders all help people to stay on task. Few would argue with that, and even if they did, there is evidence to support the idea that resisting distraction and staying present have benefits. Yet as helpful as focus can be, there’s also a downside to focus as it is commonly viewed.

The problem is that excessive focus exhausts the focus circuits in our brain. It can drain our energy and make us lose self-control. This energy drain can also make us more impulsive and less helpful. As a result, decisions are poorly thought-out, and we become less collaborative.

So what do we do then? Focus or unfocus?

In keeping with recent research, both focus and unfocus are vital. The brain operates optimally when it toggles between focus and unfocus, allowing us to develop resilience, enhance creativity, and make better decisions too, according to Dr Srini Pillay,M.D.( May,2017). When we unfocus, we engage a brain circuit called the “default mode network.” Abbreviated as the DMN, we used to think of this circuit as the Do Mostly Nothing circuit because it only came on when we stopped focusing effortfully. Yet, when “at rest”, this circuit uses 20% of the body’s energy (compared to the comparatively small 5% that any effort will require).

The DMN needs this energy because it is doing anything but resting. Under the brain’s conscious radar, it activates old memories, goes back and forth between the past, present, and future, and recombines different ideas. Using this new and previously inaccessible data, we develop enhanced self-awareness and a sense of personal relevance. And we can imagine creative solutions or predict the future, thereby leading to better decision-making too. The DMN also helps us tune into other people’s thinking, thereby improving team understanding and cohesion.

There are many simple and effective ways to activate this circuit in the course of a day.

Using positive constructive daydreaming (PCD): PCD is a type of mind-wandering different from slipping into a daydream or guiltily rehashing worries. When we build it into our day deliberately, it can boost our creativity, strengthen our leadership ability, and also-re-energize the brain. To start PCD, we choose a low-key activity such as knitting, gardening or casual reading, then wander into the recesses of our mind. But unlike slipping into a daydream or guilty daydreaming, we might first imagine something playful and wishful—like running through the woods, or lying on a yacht. Then we swivel our attention from the external world to the internal space of our mind with this image in mind while still doing the low-key activity. PCD activates the DMN and helps in connecting ideas across our brain (to enhance innovation), and assists to pick up long-lost memories that are a vital part of our identity. In this state, our sense of “self” is enhanced that helps us to enhance our agility and manage change more effectively too.

Taking a nap: In addition to building in time for PCD, we can also consider authorized napping. Not all naps are the same. When our brain is in a slump, our clarity and creativity are compromised. After a 10-minute nap, studies show that we become much clearer and more alert. But if it’s a creative task we have in front of us, we will likely need a full 90 minutes for more complete brain refreshing. Our brain requires this longer time to make more associations, and dredge up ideas that are in the nooks and crannies of our memory network.

Pretending to be someone else: When we’re stuck in a creative process, unfocus may also come to the rescue when we embody and live out an entirely different personality. In 2016, educational psychologists, Denis Dumas and Kevin Dunbar found that people who try to solve creative problems are more successful if they behave like an eccentric poet than a rigid librarian. Given a test in which they have to come up with as many uses as possible for any object (e.g. a brick) those who behave like 'eccentric poets' have superior creative performance. This finding holds even if the same person takes on a different identity.

When in a creative deadlock, try this exercise of embodying a different identity. It will likely get us out of our own head, and allow us to think from another person’s perspective. For years, focus has been the venerated ability amongst all abilities. Since we spend 46.9% of our days with our minds wandering away from a task at hand, we crave the ability to keep it fixed and on task. Yet, if we built PCD, 10- and 90- minute naps, and 'eccentric poets' into our days, we would likely preserve focus for when we need it, and use it much more efficiently too. More importantly, unfocus will allow us to update information in the brain, giving us access to deeper parts of ourselves and enhancing our agility, creativity and decision-making too.

(Adapted from an article by Srini Pillay, M.D. who is an executive coach and CEO of NeuroBusiness Group)