That I needed to focus on figuring out how I managed my focus was a pivotal wake-up call (that’s the kind of strapline I’m likely to repeat in these blogs). According to the amount of thinking I’ve put into SALTT, I would have thought I would have an unambiguous sense of direction by now: foolish me!
I found myself amused by the emerging technology of AI. As a tech-geek, I’ve been obsessing about machine intelligence most of my life. All these shiny new toys were too alluring to ignore. The development of the SALTT programme had reached a hiatus, and I found myself just messing around in the AI playground. OK, SALTT has helped me focus, but I realised I was easily distracted by activity that was not creating the value I wanted.
This raises a key point about focus management though. It is not about the tools; they just facilitate age old strategies that still are relevant. Focus management, really, is about developing self-awareness: recognising when you are focussed, and when you are not, and moreover, when you want to be focussed. This isn’t about having continuous laser vision on productivity; being blinkered to possibility and opportunity has its downsides. No, it is about being able to direct your attention to where it is useful; to where you want to place it, rather than the barrage of stimuli that clammer for our mind’s bandwidth. Letting your mind wander can work wonders, as can mindfulness; if that is what you are after; then it becomes a matter of choice.
To a large extent, a lack of focus, a blur of life, might be seen as the trap of a lack of self-awareness, a lack of understanding of your own values, passion, and direction; and it is easy to lose sight of those. I say a trap because it is a blind spot, but not merely an area that you cannot see, but one you are unaware of that you cannot see because you cannot perceive it. I did not know I needed glasses until I took an eye test.
Transcending the blissful ignorance of unconscious incompetence is a tough one; it is a paradox and it is locked in. Usually, it takes some disruption, some outside influence or information, to discover where our blind spots are: they often need pointing out to us, frequently in abrupt ways. A kind of meta-focus, I guess – the kind that proved pivotal in my recovery.
In my case here, although I had lost focus, having had some clarity and understanding of focus management, helped me to spot that my attention had wandered away from where I wanted it to be; and gave me impetus to do something about it. The rest was more like remembering my glasses were on the top of my head.
