Start A Seven-Step Depth Ritual To Focus On Your Task At Hand

Start A Seven-Step Depth Ritual To Focus On Your Task At Hand

Your mind can waver when you are trying to focus. A PhD student shares how he created a “depth ritual” that primes his mind into a state of concentration, ready to tackle whatever needs to be done.

Picture: TMAB2003/Flickr

Cal Newport over at Study Hacks describes this trick: it starts with playing non-distracting music. Next, open up a minimalistic, distraction-free writer, such as FocusWriter.

The next step is the biggie: load up a template based on Steve Pavlina’s seven rules for maximising creative output. Here’s what it would look like:

  • Define the clear purpose of this task
  • Define the compelling motive to do this task
  • What are you going to do, and how will you challenge yourself
  • Provide a conducive environment
  • Allocate a committed block of time
  • Prevent interruptions and distractions
  • Master your tools

Once the student answered these questions truthfully, he entered a deep thinking phase and mastered the task at hand.

This isn’t the only way to stay focused on the task at hand, but when it comes to concentration, different things work for different people.

Deep Habits: Jumpstart Your Concentration with a Depth Ritual [Study Hacks Blog]


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