FOCUS

July 16th, 2018

Ever been staring off into that blurry, dazed, unfocused space, when suddenly a little fly materializes in perfect focus out of nowhere?

Where was that little sucker before he popped into view like some ridiculous quantum particle?

Playing around with focal lengths on a camera can offer an equally dazzling way to view small details while other details in front or behind are totally obscured by a lack of focus.  Toggling that focus back and forth draws back and forth an invisible screen of focus that sweeps from the background to the foreground. 

Like a great movie that enables us to forget the blatant fact that we sit in a giant room full of strangers. . .

Focus is not so much about what it’s applied to, as much as it’s about what isn’t in focus.

Horses have blinders so they can’t focus on too many things around them.

A clean working space can keep the mind undistracted from details that remind one of yet one other thing to do. . .

This is referred to as essentialism in the world of productivity.

This can help us accomplish loads of progress.

It can also keep us unquestioningly on track as we follow the herd over the cliff.

A laser-sharp focus is a powerful ability that should be honed.

But the act of being focused is not what should be practiced.  Some call that state Flow.

What’s more important is the gear shift that gets us in and out of that laser focus.

That transmission is THE WELL-OILED ZOOM.

It allows us to sweep that focal plane back and forth, highlighting details in turn, surveying all the variables and then returning to focus on the one detail that needs attention.

Focus is not a state.

Focus is the practice of shifting concentration from one thing to another.

This episode referenced Episode 54: The Well-Oiled Zoom.  If you’d like to fully understand the reference, I suggest checking out that episode next.