Focus is the ability to ignore all signals save one. Your mental capacity stays unchanged, but it’s solely focused on one objective.

That’s why people often struggle to focus on their tasks while unrelated trivia lingers in the background.

It usually implies that the chosen subject of concentration hasn’t managed to hold their attention enough to drown out the surrounding noise.

Remember all those hobbies and interests that made you lose track of time, forgo bodily needs, and put off everything else?

The computer game that, by any reasonable standards, is just entertainment, but of which you can’t let go until you clear the current level?

That quilt you can’t put down until you figure out the right way to put the pieces together?

Even, for some weird people, I won’t name names, putting together IKEA furniture.

Reading the same wordy paragraph for the fifth time because you can’t zero in on its meaning is not.

Focus is fired by interest and motivation, with reward, which is the most common reason for its application, coming in a distant third. 

The report you need to write in hope of a promotion pales in comparison to your genuine passion, whether it’s collecting stamps, handicrafts, or social media posting.

Your reason may tell you they’re worth the effort, but your instinct discards them with the efficiency of a sorting machine.

Focus is subservient to your emotional side. 

If you want to dedicate all your mental capacity to a subject, you must love it passionately, everything else will only yield mediocre results.

If focus were noise-cancelling headphones for your brain, your problem is that the music you’re listening to is likely boring and the traffic noises are filled with the wholesome sound of life.

Focus is dead without passion. When the latter is present, time passes so effortlessly that you become oblivious to it. When it’s not, five minutes feel like forever.

What if you have to focus on something that doesn’t hold your heart and soul, but it’s vital to your life plans? 

You have my sympathies.

You can make yourself focus on a subject, but remember your heart won’t be fully engaged, and you should expect only 60% of the results, which is still better than nothing.

In conclusion, what are the points worth remembering?

1. Focus is the ability to ignore all signals save one. Your mental capacity remains the same, but it’s all dedicated to one goal.
2. Focus runs on emotions and excitement, not willpower.
3. It is fired by interest and motivation, with reward, which is the most common reason for its application, coming in a distant third.
4. Reward motivated tasks don’t hold a candle to subjects that pique your genuine interest; you can force yourself to pay attention to a subject, but you will never achieve maximum results.
5. The summation of all the things you’re paying attention to constitutes your life, which is why your unconscious decision center will not allow you to pilfer focus.