Mastering Focus In This Age Of Social Media

In this age, a lot of people have become so glued to their screens and to social media that they have lost touch of the world around them. I once visited a friend some months back. The front door was left open, probably because she knew I was coming. But something unusual happened. When I entered the house, I was perceiving the smell of food burning. The smell was very significant that I could tell it was beans burning. I thought maybe she put the beans on fire to warm and left without remembering. So I hurriedly rushed into the kitchen. Surprisingly, she was right there pressing her phone and giggling. When I called her, she realised that she was cooking and rushed to put off the burner. How unusual, that she was right in the kitchen and her meal was getting burnt and she did not know because she was distracted by social media. This is one of the many distractions that a lot of people face each day from social media.

We live in a world and at a time where information is everywhere. Even right from your handheld device, you can connect the rest of the world. This has also led to a constant attack on attention. The daily life of an average person majorly consists of social media platforms, notifications, chats, messages, contents, etc, and each of these compete for time. It is true that these tools are great as vehicle for communication, learning, and even inspiration, yet they can also be a challenge to your focus. This is why you have to learn to master focus, so that what was intended to help you will not turn around and control you. These things are meant for growth, personal development, success, and fulfilment, but not to become your master.

Focus is your ability to channel your attention on the things that really matter to you. What matters to someone else may not matter to you. And what mattered to you yesterday may not matter to you today. By focusing, you pay attention to what matters most. Someone who is into content creation as his full-time job may be having a good run in social media and other platforms, not because of just entertainment, but because it is his source of income. Then someone else who is a student and who has a degree exam to write may want to follow him in his social media presence, without realising that they are already hurting their academics. It is true that they can also make use of the social media platforms, but they should have a balance in it.

You may not have noticed this, but the truth is that social media has become one of the fundamental distractors of this era. It is safe to say that it was created to distract. You may just say you want to check a few comments on your page. Then from there, you will stumble on a short video clip, then you will begin to read comments and interactions, then a tweet will pop up, you will be moved to follow it. In all these, you would not even realised that you have spent hours on your device on too many things at the same time. Over time, this weakens your ability to concentrate on the things that are actually worthwhile without sliding off to check your notifications. What you need to understand is that you need to stay focused in order to fulfill you goal.

To be focused in this era that is full of distractors, especially from social media, first you need awareness. You have to analyse how much time and mental energy that you expend on these social media. Some people just pick up their phone to "press for a few minutes," and end up spending hours on it without realising. Awareness is what helps you to regain control. When you become aware of what distracts you, you will become more intentional about avoiding it.

Another way to master focus is by prioritisation. That is, knowing what matters the most and what to do first. When you know what you are working towards, like your goal, maybe in career, academics, etc, it will become easier to say "no" to distractions. When your purpose is stronger than the distractions, social media will become less attractive. You also need to learn discipline. Learn to know when to say "no" and stand by it. Do what you feel is right for the fulfillment of your goal without allowing the things that do not matter to distract you.

Thanks for reading