How to Focus like a Pro using NLP

Have you ever sat down at your work desk with the intention to be productive, only to  find yourself watching funny cat videos and the latest social media trending or maybe even cleaning your room right after 20 minutes? And then it ends up being the end of the day and you accomplish nothing.

Focus can be a rare power these days. The temptations and distractions of the digital age really do make it not so easy to keep your mind on track. But here’s where Neuro-Linguistic Programming comes in. NLP techniques provide real, down-to-earth approaches to boost your concentration and productivity at work!

In this blog, we will look at how NLP can help you regain your focus, increase productivity, and finally make headway on that to-do list. 

Why NLP for Focus?

This science is all about understanding what connects our thoughts, our language, and our behavior. It helps for managing the mind, and in this case, to help guide one’s attention toward where it matters most. Using techniques from NLP, habits can be developed that could make focusing much stronger even in a world filled with distractions.

Here are some basic NLP strategies that can help you zero in on work with more intent and less struggle.

1. Anchoring Your Focus

Anchoring is a technique of NLP where an anchor is set up for accessing a given state of mind, be it focus or confidence at will. It’s similar to having a mental shortcut to deep concentration.

To anchor your focus:

1. Recall a time when you were totally focused. Maybe that moment when you became so absorbed in a project that you lost track of time, or you really accomplished something you were proud of. The point is to recall that state of flow.
2. Close your eyes and envision that moment as vividly as possible. Now notice the details, what you felt, the thoughts running through your mind, even the sounds around you.
3. At the peak of that sense of concentration, press your thumb and forefinger together. This now becomes your “focus anchor.”
4. Repeat this a few times to cement in the learning. Now, when you want to concentrate, pushing your thumb and forefinger together can bring on that feeling of focus much easier.

Think of it as a mental “call button” for concentration. Over time, this anchor will get stronger, and you’ll find yourself getting into that productive state with less effort.

2. Chunking Tasks to Avoid Overwhelm

We’ve all experienced the terrible, unending to-do list. Yet, attempting to tackle so many things at once often leads to mental overload and makes it even harder to concentrate. Chunking is an NLP technique whereby enormous tasks are divided into manageable, bite-sized chunks.

How to Use Chunking:

1. Select a massive task on your list such as “Complete the quarterly report.”.
2. Break it into smaller chunks such as “Organize data, Create graphs, Write draft and Edit for clarity.”
3. Do one chunk at a time rather than the whole thing. This will keep you involved with each small step so that you will experience the satisfaction of finishing parts of the project without getting overwhelmed by its totality.

Chunking is useful when you are a procrastinator. Instead of having one big, daunting task, you will have smaller objectives that you can more easily focus on, keeping you more alert and focused.

3. The “As-If” Frame

NLP uses what’s called the “As If” frame, which is simply acting as if you already have the quality you’re trying to develop. You want to be more focused? Act as if you already are. Sounds odd, but being in a focus mindset can bring that into reality, too.

How to Apply the “As If” Frame

1. Sit down at your desk, imagine being a very intense, extremely productive version of yourself. How would he or she act, what would they think, how would he or she carry out work?
2. Assume the postures, respirations, and mental set of an individual absorbed within their task.
3. Start performing as if you were the former already.

You can almost trick your brain into getting to that state by acting like you are already focused. It’s a very minor adjustment, but it just gets the mental state to correspond with the actions, and access to focus is achieved that way.

4. A Focus Ritual

A ritual can also be a great way to alert your brain that it’s time to focus. Remember athletes who have certain activities they do before a huge game or writers who favor a particular place to sit and work? NLP encourages the development of building a ritual to prepare one’s mind for focusing in.

1. Choose a set of actions you can do before starting work. These could be closing your door, putting on a specific playlist, or brewing a cup of tea.
2. Repeat the ritual each time you want to concentrate. The brain loves familiarity and, with time, will recognize these actions as the cue for concentration.
3. Make it simple so that you can repeat it. The more you do something, the more it is in habit and not a matter of complication.

This focus ritual is a similar mechanism for a “work mode” switch. Because when you associate these kinds of activities with this focus, you condition yourself for entry to that head space with a bit of willingness the more you do.

5. How to Visualize Success

The greater one can visualize themselves working efficiently and meeting goals, the more such a person would believe that such an individual is capable of effective focused work. From that point of view, a mental image can assist someone to remain on task.

1. Take a minute and close your eyes and see yourself working on your task with complete focus. Visualize yourself moving along very nicely, handling distractions calmly, and finishing with a sense of accomplishment.
2. Make the image as vivid as possible, see the details of your work environment, feel the sense of concentration, and hear the quiet of your focused space.
3. Do it when you are getting ready for work. It tends to make your brain paint a picture of what winning feels like, which in return is much easier to stick to on that particular course.

Visualization is kind of real in the brain so the more details added to it the more plausible it becomes in your mind that it can.

6. Use Positive Self-Talk to Stay on Track

Negative self-talk can kill your focus. When we are speaking to ourselves saying, “I will never get this done” or “I am too easily distracted,” then we set ourselves up for defeat. NLP would encourage the use of positive self-talk to replace unhelpful thoughts with empowering thoughts to keep us motivated and focused on our tasks.

How to use Positive Self-Talk:

1. Instead of saying “I’ll never finish this,” try “One step at a time. I can do this.”
2. Instead of saying “I always get distracted,” say “I am able to focus and get better each day.” 
3. Speak to yourself as if you were speaking to your friend when he or she is being discouraged. Be nice, supportive, and realistic.

This change in self-talk may sound simple, but it has deep effects on your mindset. When you are kinder to yourself, you stand a better chance of holding onto the positivity and focused mindset even when the job gets tough.

Focus is a Skill to Be Built

After all, it is not a matter of some magical night, but an ongoing process, by the practice of these NLP techniques. Anchoring attention, tasking, ritual, visualization, and self-talk are small changes that may lead a person to focus more effectively.

The next time you catch yourself daydreaming, try one or two of these techniques to snap your brain back into place. Over time, they’ll become second nature and power you through even the most hectic days. And hey, it’s okay to have off moments, focus, like any skill, takes practice. So, keep at it, and before you know it, those cat videos will be just a memory in the rearview mirror of productivity.