Focus

Focus

Do you ever have a problem zooming in a specific thought? Ever you have watch your child lose concentration during homework? This is focus. Then, what is focus? Why is it so important matter in everyone’s life? Synonym for focus is concentration or attention. Why are there so many people suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder(ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD.) What is the solution for this problem and how to capture the student’s attention? Since my profession is teaching, it is practical issues for every day. I must understand clearly and have to have practical methods to be helping all my students.

In this page, my intention is making a foundation page to discuss all aspects of the concept of focus(or concentration, attention.)

The starting point is following questions:

What is focus?

Why do we need this faculty? – What is the purpose of it?

How to gain focus?

How to measure it? – Without knowing how to measure it, we can’t control it.

What is focus?:

Dictionary.com will answer as “a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity”

What about concentrate?

“to bring or draw to a common center or point of union; converge; direct toward one point; focus”

The word concentrate comprised of 3 parts;

con => means together
+ center => means middle of activity or interest
+ -ate => it is suffix that means causing.
What about attention?

“the act of faculty of attention, especially by direction the mind to an object.”

Another word of “attend” is being present or participate. What is opposite word of “attend”? It is absent which means none exist. One can physically be present but mentally gone to daydream.

Okay, what it means altogether?

In summary, bring all elements in the middle to connecting together to form an understanding or assign the meaning. With this faculty, we can think, learn, get understanding, to perform, and gain knowledge covering every part of human life. Therefore it is the most important life skill that everyone must master it, without it, no one can able to become a mature human being.

A score ago, I look up at American Heritage Dictionary for concentrate, at the time it says “ability to focus one’s mind”. Soon enough, I realize that definition is only a half-truth. Because concentration consumes a lot of our mental and physical energy. We all know how tiring it is after a full day with loaded work.

It requires muscle strength, acquired skills, and willpower. Therefore it has to be defined as “ability to focus one’s mind and body together(whole being)”.

If any child suffering from ADD/ADHD, they must develop physical strength first to gain focus because without appropriate muscle strength it is not possible to focus nor able to perform the task. Again, this means a child didn’t have enough time to develop their body. Growing up is the process of gaining physical and mental strength. Most simple sign of ADD/ADHD is they can’t stand or sit still which backed up by muscle strength and will. That is why in Orient, meditation is most effective way to gain an ability to focus.