Image by Danlirose Photography
Attentive Concentration Disorder is a term that I coined particularly in relation to myself. It’s meaning? “An inability to concentrate on one task at a time but tends to attribute attention to several activities at once.” I understand that there is a medically established condition call ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) but there is a major difference between ACD and ADD/ADHD. Firstly, that ACD is not medically induced – it is down to the choice of the individual not to focus on one activity at a time because they believe that they can accomplish many tasks at once but with very little concentration.
Arguably, this phenomena can be classed as ‘multi-tasking’ but I still believe there is a difference. You see, I fail to be able to engage in an activity without having 100 tabs open, music playing in the background as well as watching a TV show and checking my phone for messages – all at the same time!! Is that crazy or what? I know many people do this but as someone that believes that they have little time on their hands to get all the activities that I want to accomplish, I need a little discipline.
As the age of technology develops faster than ever, there are 1000 apps for every aspect of your life: fitness, food and drink, navigation, social networking, relationship, fun and entertainment – the list goes on and on. It is little wonder why ACD is on the increase. There is just too much to do and so little time.
So, I have figured out a way to alleviate this lingering anxiety that I have inevitably developed from being a technological addict. Here is my list:
1. Wake up in the morning and choose 3 major activities that I want to complete – the rule is that I’m not allowed to engage in any other activity at the same time. For example: ‘blogging with no tabs open and no phones’, ‘exercising without playing the television in the background.’, ‘language lesson without being distracted by phone.’
2. Keep a diary of how far you have come – like a muscle, the more you work on something the more you grow and develop. Keeping a record of the tasks that you dedicate your focus to will inescapably lead to more capacity and tolerance to high focus activities.
3. Ween yourself slowly of the need to check social networking sites every 5 minutes – This is a ‘biggie’ for me. I check twitter every half an hour, facebook every hour, whatsapp every few minutes, instagram every hour. I really need to limit myself to checking activity to a minimum as most of the time, the interaction is majorly unproductive in the bigger scheme of things.
At the end of it all, being able to focus on one activity at a time is the best thing that one can do as it displays discipline and the building blocks to mastery.
Have a blessed day!
Linda L
xxx
roses are my favourite flowers 