Focused Thinking

Of all the ways of thinking, focused thinking is one of the most difficult forms of thinking in modern times. Modern technology has made everyone a “master” of multi-tasking, but terrible at focusing.

Smart phones have made things exponentially worse. You have instant access to limitless information and relational connectivity in your pocket. And every time a new piece of information is available, a notification appears on your screen.

Over the last three years of being a pastor I think I’ve become increasingly worse at focused thinking. Naturally when you’re a pastor, you have to juggle many roles and responsibilities. I used to be able to just sit down and focus on one huge project and push through until it was done.

When I started at my church, the student ministry didn’t have a webpage. At the time I believed we NEEDED a webpage. So without really knowing HTML, I sat down and forced through until I had a webpage I liked. It had a decent look, full content, and it was live.

The idea of sitting and just forcing through until a project is finished seems like a foreign concept now. Everything needs a plan and scheduled time. I sit and expect emails, which I feel I have to respond to immediately.

ACTION STEPS:

• · Close my email when I’m not checking it
• Turn off the internet when working on a project which will take time
• · Schedule blocks of time to focus on individual projects