How I Rewired My Brain to Focus

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Mindset Mentor™ – "How I Rewired My Brain to Focus"

Episode Details:

• Title: How I Rewired My Brain to Focus
• Host: Rob Dial
• Release Date: May 15, 2025

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Introduction to Focus

In this compelling episode of The Mindset Mentor™, host Rob Dial delves deep into the pivotal role that focus plays in personal and professional growth. Emphasizing that every individual is allotted the same 24 hours each day, Rob challenges the common notion of "not having enough time" by highlighting focus as one of the top three essential elements for life transformation. He states, "Focus is one of the top three things that you need in your life in order to change it." (02:02).

Defining Focus

Rob begins by unpacking the concept of focus, questioning whether it merely involves paying attention or something more profound. He proposes a more nuanced definition: "Focus is just the act of saying yes to one thing while saying no to basically everything else." (03:10). This perspective shifts focus from passive attention to an active choice of prioritization, where dedicating full cognitive resources to a single task enhances productivity and outcomes.

The Power and Challenges of Focus

Rob acknowledges common misconceptions about focus, particularly among those with ADHD. Contrary to popular belief, he suggests that individuals with ADHD can hyperfocus on tasks they are passionate about, effectively tuning out distractions. "People that have ADHD are like, oh, I can't focus because I have ADHD. It might be that you can focus really well; you're just not finding things that you love to actually try to focus on." (07:28).

He also highlights a significant barrier to focus: decision-making. Many struggle not with focus itself but with making and committing to decisions, leading to fragmented attention and diminished productivity. "Many people are just terrible decision makers. They either can't make a decision, or when they do make a decision, they start questioning their decision." (07:04).

The Myth of Multitasking

Addressing the prevalent myth of multitasking, Rob underscores that the human brain cannot effectively handle multiple high-priority tasks simultaneously. He references a study from the International Journal of Informative Management (2003), revealing that even brief distractions can derail focus significantly. "It can take your brain up to 15 minutes to get back to that flow." (11:06). This reinforces the importance of single-tasking, especially for tasks requiring deep concentration.

Strategies to Enhance Focus

Rob shares seven actionable tips to cultivate and strengthen focus:

1. Remove Distractions (16:32):

   • Clear your environment of potential interruptions.
   • Techniques include putting your phone in another room or turning off notifications.

2. Prioritize Your To-Do List (17:10):

   • Identify and rank the top three most important and urgent tasks each morning.
   • Focus on completing these high-priority items first.

3. Break Large Tasks into Smaller Steps (18:37):

   • Divide overwhelming projects into manageable segments.
   • This approach reduces procrastination and fosters a sense of accomplishment.

4. Focus on Progress, Not Perfection (20:13):

   • Celebrate incremental advancements rather than fixating on the end goal.
   • Regularly acknowledge small victories to maintain motivation.

5. Prioritize Sleep (17:50):

   • Ensure adequate rest to optimize brain function and concentration.
   • Rob personally ensures at least seven and a half hours of sleep nightly.

6. Stay Hydrated (22:14):

   • Maintain proper hydration to support cognitive performance.
   • Rob recommends drinking up to a gallon of water daily.

7. Take Regular Breaks (23:11):

   • Implement techniques like the Pomodoro Technique (25 minutes work, 5 minutes break).
   • Use breaks to rest without engaging in additional tasks or distractions.

Rob emphasizes that focus is akin to a muscle that can be trained and strengthened over time. "If you're not good at focusing right now, you just got weak muscles. You just got to get better at it." (25:17). By consistently applying these strategies, individuals can enhance their ability to concentrate, thereby increasing productivity and achieving their desired outcomes.

Practical Applications and Personal Insights

Rob shares personal anecdotes to illustrate the effectiveness of his focus strategies. For instance, while writing his book, he created an environment devoid of distractions by turning off Wi-Fi and placing his phone in another room. "There was nothing else. And so that's how I wrote my book." (11:42). These deliberate choices forced him to concentrate solely on his writing, leading to significant progress.

He also recounts managing mental fatigue through intentional breaks, comparing mental exertion to physical exercise. "It's like a really heavy lifting session at the gym. I need to give myself some a break." (23:35).

Conclusion and Encouragement

Rob concludes the episode by reiterating the transformative power of focus. He encourages listeners to adopt the seven strategies to build their focus muscle, emphasizing that improved focus leads to enhanced productivity across all areas of life. "The better that you focus, the more that you will get done and the more productivity that will happen for every single hour of work that you put into your life." (25:17). He urges listeners to share the episode, tag him on Instagram, and continue their journey toward becoming the best version of themselves.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• "Focus is one of the top three things that you need in your life in order to change it." – Rob Dial (02:02)
• "Focus is just the act of saying yes to one thing while saying no to basically everything else." – Rob Dial (03:10)
• "People with ADHD can actually tune out the entire world when they focus on something they love." – Rob Dial (07:28)
• "When you think you're multitasking, you're actually just rapidly switching from one task to another." – Rob Dial (09:00)
• "It can take your brain up to 15 minutes to get back to that flow." – Rob Dial (11:06)
• "Focus is like a muscle that can be built." – Rob Dial (25:17)

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Additional Resources Mentioned:

• Pomodoro Technique: A time management method involving 25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5-minute break.
• Notable Influences: Tony Robbins, Ram Dass, Dr. Joe Dispenza, Jay Shetty, Andrew Huberman.

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Follow Rob Dial:

• Instagram: @RobDialJr

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By implementing Rob Dial's strategies, listeners are equipped with practical tools to enhance their focus, overcome distractions, and ultimately master their mindset to create the life they envision.

Transcript

[Rob Dial]

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Welcome to today's episode of the Mindset Mentor Podcast.

I'm your host, Rob Dial.

If you have not yet done so, hit that subscribe button so that you never miss another podcast. Today we're going to be talking about harnessing the power of focus. We're going to talk about how to unlock productivity so you can get better at productivity. And then we're going to talk about how to ignore the distractions around you. And when you look at focus, we really only have 24 hours every single day, you know that. And for people to say, I don't have enough time, I don't have enough time, well then this episode's even more important for you. And because focus is one of the top three things that you need in your life in order to change it. Because you have to take action in order to create the life you want. There is no way around it. None. So you have to do something for your life to change. If you don't change or you don't put action towards changing your life, your life will never change. You can take yesterday and you can put it on to tomorrow, it'll be exactly the same. You can fast forward five years from today, your life is going to be exactly the same. And the better you become at focus, the more output that you're going to get for every single hour that you put in to whatever it is that you're working on. Whether that be your business, whether that be your self development, your life, your bank account, your health, whatever it might be. The more that you can get focused and bring 100% or as close to 100% of your brain power to something, the better that you're going to get of every hour that you put into something. But when we look at focus, what exactly is focus? Is it just the act of paying attention? Is it an act of making sure that you know other things don't come up to your mind and being able to just zone in? Maybe it is. But maybe a better description would be that focus is just the act of saying yes to one thing while saying no to basically everything else. It's saying yes to sitting down and writing your book and nothing else for an allotted amount of time, whatever that might be. It could be 30 minutes, it could be an hour. It could be saying yes to I'm gonna focus on building my business for this next hour and nothing else. I'm gonna focus on cultivating mindset for the next hour. That could be yoga, that could be meditating, that could be journaling and bringing.

As much of your brain power as.

You possibly can to something. So it's saying yes to one thing while saying no to basically everything else. It's about making the choice to go for that one thing and even if it's just a few minutes and saying no to every other option. You know, Tim Ferriss once said, what you don't do determines what you can do. What you don't do and say no to determines what you can do in your life. As you start getting older and starts working on things and building a business or building a family, you realize that actually what becomes more important than saying yes to something is what you're going to say no to. And the more it influential that you become, the more that you, you know, start having kids and start having family and start having business or work or whatever it might be, you've got to become really, really good at saying no to stuff. Because when you're saying yes to something, it means that you are actually saying no to something else. Now, mind you, it doesn't mean that you have to say no to something forever. Like, it doesn't mean you have to never watch Netflix ever again. But you can say no to Netflix or no to Instagram or TikTok in order to sit down and study for the exam that you have coming up. And in fact, if you really want to do best that you possibly can on the exam that you have coming up, you have to say no to Netflix. You have to say no to Instagram. Because most people, I'm this way too, whenever I preach these things, these are all things that I practice in my own life because I am nowhere near perfect. But most people, we sit down and we start doing something, whether that's studying, whether that's writing a book, whether whatever it might be. And seven minutes in, you think, huh, man, you know what I wonder? I wonder how many people liked my last photo. Or three minutes in, you're like, oh, man, you know what? I forgot to text Nadine back. You started thinking about all of the other things besides the thing that you're doing. And at that point in time is when you have to say no. So focus is simply the act of saying no to everything for the amount of time that you need to either complete that thing that you're sitting down to do, or until the time that you've committed. If it's 45 minutes, I said I was going to give myself 45 minutes to work on this thing. It's saying no to everything else for those 45 minutes and saying yes to just that one thing. It really is that simple. It's one task until it's done or until your timer goes off. And this might be your number one key to productivity. And guess what? Most people in this world are absolutely terrible at it.

So if you can master this thing.

You can get so much further ahead of everyone else. Because when you look around, I don't know about you, but when I Look around and see other people. I see a lot of very, very distracted people. People who can't get off of their phones, can't stop texting, can't get away from email, can't get away from notifications, can't get away from social media. And so if you really want to be further along than the average person, a year, two years, five years down the road, focusing is going to be really, really important. And the first thing that it comes down to, oddly enough, the obstacle that most people encounter isn't actually focusing itself.

It's actually the act of making decisions.

Many people are just terrible decision makers. They either can't make a decision, or when they do make a decision, they start questioning their decision and they go back on the decision, and then they question the hell out of their decision. And so your brain, you must know, can only focus on one thing, and one thing only your brain can focus. It can focus. So if you're like, I'm a distracted person. I have add, I have adhd.

Sure, maybe you do.

But it doesn't mean that your brain can't focus. In fact, if you do have adhd, there's actually been many studies that have found when somebody who has ADHD finds something that they love, something they actually want to do, they're able to tune out the entire world. And so people that have ADHD are like, oh, I can't focus because I have adhd. It might be that you can focus really well. You're just not finding things that you love to actually try to focus on. And so when people have adhd, when they focus on something that they love, the entire world can disappear. And that's pretty awesome when you can use it and realize that it's actually your superpower. Let me give you an example. Have you ever had a deadline that's fast approaching? And maybe you have a presentation that's coming up for work or something that you need for work, an email. It's got to go out. Maybe it's a proposal and you're getting stressed, but you know, the deadline's coming up. You're like, oh, my gosh, tomorrow I have to have this proposal done by. You're getting stressed because it's getting closer and closer. But have you ever, like, gotten to the point where your brain, you lock in? Like, it's locked in and you find a way to complete it, even though you might not have had a whole lot of time? Maybe it could be that you stressed out for a while and you didn't take action. Maybe you Procrastinated until you got to the point where it was like unavoidable and it had to be done. And guess what? You took action. You got it done, and you probably did really well. So it is possible, but really it comes down to how do we actually start to make it happen more often? How do we train ourselves to get.

Better at this thing?

Well, let's dive into a little bit deeper. The first thing I want to talk about, that I find a lot of people, that holds a lot of people back is the idea of multitasking. Now, when you look at multitasking, human beings are incredible. You possess the capability of performing multiple tasks at the exact same time. You know, you're listening to this podcast and you're probably doing something else. You're probably not just sitting there staring at a wall, listening to my voice. You're probably driving, you might be working out, you might be making breakfast. You're doing something while you're listening to this podcast. That's fine. That's not a big deal. That's fine for some things, like just listening to a podcast very passively. But for highly important, high priority things, never try to multitask. Your brain is not able to give 100% of attention to two things at one time. It is absolutely not impossible. Your brain can only bring a hundred percent of attention to one thing at a time. And so if you need to actually get something done, it's one of the worst things you could try to do is multitask. So try to do, oh, I'm gonna do this presentation, the proposal, but also I need a couple emails. I gotta get done at the same time. Because multitasking itself is actually not real. You can only single task. Your, your brain can only single task from one thing to another. And when you think you're multitasking, you're actually just rapidly switching from one task to another, one task to another, one task to another. And psychologists have actually found that when you switch between two tasks, you actually get something that's called a cognitive penalty each time you switch from one task to another. So when you go from, you know, writing your book to checking email, you're getting a penalty every single time that you do it. And this is really what it is. It's a performance disruption when you switch your attention from one thing to another thing. There's actually a study was done at the International Journal of Informative Management, and The study in 2003 discovered that on average, if you just decide that you are doing something right now and you Decide you want to go check your email, right? The average person at work checks their email every five minutes. And it takes no less than a minute to two minutes sometimes to get your brain back to doing what you were to before. And here's the crazy part, to go even deeper to it, if you're sitting down and you're writing your book and you're in the zone and you're just.

Cranking out and you're just, you're there.

It'S creativity is flowing, words are flowing, you're in flow like you're in flow of the universe, right? And you're just getting it done.

Then you're sitting there and you're right.

And you're typing on your computer and a little notification pops up from the right and says that you have an email. A little notification comes through. It can take your brain up to 15 minutes to get back to the level of focus that you were at before just viewing the notification. Now, I said viewing the notification, not even clicking and reading the email, but just seeing that little notification pop up.

For three seconds and disappear.

If you're in flow and the notification comes through, it can take up to 15 minutes to get back to that flow. And you probably know you've probably done this before. You're in the zone, you're getting it done, something comes through and you can't even get back into the flow that you were before. Like when I was, when I was writing my book, there were many times that I had to lock myself in my office. And I said, I have this amount of time or I have this thing that I have to complete. It's this chapter has to be done, whatever it is. And I sat at a desk with nothing on the desk except for my computer and an external monitor. And I turned off my WI fi, I took my phone, I turned my phone off, I put in another room. And the reason why I turned off my WI fi So therefore no notifications. I couldn't go and check another website. But what I did was I gave myself no other option. It was either I was going to write or I was going to stare at my screen. There was nothing else. And so that's how I wrote my book. And that's how I went through 16 different iterations of the book and changing it around. But I gave myself no other option.

So as you're getting focused and you're.

Trying to take action and you're trying to create the life that you want, can you figure out a way to give yourself no other option but to do that thing and we will be right back. The Mindset Mentor is brought to you by Progressive Insurance.

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And now back to the show. You know if you are going into the gym, a lot of people go into the gym. I've been into many gyms and half the time people are looking at their phone. So is there a way for you to go into the gym and not be distracted at all? Maybe you have a Apple watch, and you can download your songs off Spotify onto your Apple Watch. And then you can turn off the actual cellular service on your phone. You could put in your earbuds, and your earbuds are connected to your. Your watch. And the only thing you could do is work out. You can either work out or you can watch other people work out like a creep. Those are the only options that you really have, right? So can you give yourself no other options? That's what it comes down to. So let me give you seven really quick tips to help you focus and to try to build the. The muscle of focusing, because you can become better at focusing at all points in time. I always think of focus like a muscle. I wasn't really good at focusing about four years ago, and then I realized the amount of distractions that I had in my life and how much it was holding me back. And I slowly started pulling these things out of my life. I started making adjustments, I started developing routines. And through that, I'm gonna give you some of the tips that I have. Okay? So the first thing is the opposite of being focused is being distracted. So the first tip I'm gonna give you is to remove as many distractions as possible. Once again, clear an area if you need to put your phone in another room. Listen to me, please. This is like a simple, simple tip that will master your focus and help you get so much better. Put your phone in another room so that therefore you have no other option but to take action. What other distractions might exist?

Notifications.

Make sure there's no notifications that can come through. What are the things getting to the way of your focus? What are the distractions exist? Other people. Can you have headphones on? Can you make sure that when people know there's headphones on? I know somebody who works in a open office and they put their headphones on. And when they put their headphones on, they'll literally take a piece of paper that says, do not tell me. Do not distract me unless there's an emergency. And they will tape it to their back so that everyone who walks by, if they're about to say something to them, they go, oh, okay, no, I can't. I can't go talk to him. Right? So first thing is remove as many distractions as possible. The second thing is, if you're like me and you have a massive to do list every day, like, my to do list is like 27 things every single day.

What I want you to do is.

I want you to go through your.

To do list every single morning.

And I want you to circle the most important things. So number two is to prioritize your to do list. You have all of this stuff. How do you identify what is the most important? You're going to look at that list and you're going to ask yourself, what is the most important and urgent tasks on this list? What is the most important and urgent? So, like, you might have on your to do list that you need to take out the trash today. That's not important and urgent. You could do that later on tonight. You might have that. You need to do the laundry. That's not important. Energy, you might have it at 6 o' clock. You got to pick up your son from soccer, right? It's not six o' clock yet, so it's not urgent. So what you're gonna do is you're gonna find your three most important, highest.

Priority, most important and urgent tasks that.

You have on your to do list. You're gonna circle them, number one, number two, number three. And you're gonna rank them. And then what I want you to do is I want you to take. If you really want to get good at this, you take an index card and I want you to write number one. I want you to write number two. I want you to write number three. Take your to do list, the big huge one that has 747 things on it. Put it inside of your desk drawer and look at number one. Number two, number three. And take action number one. And so what it comes down to is to prioritize your to do list and then give yourself no other option but take action number one. If you had nothing else done today but number one, awesome. And that's what you want to do. Okay, so that's number two. Number three is to take large tasks and break them into smaller tasks. When you have a really large task that's going to require days of work, it can be really overwhelming because you're.

Not thinking about just the task.

You're thinking about all of the things that you have to do to get that done. And that can lead to massive amounts of procrastination. And so what you want to do is you want to break them down into smaller, more manageable tasks and work on them one at a time. It makes the heavy lifting a lot easier and it doesn't feel as daunting. And it also makes you feel more accomplished when you get a small task done. And so let's say once again that you got to do a. A proposal right and the proposal is done. Maybe it needs to be done in a week. Right? So there, there's not just the entire proposal, there's different aspects of the proposal. Might be the introduction, there might be the research, there might be the graphs you need to make for it. There might be the PowerPoint presentation you need to create. So what you would do is instead of saying create proposal, which is a lot of things over the next week, you have to do it would be create the intro to the proposal by 11am so finish it by 11am and then now you just have to work on that one thing. So you take your big tasks and you put them down, chunk em down into smaller tasks, more bite sized tasks, which number one makes you feel like it's not as daunting and number two, it gives you an opportunity to check things off your to do list and start to feel like you're more accomplished. Okay, we got the intro done next. After the intro I need to do some market research. Okay, Market research is number two. I'm going to give myself three hours. Okay. By two o' clock I need to get market research done for this and you start working on it. Okay, Next thing I need to do is I need to create the graphs. And you give yourself time to work on the graphs and then you check that off to do this. Okay, Next thing I need to do is I need to take all this and put it into a PowerPoint. Then after a PowerPoint I need to give it to Stacy and she needs to review it. And after she comes back I need to make adjustments to it and make the final.

And what you do is you take.

These really large daunting tasks and just make them much smaller. And it's, it's good now because the best part about it is it's like it goes from these really huge things, these little teeny tiny things, they make you feel like kind of like you're playing a video game and you get all the different checkpoints, right? So take your large tasks, make them smaller. Second thing, focus on the process and not the actual, actual event itself. And another really, really big thing is to focus on how much you're progressing on these tasks. So a lot of times I'll hear people like, oh my gosh. Well I had this huge thing I had to do today and I only got halfway done with it. Well, focus on the progress, not the entire thing itself. Often people see success as like one big single event that needs to be achieved and completed. No, you can actually see success as the progress that you're making towards something. And so a lot of times it's like we're driving and we're only looking out of. You know, if you're driving a car, you're not only looking out the entire drive of the windshield. You're also looking in your rearview mirror every once in a while. So every once in a while, look in your rear view mirror and celebrate yourself for the small things that you're getting done. That's getting you closer to that. Okay, that's number four. Number five, really simple one, prioritize your sleep. One of the things that really holds people back from focusing is that they don't get enough sleep. And then what they're trying to do, they get, you know, six hours of sleep when they really needed eight. And now they're trying to figure out why they can't focus. Well, your brain just isn't working as well as it could. It's just simple as that because you didn't get enough sleep. And so sleep is one thing that I prioritize every single night. If I go to bed later than I wanted to, I will move things that I had to do in the morning back, if possible, to allow myself to sleep longer. For me, I don't get less than seven and a half hours of sleep every single night. Last night, I'll be honest with you, I slept for eight hours and 45 minutes. I feel amazing today from doing it. And so can you give yourself enough time to actually get sleep? Because that will help you focus as well. Another thing that's really simple is to stay hydrated. We are more than, you know, around.

60 to 70% water.

And so the more hydrated that you are, your brain works off of water hydration and electrical currents going through. And so if you're like, my brain just isn't here today. No joke. It sounds stupid how easy it is.

Drink more water.

Majority of people in this world, like, I think the statistic I saw is around 80, 85% of people walk through the world dehydrated. So what I would recommend drink at least a gallon of water a day. Oh, my God.

That's a lot of water.

It is. I try to make sure I drink a gallon of water every single day. Every single day. Just the way that I work. And I feel like my brain works better when I'm hydrated. And there is actual scientific proof to show that your brain works better when you are fully hydrated, not dehydrated. Okay. And the last thing I want you to do is I want you to take breaks if you have something that you have to get done. I mean, go back and listen to the Pomodoro technique episodes. You should absolutely use the Pomodoro technique. I don't want to spend the next 15 minutes teaching you how to do it. It's 25 minutes on, five minutes off. Take breaks and on your actual breaks, don't do anything. I had to take a, an exam, a psychological exam that I was doing with a friend of mine who is a psychologist. And I did this exam and it was, I was, no joke, 760 questions and it took two and a half hours. My brain, it was only one o' clock, but yesterday my brain was just like fried. And so what I did was I went, you know what?

My brain is fried.

It's like a really heavy lifting session at the gym. I need to give myself some a break. And so I just went onto my couch, my dog popped up next to me, I got a glass of water and I just stared outside in my backyard for about 15, 20 minutes. And after those 15, 20 minutes, I went, okay, back to work. Because I had to plan these episodes for today. So I had to plan for another three hours and create all of these podcast episodes that I'm recording today. And so take breaks. Allow yourself to have time off when you take a break. Don't look at your phone, don't look at emails, just allow your brain to rest. Because a lot of times we're heavy lifting on our brain a lot and.

Then not giving it a break.

You would never go to the gym and just not take a rest or work out all day long every single day and not take a rest day. And so the seventh tip is to make sure that you take breaks. So let me go through those one more time just so you have them, because I went through them quickly because I didn't want to spend too, too much time on it. But number one is to remove your distractions. Number two is to prioritize your to do list. Number three is break large tasks into smaller tasks. Number four, focus on your progress. Number five, get enough sleep. Number six, stay hydrated. And number seven, take breaks. Realize that focus is a muscle that can be built. If you're not good at focusing right now, you just got weak muscles. You just got to get better at it. It's not something that it's going to be this way forever. You can improve at it. You can get better. And the better that you focus, the more that you will get done and the more productivity that will happen for every single hour of work that you put in to your life. So that's what I got for you for today's episode. If you love this episode, please share it on your Instagram stories and Tag me Robdial Jr R O B D I A L J R and I'm gonna leave you the same way leave you every single episode. Make it your mission to make someone else's day better. I appreciate you and I hope that you have an amazing day Parents of.

[Unknown]

Tweens, if you're familiar with far off drop offs.

[Rob Dial]

Dad, stop. Stop. Stop right here.

[Unknown]

Or get DMs about what's for dinner. You may be experiencing tween milestones for your son or daughter. These can start at age 9. HPV vaccination, a type of cancer prevention against certain HPV related cancer, can start then too.

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