We’ve all experienced this: trying to focus on a work task, school essay, or work meeting – but you simply cannotfocus on what you’re doing.
“Why can’t I just focus on this? What am I doing wrong?” you might wonder.
Often emotions, and particularly anxiety or stress, are the main culprits (Pacheco-Unguetti, Acosta, Callejas, & Lupiáñez, 2010). We evolved to be able to shift attention in response to external and internal factors – for example, by internally narrowing your focus on a conversation, or an external occurrence, like a loud noise, capturing your attention – to navigate the world. This usually works to our advantage by focusing on important and relevant things. However, this can also hinder our objective if our attention is hijacked by something seemingly irrelevant or unknown. For instance, you may have a tight deadline for a high stakes work report that is inducing anxiety, and despite needing to finish it, the stress around it can prevent you from engaging as much as you want. And it may be happening unconsciously.
So, what can be done about this?
Awareness: The first step is to notice a potential a problem and identify it. If you can rule out factors like fatigue, then stress may be the issue. Reflect on potential sources of stress, whether it’s the task, other things happening in your life at the same time, or some context for the task (e.g., being previously criticized for the work task).
Self-soothe: Rather than brute-forcing yourself to complete the task, try stepping away for a few minutes to self-soothe. This can include deep breathing, meditation, a short enjoyable activity, etc. Try to avoid simple distractions, like social media, because while they provide momentary relief, they don’t actively reduce distress.
Neuropsychological evaluation: If you continue to find yourself struggling to focus your attention, you may consider a neuropsychological assessment to disentangle potential neurodevelopmental conditions–such as ADHD–and emotional factors that could impact your attention and productivity (Mueller, Hong, Shepard, & Moore, 2017). CFIR provides both neuropsychological and psychological assessments, either in-person or virtually, as well as follow-up psychotherapeutic support.
References
Pacheco-Unguetti, A. P., Acosta, A., Callejas, A., & Lupiáñez, J. (2010). Attention and Anxiety: Different Attentional Functioning Under State and Trait Anxiety. Psychological Science, 21(2), 298-304.
Mueller, A., Hong, D.A., Shepard, S., & Moore, T. (2017). Linking ADHD to the Neural Circuitry of Attention. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 21(6), 474-488.
Dr. Peter Egeto, R.P., C.Psych is a psychologist and neuropsychologist at the Centre for Interpersonal Relationships. He provides psychological treatment, as well as psychological and neuropsychological assessments for adult clients with a range of issues, including mood, anxiety, trauma, interpersonal relationships, personality, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, acquired brain injury, and neurological conditions. In treatment, he practices primarily with an integrative therapeutic approach and draws on multiple strategies, including cognitive-behavioural, emotion-focused, interpersonal, and psychodynamic therapies.
