The power of Focus

Indeed the old adage slow and steady wins the race is useful in life. It is true that if you learn to remain focused on the task in front of you, and tackle it slow and steady you will achieve more accurate results in lesser time in the long run.
So my take is that go about your work in a slow and steady way. Focus on the task at hand. Pause for some time during the work and review the situation. 
A long distance runner does not sprint to his destination. In fact he goes slow and rhythmic towards his goal. By doing so he covers more distance and is less exhausted.
The other aspect I would like to touch is distraction. Like in the proverbial story of the hare and the tortoise, the hare was fast but he got distracted by the carrots and cabbages in the farms along the way. This distraction slowed him down and he ultimately lost the race. On the other hand the tortoise was fully on its task and moved faster in the long run to win the race. 
In today’s time we consider multi tasking to be a virtue. But to achieve anything important in life it is a stumbling block.
Consider the amount of time you spend on face book, tweeter, WhatsApp and such social media. No doubt they are fantastic tools to staying connected. But the same tools become our enemies when they interfere in our productive time. Consider remaining away from them during the time you are focused and working on a project. It does not really matter if you read the social message immediately or at a later time. But today we have become obsessed with our electronic toys. We feel that we have to constantly look out for messages from our friends and feel an urgency to respond. If you study the messages you will find that most of them do not warrant an immediate response. You will also observe that most of the messages or mails are trivia. They are not important for you and your development yet you allocate the prime time of your day for such trivial small talk. My suggestion is that you need not get rid of social media. Only use it in your less important time. Do not allow it to take away the prime time which is so important for your development and success.
If you want to win, remember slow and focused wins the race.

Ar. Aniruddha Kolhatkar

16 June, 2014

Word meanings:

Adage: a proverb or short statement expressing a general truth.

Trivia: details, considerations, or pieces of information of little importance or value