Coach Tip Tuesday: Cultivate the Skill of Focus

Posted On:
Tuesday, February 2, 2021
Updated On:
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
Stream On:
Apple PodcastsSpotifyBuzzsproutiHeart RadioiHeart RadioPocketCasts
A hand holds a camera lens facing down a street.  The scene visible through the camera lens is in focus, and the surrounding scene around the hand and lens is out of focus.

February is here, and so is Coach Tip Tuesday!

In this ever-distracted world of ours, this week my tip is for you to cultivate the skill of focus.  I’m going to talk about how this skill specifically helps you as athletes, but it’s honestly also a skill that serves us well in our everyday lives as well.  (This crossover theme is one you are all familiar with by now if you’ve read anything I’ve written; so many of the lessons we learn in sport translate over to our “normal” lives. :) )

For us humans, the median length of time during which thought content remains on target is approximately five seconds.  On average, people engage in about 4,000 distinct thoughts over the course of a 16-hour waking day.  

Even if you’re like me and The Maths are not your strong suit, understanding those facts can show you that maintaining concentration over a period of time is not an easy task.  Add in all of the distractions that are present in our everyday lives (phones, computers, messaging services, televisions, crying kids, to-do lists, a persistent boss, a pot boiling on the stove...I could go on and on :) ) and you have a recipe for Unfocused Soup.

While soup is ordinarily delicious, Unfocused Soup is not the best soup.  So, it’s important to find a new recipe for Focused Soup.  However, this skill of focus is not one that comes naturally for most of us.

As athletes, it takes very real, intentional work to focus on our task at hand, whether it’s a workout or a race.  (And that’s especially true if the workout or race is a challenging one!!)  We have to do our best to put our other, non-workout thoughts on a “shelf” and let them rest there while we are executing a workout-related or recovery-related task.  

However, it’s important to note that we are not ignoring or suppressing our other thoughts by doing it; rather, we are organizing our thoughts and acknowledging the truth that we cannot multitask or do all the things at once.  So, we are optimizing our ability to accomplish the things that are important to us by executing them one at a time.  In other words: we are focusing on one thing at a time.

Why is the skill of focus such an important one to cultivate as athletes? The majority of us are not professional athletes. So, this means that we are balancing our training time with work time, family time, friends time, household management, etc. And while there certainly are situations where there will be spillover from each of these different silos of our lives, we will truly be the best versions of ourselves overall if we are focusing on the arena that we are currently in.

So, if we are playing with our kids, it’s important that we be fully present (read: focused) on our kids for the duration that we are with them.  If we are at work, being able to immerse ourselves in our work will make us more efficient with the time that we do have to spend at work.  If we’re doing a workout, we will get the most out of the work (physically AND mentally) if we work on quieting our minds enough to focus on the specifics of the execution of that workout.

Distractions make us less productive, less efficient, and they don’t allow us to fully enjoy or get the full benefits out of what we are doing.  As athletes, the workouts (and supportive activities, such as recovery, nutrition, and sleep) that we are doing are usually being completed as part of a larger training plan to help us achieve the goals that we have set for ourselves.  Cultivating the skill of focus in workouts not only helps us to achieve the goals for that day, but our overall BIG DREAM goals that we’ve set.

So HOW do we cultivate the skill of focus?

Setting ourselves up for success is, in my experience, at least half the battle.  This means that we set out to set up a reduced-distraction environment.  “Focus Mode” and “Do Not Disturb Mode” are excellent tools for our electronic devices.  When it comes to electronic devices, removing the device from the environment entirely is honestly the best way to cultivate focus, but for many of us, that is challenging to do (for some people, it might feel impossible).  In situations where removing electronics is not an option, the aforementioned modes are great keys to success.  Maybe this feels harsh to read, but we don’t need to know who posted what on Facebook or what the latest headline is when we’re in the middle of a workout.  All of that information will still be there, ready for us to consume when we have accomplished the task we are currently immersed in.

In addition to cultivating a reduced-distraction environment, organization and pre-planning are useful when it comes to workouts.  Thinking through elements like the location of the workout, the gear that will be needed, the hydration/nutrition that will be used, and reading through the workout in advance (and by advance, I mean more than five minutes before you’re planning to start the workout :) ) can all help us be able to be able to focus on the workout itself once we are doing it.

This takes work.  But like almost everything else in life, the hard work is worth the rewards on the other side.  Cultivating the skill of focus in workouts can help us achieve our sport-specific goals in the timelines that we’ve set for ourselves, feel more energized by the fitness activity we are doing, and then to bring this skill over into other areas of our lives by allowing us to rest easy about our workouts and then focus on these other life arenas once the time for the workout has passed.  

Be intentional about cultivating the skill of focus in both your workout lives and personal lives, and see if it doesn’t help you feel better overall. :)

Previous post

There is no previous post
Back to all posts

Next post

There is no next post
Back to all posts

Why Winter & Off-Season Training is Vital for Endurance Athletes - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

What to Modify in Training When Things Change or Don’t Unfold as Expected - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Why Multitasking is a Myth…Especially When it Comes to Workouts - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Why Endurance Athletes Should Strength Train Year-Round - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Rescue Me 5K

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Cold Turkey Run

Required "current" page

What Does Nothing New on Race Day Actually Mean? - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Nevada Day Classic

Required "current" page

Confidence Comes From Surviving Doing The Scary Thing - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: World Triathlon Age-Group Championships Málaga, Brooktondale Easy as Pie 5K, & Topsfield Fall Foliage Classic Road Race 

Required "current" page

Is Exercise as Good as Medicine? - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Army Ten-Miler & XTERRA WETSUITS Mission Bay Triathlon

Required "current" page

Why Switching Up Goals Can be a Positive Thing - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

What to Ask Instead of “Can I Accomplish This Goal?” - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Waterman’s Triathlon & The Bear Chase

Required "current" page

How Do Long Runs & Long Rides Work & Benefit Endurance Athletes? - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

How Masters Endurance Athletes Show Us How We Can All Thrive in Endurance Sports and in Life - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: IRONMAN 70.3 Cozumel & IRONMAN 70.3 Washington Tri-Cities

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: USA Triathlon Olympic Distance National Championship

Required "current" page

Being Hard on Yourself?  Try This Instead. - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Littlefoot Triathlon & Erie Marathon

Required "current" page

How Doing Something New Can Help You Achieve Your Endurance Sports Goals - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Why It’s Important to Look for Lessons Even When Race Day Goes Well - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Why Disappointment on Race Day Leads to Greater Success - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

How Much Does it Cost to Train for an IRONMAN 70.3? - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Coeur Outdoor Divas Sprint Triathlon & Peasantman Steel Distance Triathlon

Required "current" page

How Much Does it Cost to Train for an IRONMAN? - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Max Performance Sharon Triathlon

Required "current" page

How Much Does it Cost to Train for a Half Marathon? - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: 174th Attack Wing Runway 5K

Required "current" page

Athelte Race Recap: IRONMAN 70.3 Maine & Donner Lake Triathlon

Required "current" page

How Much Does it Cost to Train for a Marathon? - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Tri Boulder, IRONMAN Lake Placid, & IRONMAN 70.3 Ohio

Required "current" page

Are You on Track to Reach Your Goals?  The Value of a Mid-Season Athletic Performance Review

Required "current" page

Why You Shouldn't Wear a Wetsuit in Triathlons and Open Water Swimming

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: The Best Way to Avoid Injury

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Freedom 4th Eagle Firecracker Run

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: A Longer Goal Isn't a Better Goal

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Relay for Life of Southeastern Connecticut, Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon, & Cohasset Triathlon

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: Why Race Execution Matters

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: The Best Thing for Beginner Endurance Athletes to Do

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: IRONMAN 70.3 Western Massachusetts & IRONMAN 70.3 Eagleman

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: How to Train and Perform Well in the Heat

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Bass Lake Yosemite Triathlon, Silver Serpent Multisport Festival, & Rock Hall Triathlons

Required "current" page

The Three Best Things Endurance Athletes Can Do for Training and Performance - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: J.P. Morgan Corporate Challenge

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: Using All of Your Senses in Workouts

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: Are Morning or Evening Workouts Better?‍

Required "current" page

How to Train for a Sprint Triathlon

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: You Don’t Always Need to Do The Hardest or The Most

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Greenland Trail Race & Upstate Orthopedics Mountain Goat Run‍

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: How to Handle The Transition From Indoor to Outdoor Training

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: XTERRA New Jersey

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: What if You Fly?

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Carson Canyons Super-K Trail Runs & Delaware Half Marathon

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: The Case for Walking

Required "current" page

How to Handle Training When You Get Sick

Required "current" page

The Dangers of Social Media for Endurance Athletes

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Coastal Delaware Running Festival 9K & Zoo Run Run

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: Seek Out Awe & Enchantment

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Smithfield Sprint Triathlon & Run as One 4M

Required "current" page

Negative Splits are Positive Things - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: Multisport Transitions Explained

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Alpha Win Ocala

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: Don't Pull Up on Your Bicycle Pedals

Required "current" page

Pace & Effort are NOT the Same Thing - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: Demystifying Foam Rolling

Required "current" page

What Stretching Actually Is - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Cycling Cadence Matters

Required "current" page

How to Properly Conduct a Functional Threshold Power (FTP) Test - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Lake Effect Quarter Marathon

Required "current" page

Face the Discomfort Dragon - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Love Can Be Cold

Required "current" page

Live to Climb Another Day - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: Is AI Coaching & Sports Training Software Actually Intelligent?

Required "current" page

Strength Training as a Backbone - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Town of Celebration Half Marathon

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Resolute Runner 5K

Required "current" page

My Top 10 Nonfiction Books of 2023

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: How Do You Answer “What’s Next?”

Required "current" page

My Top 8 Fiction Books of 2023

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: The Next Big Thing

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: What is Preventing You from Reaching Your Goals?

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: What Does It Mean to Set a Goal?

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: It’s A Wonderful Run & Run with Rudolph

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: 2023 Thanksgiving Day Races

Required "current" page

You Must Unlearn What You Have Learned - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: EOD Warrior Dash

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: Exercise is Not a Punishment for What You Ate

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: Include Buffers in Your Training

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Lights on the Lake 5K

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: Pause Before Assessing

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Cold Turkey Run & The Burn Run

Required "current" page

Set Authentic Goals - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: What Can Be Measured Isn’t What is Most Important

Required "current" page

Coach Tip Tuesday: Don’t Complain About the Wind.  Embrace It.

Required "current" page

Avoid Doubling Up to Make Up

Required "current" page

What to Consider When Purchasing a New Bicycle - Coach Tip Tuesday

Required "current" page

Athlete Race Recap: Foxy’s Fall Century, Spooktacular Stroll 5K, & Eastwood 5-Mile Run

Required "current" page

About

Coach Laura Henry

Laura Henry is a Syracuse, NY-based coach who is a USA Triathlon Level II Long Course and Level II Paratriathlon Certified Coach, USA Cycling Level 2 Certified Coach, VFS Certified Bike Fitter, and has successfully completed NASM's Certified Personal Trainer course. Coach Laura is passionate about helping athletes of all ability levels reach their goals and has coached many athletes to success.

She can be reached at laura@fullcircleendurance.com.

Read Biography

Check out our other
recent Blog Posts

Start Your

Coaching Today

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Start Your

Coaching Today

Have a question or ready to get your TRAINING started?

Fill out our Contact Form to the right and we will get back to you shortly!

Check - Elements Webflow Library - BRIX Templates

Thank you

Thanks for reaching out. We will get back to you soon.
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.