CONCENTRATING TO LEARN VS. CONCENTRATING TO MANAGE

Anyone can improve his or her power of concentration. Those with college degrees have obviously had opportunities to increase this power by mastering study habits and techniques. This practice gives them a slight advantage. But a big difference distinguishes concentrating to learn from concentrating to solve real work problems. For example, supervisors have so many immediate tasks to perform that when they concentrate on a major problem they must walk away, quickly concentrate, and then return to the remaining tasks. They do not have the luxury of sitting in a library where the environment is conducive to concentration.

People who have trained their minds to do analytical thinking—especially when numbers and formulas are involved—seem to have the edge when deep concentration is required. These same people are often good at goal setting and planning because they like to figure things out. This ability does not mean, however, that those with a different background cannot learn to concentrate at a level sufficiently high to be effective. All it takes is practice and a few simple rules.

When Martin accepted the position of manager with a chain restaurant, he didn't fully realize how much planning would be involved. A high school dropout, Martin never focused his mind on anything for more than a few moments. How did he survive? His superior told him to always isolate himself for thirty minutes each work day and do nothing but develop a written priority list of duties to perform that day. Slowly, through mental discipline, Martin learned to plan ahead. Along the way, he also learned to concentrate in other areas.