Friday, February 17, 2012

Video game focus

In our new-age, ADD world, I'm going to need some help understanding something.  If we say we can't focus on anything as a society because we're mentally unable, why is it that when we plug into a video game we are 100% focused on the game?  Everything else goes away.  Our focus is committed to one thing and one thing only.  So, why is it that we can't achieve that same focus when it comes to writing a business letter, creating a personal budget or re-arranging our office?

I think it's because every tiny goal is laid out and presented to you in the video game, automatically.  Your next goal is constantly being fed to you as you complete the last one (think Super Mario Bros.) without you having to ask for it or figure it out.

What would happen if we arranged our days so that we were completely engaged in our current task and our next goal was automatically fed to us?  What if you made a list of every task you needed to do and you didn't "put the controller down" until you finished each task?

I'm realistic enough to know that this technique is NEVER going to work on a daily basis.  You'd spend more time planning than actually getting things done.  But, if you feel like you're falling behind, take an hour and meticulously schedule your tasks.  Write them down, get started and fight feverishly to ignore potential distractions until tasks are completed.

Now, who says you can't learn anything from playing video games?