Clap your hands. Have you ever noticed how American football teams huddle before each play? What is the last thing that the players do before breaking the huddle? They slap their hands together in unison. They clap. They are practicing the rhythm of focus. In the huddle, each player receives the assignment for the next play. Clap, their mind is on their assignments.
Turn off your computer monitor. If you are on an important phone call and you are not using your computer to record information for that call or to research information to answer a question, just turn off your computer monitor.
Make notes with pen and paper. It is impossible for me to write down what you are saying and at the same time think about something else. When I go to an important meeting, I use a pen-and-ink list to ask questions and take notes. The other person in the meeting can see what I am writing and participate in my note taking. After the meeting, when I record my handwritten notes on my computer, I review and memorize the important points of what I just learned and take action on the things I need to do.
Look, listen, and ask yourself a question? How many times have we all heard a person’s name and not be able to recite it immediately afterward or looked at a clock and have no idea of the time of day? When I meet someone, I can look at the person’s eyes and ask myself, “What color are the eyes?” Then I say the name of the person in my mind and state the color of that person’s eyes. “Sue has hazel eyes.”
Eat, but eat light. If I am suffering from a drop in blood sugar or if I am in a food coma from a heavy meal, my mind travels to far-away places. If I eat a few carrot sticks or an apple or a few bites of almost anything a half hour before a meeting, my mind comes back to the present moment for that meeting.