Present Focus: 10 Evidence-Based Coaching Practices
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Present Focus, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
About 2 minutes
Try it here: list the distractions to come back to
During focused work, write down each distraction or idea as it pops up, then return to the task. You keep the idea without losing your place.
What pulled your attention while you were working?
Practices that may help
- Use more distal external focus for greater performance benefits
Focus further from the body (on the target, not the implement) for the largest attention benefit.
External Focus of Attention, Made Practical - Keep an attention capture list during hyperfocus
Write down every impulse, distraction, and off-topic idea that arises during a session rather than acting on or suppressing it.
Hyperfocus: Directing Intense Attention to What Matters Most - External Focus of Attention, Made Practical
External focus of attention — directing attention to the intended effect of a movement (where the ball goes, where force is applied) rather than to body mechanics — consistently outperforms internal focus for both skill learning and execution. Gabriele Wulf’s OPTIMAL theory proposes two mechanisms: external focus activates automatic motor control processes, and it enhances competence need satisfaction. Effect sizes in controlled experiments are moderate to large. - Hyperfocus: Directing Intense Attention to What Matters Most
Hyperfocus, as described by Chris Bailey, is a state of intense, voluntary attention on a single task — the opposite of distraction. It is not the same as the hyperfocus associated with ADHD. Bailey argues that deliberately entering and sustaining this state for the most important tasks is one of the highest-leverage productivity skills, though his framework is practitioner-level insight rather than peer-reviewed research. - Direct attention to the effect of the movement, not the movement itself
Attend to where the ball goes or where force lands — not to how your arm or leg moves.
External Focus of Attention, Made Practical - Expanding to panoramic awareness
Deliberately widen attention from its usual narrow focal point to include the full field of sensory experience simultaneously.
Open Monitoring Meditation, Made Practical - Design cues that summon focus mode
Build environmental triggers that signal “focus now” to your brain.
Mind Wandering and the Default Mode Network - Name one most-important task each morning
Each day, identify the single item from your Focus List that most needs to move forward today.
Warren Buffett’s Two-List Strategy - Capture distracting impulses to stay in focus without suppressing them
When an off-topic thought or impulse arises during focus, write it on a capture pad and return — don’t suppress or follow.
Attention Management, Made Practical - Keep your Focus List physically visible
Post your top 5 somewhere unavoidable so every new request gets evaluated against them.
Warren Buffett’s Two-List Strategy
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I’ve stopped obsessing over my body, but I’m still fixed on the club or the racket in my hands
- Right when I’m finally locked in, my brain throws up "remember to email so-and-so," and if I act on it the focus is shattered, but if I try to ignore it the thought just gets louder and keeps tugging until I deal with it.
- When it counts, I’m in my head about my own body
- My attention is locked into this tight little tunnel
- Every time I sit down to work it takes me ages to drop into focus, and the opening stretch is where I drift the most
Related concerns
- Internal Focus
Focus further from the body (on the target, not the implement) for the largest attention benefit.
Use more distal external focus for greater performance benefits
- External Focus Of Attention At Work
External focus of attention — directing attention to the intended effect of a movement (where the ball goes, where force is applied) rather than to body mechanics — consistently outperforms internal focus for both skill learning and execution. Gabriele Wulf’s OPTIMAL theory proposes two mechanisms: external focus activates automatic motor control processes, and it enhances competence need satisfaction. Effect sizes in controlled experiments are moderate to large.
- Focus And Attention Activities
Write down every impulse, distraction, and off-topic idea that arises during a session rather than acting on or suppressing it.
Keep an attention capture list during hyperfocus
- Focus And Concentration
Hyperfocus, as described by Chris Bailey, is a state of intense, voluntary attention on a single task — the opposite of distraction. It is not the same as the hyperfocus associated with ADHD. Bailey argues that deliberately entering and sustaining this state for the most important tasks is one of the highest-leverage productivity skills, though his framework is practitioner-level insight rather than peer-reviewed research.
- Focus More Intently
Hyperfocus, as described by Chris Bailey, is a state of intense, voluntary attention on a single task — the opposite of distraction. It is not the same as the hyperfocus associated with ADHD. Bailey argues that deliberately entering and sustaining this state for the most important tasks is one of the highest-leverage productivity skills, though his framework is practitioner-level insight rather than peer-reviewed research.
- How To Get Into Focus Quickly
Write down every impulse, distraction, and off-topic idea that arises during a session rather than acting on or suppressing it.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.