Focus is the gateway to all thinking – perception, memory, learning, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making. Without good focus, all aspects of our ability to think suffers. I keep coming back to the Zen story that reminds us how we should keep the main thing, the main thing –

A martial arts student approached his teacher one day and said, “I would truly love to be a great aikido warrior one day, but I believe I should also devote myself to judo so that I can be familiar with various types of martial arts. Only thus will I become the greatest warrior of all.”

The teacher listened to student quietly, and then replied, “If a man walks the field and begins to chase after two foxes at the same time, surely there will come a moment when each animal takes off in a different direction. The man will be left standing there confused, without knowing which fox to chase. By the time he decides, he will find that both animals are out of reach, and that he has wasted time and energy for nothing.

Peter Drucker said, “There is nothing as useless as doing officially that it should not be done at all.” Indeed, being focused on the right thing allows us to do better work, a lot gets done quicker, and our creative juices flow easier. After all, the suns rays to not burn until brought to a focus.