by Jason
当你的注意力和专注力开始减退的时候，如何能增加专注时间并保持专注力呢？
有两个简单的步骤可以做。
一、测量你的成绩
你能做的第一件事情是测量你的过程。专注力经常因为缺少反馈而减退。你的大脑有一个天生的欲望想知道你做事的过程是否朝向你的目标，没有得到反馈的话，它就不可能知道。从实用的角度来看，这意味着我们需要测量我们的成绩。
我们生命中都有一个对我们来说很重要的领域，但是我们没有测量。因为测量专注力和注意力的保持对我们来说是很羞愧的事情。我们测量什么事情，我们的这方面就会进步。我们的任何想法如果变好了或者变坏了，都可以通过数字和清楚的轨迹看出来。
当我测量我能做多少个俯卧撑，我变强壮了。
当我追踪我们天读20页书的习惯，我读了更多书。
当我记录我的价值观，我的生活开始更诚信了。
我所关注的任务就是我一直持续专注的。不幸的是，我们经常逃避测量，因为我们害怕这些数字会告诉我们的关于我们自己的东西。关键是要认识到这些测量不是判断你是谁，而只是对你的位置的反馈。
测量会去揭露，去找到，去理解。测量会去让你找到更好的自己。测量去让你清楚你是否真的花时间在那些对你很重要的事情上。因为它能让你专注于重要的事情而忽略不重要的事情。
二、专注于过程，而不是结果。
第二件你能做的事情是长期保持专注于过程，而不是结果。很多时候，我们把成功当作一个可以到达和完成的结果。
这里有一些案例：
许多人把健康看成一个结果：“如果我减了20磅，我就有好身材了。”
许多人把企业家精神看成一个结果：“如果我们能够让我们的企业进入纽约时代专刊，我们就起来了。”
许多人把艺术看成一个结果：“如果我能把我的作品放在更大的画廊里，我就有了我需要的名声了。”
这是一些把成功仅仅当作一个结果的分类方式。但是如果你观察那些坚持专注他们目标的人们，你就会意识到，让他们变得不同的不是这个结果或者成绩。他们爱上了每天的练习，而不是单独的结果。
当然，最有趣的是专注于过程，也会允许你享受这个成绩。
如果你想成为伟大的作家，写出畅销书是很美妙的事情。但是得到这个结果唯一的方式是爱上写作的过程。
如果你想让你的生意享誉世界，登上福布斯杂志将是一件很棒的事情。但是得到这个结果唯一的方式是爱上做生意的过程。
如果你想在生活中拥有最好的身材，减掉20磅是必须的。但是得到这个结果唯一的方式是爱上健康饮食和坚持锻炼的过程。
如果你想在任何方面获得显著的成绩，你必须爱上做这个事情的过程。你必须爱上做这个工作的身份，而不是仅仅想要这个结果。
专注于产出和目的是我们天生的趋向，但是专注于过程引导我们做出更好的成绩，走的更远。
[原文]
How to Focus and Increase Your Attention Span
How can you increase your attention span and remain focused when your concentration and focus begin to fade? There are two simple steps you can take.
Measure Your Results
The first thing you can do is to measure your progress. Focus often fades because of lack of feedback. Your brain has a natural desire to know whether or not you are making progress toward your goals, and it is impossible to know that without getting feedback. From a practical standpoint, this means that we need to measure our results.
We all have areas of life that we say are important to us, but that we aren’t measuring. That's a shame because measurement maintains focus and concentration. The things we measure are the things we improve. It is only through numbers and clear tracking that we have any idea if we are getting better or worse.
When I measured how many pushups I did, I got stronger.
When I tracked my reading habit of 20 pages per day, I read more books.
When I recorded my values, I began living with more integrity.
The tasks I measured were the ones I remained focused on. Unfortunately, we often avoid measuring because we are fearful of what the numbers will tell us about ourselves. The trick is to realize that measuring is not a judgment about who you are, it's just feedback on where you are.
Measure to discover, to find out, to understand. Measure to get to know yourself better. Measure to see if you're actually spending time on the things that are important to you. Measure because it will help you focus on the things that matter and ignore the things that don’t.
Focus on the Process, Not the Event
The second thing you can do to maintain long-term focus is to concentrate on processes, not events. All too often, we see success as an event that can be achieved and completed. Here are some common examples:
Many people see health as an event: “If I just lose 20 pounds, then I’ll be in shape.”
Many people see entrepreneurship as an event: “If we could get our business featured in the New York Times, then we’d be set.”
Many people see art as an event: “If I could just get my work featured in a bigger gallery, then I’d have the credibility I need.”
Those are just a few of the many ways that we categorize success as a single event. But if you look at the people who stay focused on their goals, you start to realize that it’s not the events or the results that make them different. It’s the commitment to the process. They fall in love with the daily practice, not the individual event.
What’s funny, of course, is that this focus on the process is what will allow you to enjoy the results anyway.
If you want to be a great writer, then having a best-selling book is wonderful. But the only way to reach that result is to fall in love with the process of writing.
If you want the world to know about your business, then it would be great to be featured in Forbes magazine. But the only way to reach that result is to fall in love with the process of marketing.
If you want to be in the best shape of your life, then losing 20 pounds might be necessary. But the only way to reach that result is to fall in love with the process of eating healthy and exercising consistently.
If you want to become significantly better at anything, you have to fall in love with the process of doing it. You have to fall in love with building the identity of someone who does the work, rather than merely dreaming about the results that you want.
Focusing on outcomes and goals is our natural tendency, but focusing on processes leads to more results over the long-run.
本译文仅供个人研习、欣赏语言之用，谢绝任何转载及用于任何商业用途。本译文所涉法律后果均由本人承担。本人同意简书平台在接获有关著作权人的通知后，删除文章。”
