It has been about two decades since I was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Shortly after I was diagnosed, my doctor prescribed some pills.

They helped with focus, but they had some other side effects, including loss of appetite, difficulty sleeping, increased anti-social behavior, etc.

I didn't take the pills for very long because I didn't like the way they made me feel.

I continued struggling with focus and my parents gave me the task (at age 15) to find a holistic solution, remedy, or treatment. A wonderful task to give to a distracted and confused teenager.

I came across some information about hypnosis, therapy, acupuncture, meditation... and none of that appealed to me.

In my search, I came across the website of a martial arts school and there was a blog post on it talking about focus and how martial arts could potentially improve focus in people with ADHD.

So I gave the school a call... and the rest, as they say, is history.

Here I am about 18 years later working at that same martial arts school helping young people build character skills and overcome their focus issues.

Why am I rambling about this?

Well, first of all, I still have focus issues.

Any little distraction can derail me from the task at-hand, and it takes me a loooooong time to get back on track.

Now that I'm almost 34 years old with a wife and two kids, I've had to find ways to stay focused, and for the most part, I succeed at it.

Secondly, I'd be willing to bet most of us are struggling with focus.

More than ever before, we've got tons of different things vying for our attention.

Between an endless library of applications, a 24-hour news cycle, and TV shows at our fingertips, there is no reason why anyone should ever be bored.

And I think that's an issue.

I mean... it's okay to fill time where you'd otherwise be bored... but if you're filling that time with screen-sucking and doom-scrolling, I'd say you need to find a new pastime.

Here are three tools I've been using to help me focus.

The first thing is binaural beats.

I think there's some research to substantiate the efficacy of binaural beats as it relates to focus but I don't know where it is or what it is.

All I know is, there's a playlist on Apple Music called "Binaural Beats: Focus" by Miracle Tones and the truth is, this playlist is nothing short of a miracle.

If I'm at the office and I don't want to be bothered by my co-workers (which is almost always—they trigger my ADHD), I put in my AirPods and usually the beats help me get to where I need to be.

If you haven't tried binaural beats for focus, do it... it's worth your time.

The second thing: earplugs.

Stole this tactic from Alex Hormozi.

I have a giant box of Howard Leight earplugs and when I wake up early in the morning to work on my personal brand I use earplugs.

Well, sometimes I use binaural beats... other times I use earplugs.

Depends on the day.

Working in silence is underrated, especially in the early morning.

The third but certainly not the final thing I've been using to maintain some degree of focus is using a partially grayscale phone screen.

I can't stand a fully-grayscale screen, so I set it to about 50% and that's been helpful.

My wife thinks I'm crazy but nothing's new.

Focus is one of the topics I'll be writing about more on my LinkedIn. I want to see how much it resonates with other people.

If you've got any questions, please don't hesitate to reply to this email. Would love to hear from you.

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

Your homie,
Neil

P.S. Alright, I'm back on track with my daily emails. I've got some stories I've been working on and some other stuff that'll hopefully educate/entertain/inspire. I'm also working hard at growing on LinkedIn... something I intended on doing in February but lost focus on because I have ADHD and spent a lot of time messing around on Medium. If we haven't connected on LI, please do hit me up over there.