Pay Attention To What you Pay Attention To: Leading with Focus & Intention
Whether in our professional or personal lives, we tend to nurture what we consistently attend to. Attention acts like a spotlight. Whatever it rests on becomes more vivid, more emotionally charged, and more influential in how we think, feel, and act. When we focus on stress, stress expands. When we focus on shortcomings, confidence contracts. When we focus on what is working, what is possible, and what truly matters, our internal experience begins to shift accordingly.
The neuroscience of focus
From a neuroscience perspective, this happens because the brain is shaped by repeated patterns of attention. Neural pathways strengthen through repetition, a process known as experience-dependent neuroplasticity. When certain thoughts, emotional states, or behaviors are repeatedly activated, the underlying neural circuits become more efficient and more easily triggered. Over time, these patterns begin to feel automatic.
Rick Hanson, a neuropsychologist and senior fellow at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, has written extensively about this process. He explains that the brain is constantly learning from experience, and that it does not evaluate whether what it is learning is beneficial or harmful. It simply encodes what is repeated. This means that habitual worry, rumination, or self-criticism can become deeply ingrained, just as intentional practices like gratitude, steadiness, and compassion can.
At the same time, the brain is naturally drawn toward what feels most salient. Stimuli that are novel, emotionally charged, threatening, or socially comparative capture attention more easily than neutral or stable experiences. This attentional bias once supported survival. In modern environments, it is continuously stimulated.
The cognitive cost of distractions
And in a world that has become increasingly effective at giving us more of what we pay attention to, with algorithms and AI systems scrutinizing every click, pause, and scroll, safeguarding attention has become increasingly difficult. Digital platforms are designed to amplify salience and engagement, not discernment or long-term wellbeing.
The cognitive cost is well documented. Research from the University of California, Irvine shows that the average knowledge worker now switches tasks roughly every 47 seconds, and that it can take more than 20 minutes to fully regain focus after an interruption. Frequent task switching is associated with elevated stress hormones, reduced working memory capacity, lower quality decision-making, and increased mental fatigue.
Noticing where attention goes
Before attempting to manage attention, the first step is to notice where it already goes and to identify patterns.
𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀
Tracking screen time and app usage to see which platforms or activities absorb most of your attention, particularly during moments of fatigue or emotional load. Built-in tools like Apple Screen Time or Android Digital Wellbeing provide baseline data, while apps such as Brick or Freedom can help surface patterns and interrupt compulsive use. Reviewing this data over a full week often reveals habits that operate largely outside conscious awareness.
𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝘀𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴
Observing when you instinctively reach for your phone, email, or another tab, such as between meetings, when a task feels cognitively demanding, or when uncertainty arises. These moments are often not about distraction, but about the brain seeking relief from discomfort, ambiguity, or effort.
𝗘𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗴𝘆 𝗿𝗵𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗺𝘀
Identifying times of day when focus is naturally stronger and when distraction peaks. Research on circadian rhythms shows a typical pattern for many adults: a rise in alertness in the morning, a noticeable dip in the early afternoon (often between 1–3 p.m.), followed by a smaller rebound in the late afternoon or early evening. Understanding your own version of this rhythm helps align demanding tasks with periods of higher cognitive capacity, rather than relying on willpower alone.
𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁
Paying attention to how different types of content affect you emotionally. Psychological research shows that negative emotional states narrow attentional focus and reduce cognitive flexibility, making it harder to think creatively or strategically. Content that consistently triggers comparison, anxiety, or outrage may feel engaging in the moment, but often leaves the nervous system more activated and attention more fragmented afterward.
This kind of noticing is a foundational mindfulness practice. It develops meta-awareness, the capacity to observe experience rather than be absorbed by it. Without this awareness, attention is largely driven by habit and external cues. With it, intentional choice becomes possible.
Choosing where attention goes
Once patterns are clear, the work shifts from observation to direction.
Setting a clear intention before starting a task, explicitly naming what matters most during that time block. This helps the prefrontal cortex guide attention rather than allowing urgency or novelty to take over.
𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀
Creating deliberate boundaries around digital inputs, such as batching messages, disabling non-essential notifications, or defining screen-free moments or zones. Boundaries reduce cognitive load and protect attentional resources rather than depleting them.
𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘀
Using brief mindfulness practices, even one to three minutes of conscious breathing, to reset attention and reduce reactivity before meetings or transitions. Research shows that short pauses can downregulate stress responses and restore attentional control by engaging regulatory brain networks.
𝗘𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻
Designing physical and digital environments to support focus, fewer open tabs, a cleaner workspace, the phone out of reach, notifications turned off. The brain continuously responds to environmental cues, whether consciously noticed or not.
Over time, these choices matter. Each redirection of attention is not just a momentary decision, but a small act of neural training. Attention shapes perception. Perception shapes behavior. Behavior shapes outcomes.
Leading with clarity
If we want to lead our lives and our teams with more clarity and steadiness, the starting point is not doing more or pushing harder. It is becoming more aware of where our attention goes, and learning to place it with intention, repeatedly and deliberately.
Because what we repeatedly attend to does not just fill our days. It quietly shapes who we become.