Question

5 ways to focus your mind

1. Focus with a purpose

The mistake most people make is lacking a clear purpose -- they want to be more focused, but don’t know what for. Avoidance is the mother of distraction. If you don’t have a concrete reason to stay focused, your mind will jump from one thing to another. Training your mind to pay attention requires something to focus on. 1. When you don’t have a purpose, it’s easier to get distracted. Conversely, having a clear ‘why’ will help you stay focused.

2. Solve a real problem

Most of the times, we are doing meaningless work. We jump from one task to another without accomplishing anything. We end solving the wrong problem and lose our focus. You have to decide what your priorities are—focus on what will advance your daily, weekly or monthly goals. Learn to say no to the rest. 2.. Those who lack focus are busy fighting urgent, but irrelevant fires.

3. Eliminate(消除) other options

3., it’s harder to get distracted. Create rules where you can’t start a new activity until you finished another one first. For example, in a good day, Pink leaves his office at 10-10:30. On a bad day, he might stay ‘disconnected’ until 2 or 3 PM. When you eliminate all options, it’s easier to focus on the only thing that’s left.

4. 4.

When your work and your mental state are not aligned (使一致), they create an emotional disagreement. Focusing is hard, Dealing with this stressful feeling becomes an additional distraction. Adapting your work to your mental state increases your focus. Learn to understand the types of work you do and align them with your mental states.

5. Set deadlines

Deadlines are more than bringing your goals to life. Yes, committing to a specific date increases your chances to achieve an objective. However, the power of deadlines lies in creating a constraint. Limitations benefit both creativity and productivity—by challenging ourselves, we increase our focus.5..

A. Take advantage of your mental state

B. Focusing requires having an intention for your attention

C. Combine your action with your mental state

D. Using deadlines smartly can motivate you with less pressure

E. When you don’t have choices

F. Focus on important things and suppress urgency

G. When you create some rules

Answer

1.B

2.F

3.E

4.C

5.D

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。文章主要介绍了五种保持精力集中的方法。

1.根据下文When you don’t have a purpose, it’s easier to get distracted.（当你没有目标时，更容易分心）中的purpose可对对应B选项中的intention，B选项表示“集中注意力需要你有一个集中注意力的意图”，与下文都是强调集中注意力的意图。故选B。

2.根据下文Those who lack focus are busy fighting urgent,but irrelevant fires.（那些缺乏专注力的人正忙于处理紧急但无关紧要的事情）可知fighting urgent可和选项F中suppress urgency相呼应，表示“关注重要事情，抑制紧迫感。”告诉人们应该集中注意力在重要的事情上，而不是紧急的但是不相关的事情上。故选F。

3.根据第三个小标题Eliminate other options，和文中的最后一句话When you eliminate all options， it's easier to focus on the only thing that's left．（当你排除了所有的选择，就更容易专注于剩下的唯一的事情）可知，本段强调你需要让自己无从选择。故选E。

4.根据下文"When your work and your mental state are not aligned （使结盟）， they create an emotional dissonance．"当你的工作和精神状态不协调时，就会产生情绪失调。可知本段强调行动和思想状态要相结合，故C选项“要将行动和思想状态相结合”能够作为这一段的小标题。故选C。

5.根据本段小标题Set deadlines可知，本段主要强调要设定最后期限，且本空位于段尾，对本段进行概括总结，故D选项“聪明地利用截止日期可以减少你的压力”符合上下文语境。故选D。