The Focus Fix – Finding Clarity, Creativity and Resilience in an Overwhelming World

In our tech-driven world, we’re constantly bombarded by digital noise and notifications at work and home, blurring the lines between the two. This overstimulation has left us lethargic, unproductive, and creatively stifled, trapped in a Catch-22 where mental fatigue feeds overwhelm and keeps us perpetually burnt out. The good news? There is a way to break free from this pandemonium of busyness, according to creativity experts Chris Griffiths and Caragh Medlicott.

In their new book The Focus Fix, they unveil a host of new strategies for uncovering focus at work and escaping busyness burnout. It’s packed with tips, techniques and tricks to unlock motivation and creativity, including ‘Subconscious Feng-Shui’ to clear a cluttered mind and ‘Slow Productivity’, a calmer approach to beating overwhelm.

The central strategy outlined in the book is ‘Focused Daydreaming’, a way of inspiring higher-level thinking and innovation through daydream breaks. These are designed to carve out moments in our hectic lives to allow our brains to recharge. By allowing our brains to become ‘unfocused’ strategically, we can improve our ability to focus when it needs to, and in a way that brings more clarity.

The book suggests that many of us could be suffering from Busy Fool Syndrome (BFS), providing a symptoms checklist highlighting hopping between tasks, answering emails reactively, struggling to concentrate and constant mindless meetings as some of the telltale signs.

Chris and Caragh provide a roadmap out of this chaos, showing readers a way to stop BFS, find clarity and ultimately success. Their experience comes from decades of helping teams and individuals uncover their creative potential including Nobel Laureates, Disney and NASA.

The authors insist that it is a persistent myth that creativity is a rare quality in only a lucky few. Creativity is, in actual fact, a skill like any other and can be developed and honed. They point to research that suggests even in job roles which are not traditionally creative, an engaged, creative environment is associated with fewer absences and increased job satisfaction. As a result, HR professionals should take note that providing opportunities for employees to be creative gives purpose and staves off apathy – a dangerous force that only breeds lethargy and distraction. 

Sections in the book also help us to reimagine the way we will live and work in an AI-powered future, providing ideas and advice on how to leverage new technologies to find more time to unlock creative moments, and keep humans in the driving seat.

Overall, The Focus Fix is an inspiring guide to changing our mindset, providing ways of reshaping thinking patterns and rediscovering our focus and creativity. It’s a practical, readable book that will help readers learn achieve more by doing less.