Focus Isn’t a Mood. It’s a Practice.

Tiny Anchors In Tech Charged World

Breathe in – two – three – four
Hold – two – three – four
Breathe out – two – three – four
Hold – two – three – four

Repeat the sequence three times if you like.
Notice what happens to your focus.

This technique is known as box breathing.
Leaders, elite athletes, and others who must perform at high levels throughout the day rely on box breathing to keep their minds and bodies steady.

The pattern above sharpens focus and concentration.

A different pattern can boost your energy – you’ll find that one at the end of the article.

Finding Clarity In A Crowded Mind

We started with a midweek and mid-scroll conversation about something we felt we were losing: our ability to focus.

Not in theory, in practice. Between message pings, meetings, tab overload, and AI-generated insights, the ability to slow down and pay attention was slipping, powered by the same tools meant to make us more productive.

We decided to write about it, not because we’ve mastered it, but because reclaiming feels urgent. One of us (the guy with the funny Dutch name) has spent years bouncing between hyperfocus and restlessness.

The Problem Isn’t You. It’s The System.

You know the feeling. Monday morning. Laptop open. Fifteen tabs. Three blinking AI chats. Unfinished documents. Three newspapers—because choosing one feels like bias. Your top priority? Writing this article.

But your brain is already overstimulated. Attention is escaping. Dopamine-seeking behaviors creep in: scrolling, snacking, context switching, and clear thinking start to feel like a luxury.

This isn’t a personal failing but a “normal” reaction to information overload, especially under time pressure.

Before smartphones, the average task switch was every few minutes. By 2022, it had dropped to every 45 seconds. Every switch costs mental energy. It leaves behind “attention residue”: fragments of “unfinished” thoughts that accumulate. Over time, mind fog sets in.

Sophie Leroy and Theresa Glomb have shown how this residue lingers, especially when we know there’s time pressure waiting for us on the other side of an interruption. Their research introduced the 'Ready-to-Resume Plan': a quick and practical way to help the brain release one task and fully focus on the next.

PRO-TIP: Instead of rushing into the interruption, you pause for a minute, note where you are, what matters, and how you’ll return. It’s simple, but it clears mental space.

And now, just as this residue builds up, we add something else: AI.

AI Helps And Hurts.

AI speeds everything up. It drafts, summarizes, categorizes, and recommends faster than we can think. And that’s the danger.

When used with intention, AI can clear mental space. When used automatically, it can lead to digital amnesia and attention erosion. You get outputs without insight. The pieces don’t connect. The more we turn to AI without pause, the less we reflect, the less we notice, the less we think for ourselves.

What we gain in speed, we risk losing in presence and depth.

This is the paradox we kept circling: AI promises time, but only if we slow down enough to claim it.

The Balance Track

Picture life as a stretch of railway ahead of you: one track, two rails.
Imagine the left rail granting you focus and calm, the right rail speed and growth.

For a long, long time, the right rail has driven your locomotive. It has thundered at full tilt, leaving a faint metal tang on your tongue if you taste the moment.

Yet most days, you hardly notice you’re hurtling forward at the pace of ten wild horses, pinned to that right-hand rail. Keep this up and the train will soon lean dangerously.

Thomas Hylland Eriksen calls it “the tyranny of the instant” and argues that we must now fight “for the right to think a thought longer than five centimetres.” Ever since I read the book as a student (4th edition, 2001), I’ve known I need to stretch my thoughts—give them space and silence. With fresh tools arriving daily and AI galloping faster than those wild horses, that space is harder to find; it demands awareness and discipline.

Lay two fingers lightly against the right side of your neck.
What do you feel?
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
A steady, unhurried rhythm—
The beat that stays with you until the heart stops and you are no more.

That heartbeat can serve as a constant reminder that our locomotive must run securely on both rails. Before the engine tilts—or the heart stalls for good—we owe ourselves the gift that awareness and discipline can grant: pockets of room and quiet.

The balance track lies before you.
One deliberate step to the left rail does not mean losing speed or progress—
Perhaps quite the opposite.

What if more daily pauses make your working sprints sharper and more productive?
What if you sense a new depth and wholeness in your tasks because you let your mind trace the long lines, reaching towards what truly matters?
What if life itself feels richer because you allow yourself to listen to your heartbeat—the real locomotive that keeps you here, alive on this earth?

Micro-actions For Rebuilding Focus

Small, testable moves. Not rules—reminders. Try one. Or share your own.

• One handwritten page
  Slows down thought. Boosts memory and clarity.

• One page of a book
  Rebuilds attention span through uninterrupted reading.

• One deep podcast
  Trains long-form listening in a short-clip world.

• One quiet hour daily
  Builds stamina for single-task focus.

• One phone-free zone
  Removes a powerful cue for distraction.

• One intentional AI prompt
  Turns AI into a tool for thinking, not escaping.

Can AI become my focus-and-stillness coach?

Absolutely!

More and more people now realise that AI can serve as a first-rate adviser—myself included. For the past eight weeks, I’ve used ChatGPT as a nutrition coach; the result has been steadier blood-sugar levels and a surge in energy.

The same approach transfers easily to other kinds of coaching. Below is a pocket prompt to help you cultivate greater focus and calm daily.

Copy and paste into ChatGPT:
You are my focus-and-unwinding coach. Morning: ask (1) today’s deep-focus task, (2) which quiet hour I plan today, (3) which wind-down ritual I choose tonight. Evening: ask me to score 1–5 on Focus, Calm, Energy + today’s calmest moment. Maximum 180 words per reply. Type END to stop.

Want the full version? You’ll find it in the comments.

Give the method seven days and see how it works for you. Let us know what you discover!

An Invitation To Focus With Us

Breathe in — two, three, four, five
Breathe out — two, three
Repeat until the lungs feel bright.

We close this article exactly where we began: with the body. Huibert and Synneva have set ourselves a challenge to reclaim long stretches of concentration, focus, and peace.

The paradox still makes us smile: we rely on the most advanced technology on the planet to help us spend less time tethered to technology. AI speeds the routine, sharpens the brief, and lets us sprint; all the more reason to step off the track, raise our gaze, and let thought wander far beyond the screen.

So we offer you the same challenge we give ourselves:

• Try the energy-box breath above whenever the mind sags.

• Paste the pocket-prompt (or the full version in the comments) into ChatGPT and let a small dialogue guide your day.

• Then tell us what works—and what works better. Which micro-rules, rituals, or prompts pull you back to the deeper level of presence?

We can draft a shared operating manual: more focus, calmer, fewer reflex scrolls, richer conversations, and a pulse that beats in time with real life, not just the following notification.

Let’s see what we can build—one deliberate breath, one intentional click, and one long, unhurried thought at a time.

Good luck, Huibert & Synneva