Help Your Kids Focus

Focus means “I listen, watch and pay attention to what I have to do!”

In this week’s focus lesson, we are talking about 2 things: distractions and how to prioritize.

A key part of focus is understanding what distracts you. With a lot of our kids’ education being at home, we need them to understand how to block out distractions.

Instead of just pointing these distractions out to them, ask your kids what kinds of things distract them from getting their work done. And ask where they think they can work with the least distractions.

Remind them that everyone gets distracted — even parents (especially when you are trying to work and your kids are at home e-learning). Then help them set themselves up for success by eliminating some of their distractions.

Second, we want to work on prioritizing. A lot of my kids’ e-learning is asynchronous. They have some extra free time in their school days. Therefore, they are going to need to learn how to prioritize what to do (some of us adults need to learn this too!).

When prioritizing activities, start with the hardest first. It’s like ripping off a band-aid. Just get it done! We are much more productive when we get the hard things out of the way.

Then, provide a daily reminder that fun stuff does not happen until the work is done — and done well.

A little consistency from us as parents, along with some constant reminders, will help our kids to get back their focus.

Thanks, and we will see you on the mat!

Master Helsdon