We will dive into self transformation topics and tools to help you live and feel your best.
Bree welcomes viewers to Becoming with Bree, explains the show's purpose, and leads a brief breathing and body-check to notice tension and emotions without judgment.
Bree describes her ADHD diagnosis and how she struggled with attention, then reassures viewers that focus can be improved through intention and practice, noting distraction can reveal values.
Bree recommends tactics like turning off notifications, time-blocking (Pomodoro), brain dumps, and viewing distractions as tools. She suggests practicing a chosen focus exercise for several days to identify patterns.
Bree explains that intention filters attention, advises setting clear priorities to avoid depletion, and closes with encouragement for a productive weekend and a promise of follow-up exercises.
Hello. Hi, I'm Bree. Welcome. If you are new, welcome to Becoming with Bree. And if you're familiar, welcome back. This is all about becoming the best version of yourself by finding out who we truly are through life's challenges. And so if you are wanting to be a good or better or best version of yourself in your mind, body and soul, then this is the place for you. So let's start with a quick pulse check. Taking a deep breath in through the nose, out and sigh as you exhale. You're invited to soften your gaze, your jaw, your body, and notice if there's any tension.
Notice if there's any thoughts or feelings that come up and try to meet them without labeling. too much or getting absorbed in the identity of it, but just acknowledging, accepting how you feel and what is, if there's tension, if there isn't. And accept that. Accept your current reality. The more we practice that, the more when things come up that we don't love or like, then, hey Anna, then it continues, we continue that momentum of working with where we are. And Let's dive. So after you've done that check, just acknowledge it's so it's a great practice for us to get to know ourselves because we can't measure any increment of change if we don't know where we're starting from.
And part of becoming your better version of yourself or best version of yourself is taking inventory, taking note. And that brings me to our topic today, which is focus. I have had the pleasure of being diagnosed with ADHD as a child and was a Ritalin kid for a while. So I feel like that's always been a challenge for me is when I have to sit down and hunker down and focus, it really is difficult. My mind loves to wander. And that's okay. I have worked with this. I have understood through the power of my intention and the power of practicing good exercises to help my focus that it is possible.
A diagnosis isn't forever and it's not a prison or a life sentence. So I really encourage you to take inventory of your focus this week. And per usual, I have the three things, 3 takeaways for you. But this topic really, really hits home for me because, and there's a thunderstorm happening right now. So if you hear a lot of rain and thunder, that is why it's actually very beautiful. I really love to have an array of hobbies and learn. Learning is one of my biggest passions. Anything, any subject, there's nothing off limits.
And with that, I get distracted all the time so easily. And I have learned that I need to not have notifications on my phone. I need to set time blocks so that I can focus better, like knowing that I have reprieve coming up and that I can do whatever else my mind wants me to go do in 15 minutes helps me with that. The Pomodoro. Timer is something I use at work a lot so that I'm able to really hunker down and then let go and allow my mind to run wild, so to speak. But when I did a meditation retreat a while back, I learned that distraction is very spiritual.
It is very helpful if you look at it that way. It shows us what we care about. It shows us what we don't want to do. It shows us how much we don't want to be in the present moment is my big takeaway for that. Yeah, storms are the best I love. I could easily just read a book right now and cozy up, you know. Hey, Rolando, good to see you. And good to see you virtually. And once I started to look at distraction as a tool instead of this thing that causes me to be in disarray and be disappointed in myself, I was free of that story.
I broke out of it. I didn't want it anymore. She gone. And I learned that you took those distractions as opportunities of every time my mind was like, hey, you should look this up, right? Like that's the best one. It's like, I should Google this later or something. Or I forgot to do that. Like I have this running to-do list that just pings and dings me whenever I want or whenever it wants. And you just notice, you breathe, and I will get to it when it's time. That is what has helped me just to stay focused on the task at hand because it's so easy to just contact switch.
And what ends up happening is that leaves what's called attention residue. And it's like where, so if you're switching your tasks too often, you're still, there's like part of your focus and attention that is still on that thing in the past. And so by the time you get to like the fifth thing, your focus is not that great because it's kind of been like worn down. Like think of like flower residue when you like deadhead flowers and you get gunk on your hands. Like the more you do that, the more that it stays with you until you wash it off, clean your slate and breathe and focus.
So I encourage you this week to ask, notice and ask like what distracts me most often? Is it my phone? If so, I highly recommend no notifications, the minimal notifications that you need to exist like text, phone and cadre. And if there is other like things that are pulling you at work or in relationships where you're not even listening to the person talking like Take inventory to that. Ask yourself, I wonder why that is. So look at distraction as a learning opportunity. The second thing is try to commit to an exercise, a focus exercise for a few days, let's say 5 days.
It could be using a Pomodoro timer. It could be meditation. It could be journaling. Like let your mind run wild. Do a brain dump. Sometimes that's a great way to get stuff out. And meditation is great because you get to see actually how these thoughts are just like literally coming out of nowhere. And even though it's actual energy coming up, the yogi, we can dive into that later. But be curious. Be like, this is my pattern. Once you notice your pattern, you can start to unweave the threads of it.
You got this. It is possible. I'm living proof and I know you can do it. It's great once you just break free, but it still is also, you're also gonna learn, like you're gonna go revert back to old ways every once in a while, just to make sure to see if you get, you really learned, you know? But yeah, brain dumps are great. Morning pages, I love to just get stuff out or you can type, get a Google Doc, whatever you need. Just Get the residue out as much as you can. And I'll leave you with this, that intention is the filter that decides what's worth your attention.
It's hard to be focused when we don't intend to be focused. We In today's world, we are getting pulled and nabbed. We've got advertisements, we've got notifications, we've got emails, we've got needy dogs, love them to death, but we are pulled in so many different directions. If we don't stand for what we want to focus on, we will be pulled in so many directions and left depleted potentially. So set your intention about what you want to spend your attention on. With that, I hope that you have a very focused, constructive, and productive day ahead of you for the rest of your afternoon and going into the weekend.
I love a good Friday afternoon brain session, not a brain dump, but just like get all the things done so that I can go into the weekend feeling like, I really gave it my all. And at the end of the day, that's what matters most is, are you trying? Is your intention there? Then great, you will succeed. You will do good, you'll do better, or maybe even you'll do your best. Hope you have, I love Fridays. Who doesn't? Hope you have a great rest of your day. And I'll follow up with you next week for exercise related to this.
But see where it takes you. Stay curious and stay focused, friends. Enjoy.
