Focus on what’s important

Sometimes what we need is a little perspective. The numerous tasks that pile up on our to-do list, and the frequent distractions and interruptions from our smartphones can easily fill up our day. If we're not careful about how we spend our time, we can easily leave the office with a general sense of unease that the sum total of our daily activity left us no closer to our greater goals.

When I find myself in such a mood, I find it useful to perform the thought experiment that Steve Jobs employed regularly, and explained so eloquently in his address to the Stanford Business School:

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to make the big choices in life. Because almost everything, all external expectations, all pride, fear of embarrassment and failure, all these things just fall way in the face of death. Remembering you’re going to die, is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.

In the early days of my career, I had no use for such thought experiments or daily meditations. The reason was simple; I was too busy. I was in a hurry getting things done and crossing them off my to-do list. I equated activity with value. Through the years I've completely reversed myself on this account, and I've come around to appreciating this kind of daily reflection and meditation as invaluable. Creating these moments of solitude and reflection are essential to lead a fulfilling life.

I've also taken note of how many extremely successful people employ these techniques regularly. Marcus Aurelius, the First Century Roman Emperor and author of Meditations, returns to the theme of death again and again. This is just one of many entries from Meditations addressing this theme:

Imagine you are now dead, or had not lived before this moment. Now view the rest of your life as a bonus, and live it as nature directs.

We may think the distractions and technologies of today, like social media, represent novel challenges that our ancestors never had to face. The details maybe new, but humans have been struggling with these larger issues for millennia. Even during Roman times, people were distracted by gossip and fear of missing out (FOMA). Here is Marcus Aurelius again:

Do not waste the remaining parts of your life in thoughts about other people, when you are not thinking in reference to some aspect of the common good. Why deprive yourself of the time for some other task? I mean, thinking about what so-and-so is doing, and why, what he is saying or contemplating or plotting, and all that line of thought, makes you stray from the close watch on your own directing mind.

In the writings of Cicero I came across another technique to help me focus what's most important. In his book, de senectute (On Old Age), Cicero has a beautiful passage where, as an old man, he reflects back on his life:

The best armour of old age is a well spent life proceeding it; a life employed in the pursuit of knowledge; in honourable actions and the practice of virtue, in which he who labours to improve himself from his youth will in age reap the happiest fruits of them; not only because these never leave a man, not even in the extremest [sic] old age; but because a conscious bearing witness that our life was well spent, together with the remembrance of past good actions, yields an unspeakable comfort to the soul.

When I read this passage I'm reminded of what's truly important. It's almost like a prayer. Recently I've written a number of these passages into my own personal journal. Then, throughout the day, instead of checking my phone, I pull out the journal and read a few entries. It never fails to bring me some comfort and peace – something I rarely find by staring into my phone.

Our time on earth is short, and it's up to us to ensure every day is invested wisely. I find that reading these passages, and others like them, on a daily basis, helps me focus on the work that is most important to me.

This article is also published on LinkedIn:
Focus on What's Important | Sean Murray | Pulse | LinkedIn