Wednesday Aug 13, 2025

E25 The Power of Focus: How to Lock In, In an Increasingly Distracted World

Host: Christopher L. Camp, M.D., Creator & Guide | Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project

Guest: Maneesh Goyal, Chief Operating Officer | Mayo Clinic Platform

In our world of constant stimulation and distraction, the ability to focus deeply is becoming a lost art. Although it may be more challenging to focus these days, this doesn’t mean that it’s less important. In fact, being able to focus on the task at hand is one of the most critical skills needed for success. If you can master your ability to focus, it can be an absolute game changer for you in our modern society that struggles so much with this. Our expert guest today is Maneesh Goyal, COO of Mayo Clinic Platform.

The three big questions we have for Maneesh are:

1. What is focus and why is it so important for our productivity and joy?

2. Why do we all seem to struggle to focus in today’s world?

3. What concrete steps can we take to improve our focus in our world of constant interruption?

How to start a Mayo Clinic Human Optimization Project “Pod-Club”:
Step 1: Find 2-30 friends who want to get better
Step 2: Choose your episodes (can be focused on specific themes or random)
Step 3: Listen to/watch the episodes
Step 4: Meet with your group to work through the provided discussion questions in the PDF for each episode, and feel free to add your own!
Step 5: Celebrate the fact that you are turning passive knowledge into action!

Discussion Questions for this Episode:

Maneesh Goyal defines focus as "being present" and "reducing the noise from all of your other roles." How often do you feel truly present and able to reduce mental "noise" in your daily tasks? What are the biggest "tugs" on your attention?
While focus helps get work done faster, it also leads to less stress, more creativity, and increased joy. Which of these less obvious benefits of focus do you find most appealing? How might it motivate you to improve your focus?
Maneesh discusses the difference between focus (intentional effort) and flow (automatic, effortless engagement). Take a moment to identify an activity in your life where you experience a state of flow. What might be different about the place, time, interactions with others, or your own mindset that helps you to achieve flow in this activity (as opposed to activities when you don’t feel the same effortless engagement)?
As discussed in this episode, our ability to focus is worsening due to constant technological distractions and an "always-on" culture. What specific technological habits or work-culture norms do you find most detrimental to your focus? Identify one boundary that you can set this week to improve your focus.
Maneesh emphasizes that time is our only commodity and that managing it deliberately is crucial for focus. What is one way that you can reframe time as a necessary investment in your productivity and well-being?
Three practical tips for improving focus include: 1) cleaning your environment, 2) scheduling breaks, and 3) automating meeting transitions. Which one of these actionable can you commit to this week? Explain to your Pod-Club group precisely how you will do that.
The challenge suggests setting a morning intention for the day. How do you typically start your day? If you haven’t tried it in the past, commit to a 5-minute intention-setting practice each morning this week. For added accountability, share that intention each morning with another member of your group, and have them do the same to you.
Maneesh encourages starting small and celebrating incremental progress in building focus. What is one small, specific change you will make to your routine to practice focus? How can you make this as small as possible (to ensure a win), and how will you acknowledge and celebrate that initial success?

Learn more about the Human Optimization Project at: https://ce.mayo.edu/optimize
X: @MayoHumanOpProj
Instagram: @MayoHumanOpProj
YouTube: The Human Optimization Project - YouTube
Email: optimize@mayo.edu