[VIDEO+ACTIVITY] Duncan Nugget #103: Focus On The Task At Hand
Picture this:
I’m standing 3 feet away from my 5-yr old son, Mekhi. I call him. He doesn’t answer. Hmm…
I say his name a little louder, “Mekhi!”
Still no response. Grrr…
“MEKHIIII!!!”
Believe it or not, he still doesn’t respond. I’m thinking, “Oh lord! My child is deaf.” But that’s not it. He can’t hear me because he’s watching his show. He’s focused.
If you’re a parent, you’ve experienced this. If you have parents, you’ve done this!
You’re probably thinking, “That is not focus. He was ignoring you.” Ha! I can see where you’re coming from, but wait. Isn’t that what focus is?
The ability to ignore anything that has nothing to do with the task at hand.
HINT: When engrossed in something you are passionate about, you have that ability.
Million-Dollar Question:
What are you so passionate about that you ignore all distractions and focus on the task at hand?
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ACTIVITY AND DISCUSSION GUIDE FOR DUNCAN NUGGET #103
Focus is something that many young people (and professionals) struggle with. Two things that help to increase focus and concentration are fun and passion. Here’s a quick activity and a few discussion questions that will add some FUN and maybe even get young people passionate about what they are doing.
The Focus/Concentration Game
Summary:
Teams will have 5 seconds to look at a sequence of items. They will then have 10 seconds to discuss as a team and the first team to correctly recreate the sequence wins the round. There will be 5 rounds. The team that wins the most rounds will win the grand prize.
Preparation:
1. Create a list of items that can be sequenced. These items can be names of famous people, dates, numbers, or anything else that is relevant to what you are currently teaching your group.
2. On a flip chart, white/chalk board, powerpoint, or posters create five different sequences with your items. (Example of a random sequence: Focus, motivation, concentration, passion, fun.) Sequences must be on separate pages or slides. The total number in the sequence should be somewhere between 5-7 items max.
3. You need something to cover your sequences. (Could be another page in the flipchart or you could just turn off the powerpoint)
4. (Optional) A stopwatch or a regular watch with a second hand. You need to keep time intervals of 5 and 10 seconds.
Game Time:
1. Break your group into teams.
2. Tell them what this game is about. (You can show them Duncan Nugget #103: Focus On The Task At Hand and read the summary of this activity to the group.)
Explain the game and the rules
1. You are going to see a sequence of (5,6, or 7) ______________. You will have 5 seconds to look at the sequence then I will cover it up (or turn off the slide).
2. Once the sequence is covered, your team has 10 seconds to write down the sequence exactly as it appeared. (Spelling counts.) If your team gets it right, it gets a point. The first team to finish gets two points. If it’s wrong, the team loses a point.
3. There will be 5 rounds. At the end of the 5 rounds the team with the most points will receive the grand prize.
4. [STRESS THIS RULE. IT WILL HELP THE GROUP FOCUS AND CONCENTRATE] There must be complete silence during the 5 seconds that the sequence is being shown to the group. If any team member is caught talking or saying anything out loud his/her team will loose a point and be disqualified for that round.
5. We will have a discussion about focus and passion afterwards.
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