My husband and I have a joke: “There are no signed footballs.”
It’s our way of calling each other out when one of us clearly wasn’t listening.
A few years ago, my dad, who is pretty much deaf but refuses to wear hearing aids thought I said something about a signed football… when what I actually said was nothing even close.
These days, when that phrase gets dropped, it’s more often directed at me.
If you’ve ever been in the same room with someone but miles away in your head this is for you.
Or if your thoughts drift in a million directions while trying to spend time with someone… this is also for you.
The term ADD gets thrown around lightly these days and joked about often, but research shows society as a whole is developing shorter attention spans.
Pair that with declining estrogen levels in perimenopause and beyond, which can impact focus and concentration, and you’ve got double trouble.
I can’t imagine navigating this world with true ADD.
So what do you do when you find yourself putting acupuncture needles in a patient while your mind is still stuck on solving a puzzle from your previous appointment?
Or you’re sitting in the living room talking with your husband, and suddenly your brain wants to revisit a patient from three days ago and adjust their estradiol?
I know I’m not alone here.
At one point, I joined a meditation group with guided sessions because silence alone turned into a free-for-all:
list-making, missed ideas, patient plans, and all the things I had to remember.
Sound familiar?
My mind is always going. The chatter is there 24/7.
I even fell in love with micro-dosing GLP-1s like tirzepatide and retatrutide (not at the same time)to help quiet the food noise on top of everything else.
So when I met Dr. Izzy Justice, my podcast guest this week, I was excited to learn a simple tool I could use on the go to achieve laser-sharp focus in seconds.
Dr. Justice is a performance coach for top athletes, including well-known golfers.
The technique he shared and the others we discuss on the podcast are tools he uses to help clients stay focused when their minds try to hijack their performance.
Since recording that episode, I’ve been using his trick daily both in the office and at home.
I’d love for you to try it.
Here’s what you do:
Count to 10 as fast as you can.
Then count backward from 10 to 1 as slowly as you can.
That’s it.
See what happens.
It takes less than 30 seconds, and with practice, I’ve found it to be one of the best ways to tell my “monkey brain” to quiet down.
Go ahead, try it now.
How did it go?
The first time I tried it during an acupuncture session, I had to repeat it a few times.
Now, after a couple of weeks, I can hold my focus longer and longer.
And what happens when you focus more?
You create space for true connection with your body.
What it really wants.
What it truly needs.
Yesterday, I mentioned “the Vis” aka “the Force” within you.
This is it, in action.
Quiet the chatter, and you start to reveal your true self.
Ask yourself questions. Stay curious. See what insights come up.
My friend Brad Bizjack from the Rewire Your Mind Podcast says:
“You’re only one insight away from a radically different life.”
What if that insight is hidden in the chatter waiting for the silence to reveal itself?
Try the exercise and sit with that for a moment.
My eye-opening podcast with Dr. Izzy Justice, a sports neuroscience pioneer, best-selling author, and peak performance coach is out today, and we dive into much more than just this one tool.
If you’re wondering whether you need medication for focus and concentration, give this episode a listen first.
Here’s to using the Force within you to focus better,
Dr. J
PS: Click HERE to find all my podcasts
P.P.S. I’m testing a couple of new things this month:
1. MotherFerment – a cleaner that’s better for the earth and your health, and replaces multiple products in your home.
Learn more or try it with me – code: KRAUSE10 for $ off.
2. Elonga HRV Device – measures heart rate variability to show how stress, habits, and behaviors impact your body. Great for tracking whether interventions are actually working over time.
Code: drjanninekrause for $ off
I’ll share more about both next week—stay tuned.
