Vocabulary for FOCUS at work | Business English class

How can we talk about focus at work? Becoming focused and losing our focus, and all of the distractions that take our focus away. That's the focus of today's podcast. If you work in a busy office then maybe you find yourself talking, in English about focus. In today podcast we're talking about some natural and native sounding ways that you can discuss this topic. You'll hear some great words, phrases, and idioms that you can use to discuss your focus in English and this week you'll also get a book recommendation!

If you speak English at work and want to sound more native and natural when talking to colleagues, customers, or clients, then I hope that the vocabulary, grammar, and communication tips in today's episode will be useful for you. 

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Also, if you're studying for the IELTS, TOEFL, ICAO or Cambridge English tests and exams then you might find some of the vocabulary in this episode really useful.

This podcast is all about helping you to communicate better, in English, at work. I work with international English speakers from around the world who use English, at work, as a second or third language and I hope that I can bring some of the ideas, vocabulary, and grammar, from those sessions, to you in this podcast.

Don’t forget that my full time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills. So, if you need English to do your job but don’t speak it natively then maybe we can work together to help you to achieve your language goals. 

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Transcript

Welcome back to the Breakout Business English podcast. My name is Chris and I'm a business English and communication coach. I've personally worked with over 1,000 international professionals, almost certainly just like you, to improve the way that they communicate at work in English. Thank you so much for listening and for your time. I, of course, know how valuable it is. And our topic today is... Focus. That's right, in a world full of distractions, we're going to talk about that rarest of things, the ability to apply your attention to a task and not let distractions get to you. Although there are some distractions that everyone needs to deal with, I think that we all have our own unique set of issues to handle. For a lot of people, social media. Is a problem. If you work in an office, Then perhaps it's your colleagues trying to get your attention. Personally, I work at home. Which means that I get to see my family a lot more than most people. However, that means that my family can take my attention away from my work whenever they want.
So maybe it's a blessing and a curse. Today, we're going to be talking about focus. We'll hear some natural and native sounding vocabulary that you can use to talk about getting focused on a task and losing focus.
So let's get started. As regular listeners will know, I like to use the first half of the podcast for the positive stuff, and today is no different.
So let's listen to some natural and native-sounding ways to talk about becoming focused and really getting into that focused zone. ♪ I think I'm just going to knuckle down and get this finished as soon as possible. I think I'm just going to knuckle down and get this finished as soon as possible. I try to tune out the office noise for at least a couple of hours each day and get some deep work done. I try to tune out the office noise for at least a couple of hours each day and get some deep work done. I need you to pull your socks up, roll up your sleeves, and really focus for the rest of the day. I need you to pull your socks up. Roll up your sleeves and really focus for the rest of the day. Okay. If I said I was listening to the news on the wireless this morning, then... What would I be talking about? I was listening to the news on the wireless this morning.
Well, this probably isn't something that I'd say. I'd probably tell you that I was listening to a news podcast, but my grandmother...
Yeah, she definitely have told you about the wireless. The wireless is what we called the radio many years ago. Most long-distance communication had been via things like telephone and telegraph, both of which required a wired connection. However, radio didn't need this, hence the name wireless. Now. If I ask you to tune in the radio, What do I mean?
Well, maybe this is not something that people do very much today, but I remember when I was younger, turning the dials, turning the knobs on the front of the radio in order to find a station. Come to think of it, we did the same with television.
So if you were looking for a radio or TV station, we use the phrase to tune in. In fact, TV and radio shows still use that phrase when they ask you to tune in next week to find out what happens. Thank you. In that case, what do you think Cue. Out. Wow. If tuning something in means that you're going to focus your radio receiver on something, then tuning something out means that you're going to ignore it. Or tried to avoid it. It's the same when you're trying to focus. You want to tune out the noise around you. Tune out unwanted distractions and focus on your work. For instance, if a colleague is always trying to give you advice that you didn't ask for, you might say that you try to tune them out. Or maybe outside of work, a lot of people try to tune out Politics. If you try to avoid and ignore political news, then you are tuning out politics. To tune something or someone out means to ignore them, or ignore something and to not give your attention to what is going on around you. Okay, the third example was quite fun. And it includes two idioms. I don't think we often hear them together, but for this podcast, you've got them both in one sentence. Let's start here. Have you ever seen politician Visit a factory. I think during political campaigns, when people are trying to win votes, this is a common sight. One thing that you often see Is political leaders taking off their ties and rolling up their sleeves? I think that the idea here is that this makes them look like they're really going to do some work. It makes them look like they're ready to focus. In the third example, we heard, I need you to pull your socks up. Roll up your sleeves. And really focus for the rest of the day. I need you to pull your socks up. Roll up your sleeves. And really focus. I must admit, I can understand where this idea of rolling your sleeves up comes from. But I might need to Google the origin of pulling your socks up. Having said that, both of these mean to work hard and give a task your full focus and attention. To pull your socks up. However, as the added meaning of improving your performance and working harder I was definitely told to pull my socks up from time to time back when I was a student. And since we're on the topic of focus, I mentioned in the second example, the idea of deep work. And this is a reference to the book Deep Work by Cal Newport. Hold on, was that the second example? Yes, it was. I shouldn't doubt my script.
So yeah, this was a reference to the book Deep work by Cal Newport. Maybe you've heard of Cal Newport. He is a professor of computer science based at Georgetown University in the United States. He's written some great books about focus, productivity, and our relationship with modern technology.
So... If you really want to improve your focus and you want to hear some interesting stories along the way, see if you can find his book, Deep work. I should add that it's been translated into a lot of languages so it's very possible that you will be able to find it in your first language if you'd prefer that to the English version. Or maybe get the English version and a version in your native language so that you can easily find any words that you need to compare. I especially like the story about Building 20 at MIT University. And I mention it in a lot of the communication classes that I do, the one-to-one communication coaching.
So look out for that story if you do decide to read the book. And if you want to excel at communicating with your colleagues, then maybe we can work together. My full-time job is helping international professionals who use English at work to improve their communication skills. If you need English to do your job, but you don't speak it natively, then I would love to meet you. If you'd like to book some time to meet with me through one-to-one video calls, just you and me, then you can go to BreakoutBusinessEnglish.com – that's the title of the podcast, BreakoutBusinessEnglish.com – and find out more. Starting on our very first call, we can focus on the specific opportunities that you personally have to improve your English and communication skills and the mistakes that you make most often are the ones that cause the biggest problems with your communication. And right now you can use the code PODCAST30, that's PODCAST30, at checkout to get a 30% discount off your first booking of 30, 45 or 60 minutes.
Sometimes my calendar gets a little busy. So if you have trouble finding a time that works for you, then you can always send me a message through the contact page on the website and ask if I have any time to fit you in. I've worked with well over 1,000 non-native English-speaking professionals from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders to help them to achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you. Okay, so in the first half we looked at some examples of when you are paying attention. When attention is coming easily to you and you're not getting distracted. Now let's look at the opposite, some occasions when concentrating really isn't going very well. I keep getting pulled away by things that really don't warrant my attention. I keep getting pulled away by things that really don't warrant my attention. Every time someone calls me I lose my train of thought. Every time someone calls me, I lose my train of thought. I've finally hit my stride with this report, so I'm going to keep going while I have the momentum. I've finally hit my stride with this report, so I'm going to keep going while I have the momentum. Okay, a quick question for you. Have you ever been arrested? Have the police ever come, put you in handcuffs and taken you away?
Well, I mean, statistically, someone listening to this podcast probably has. I know the statistics for people who download it. It's quite a few people. I have quite a few listeners these days.
So maybe one of you has been arrested. And if that person is you, then you might have heard the word warrant before. That's W-A-R-R-A-N-T. Warrant. A warrant. In its most common usage, is a document. Usually signed by a judge. That allows the police to arrest you or to search your home. However, In the first example, We mean something slightly different than this. We heard. I keep getting pulled away by things that really don't warrant my attention. Things that really don't warrant my attention. When we use the word warrant at work, We mean that something requires or justifies something else, maybe some form of response or reaction. Perhaps a topic that you need to discuss at work is so important and complicated that it warrants a meeting. Instead of just a chat in a corridor or some emails. Or maybe a colleague's performance is so impressive that it warrants a promotion. And not just a quick congratulations. When we talk about something warranting your attention, We mean that you are justified in paying attention to it. We mean that you feel like you need to engage with it and like giving it your full focus is logical. The phrase train of thought is something that we heard in the second example. We heard, every time someone calls me, I lose my train of thought. Every time someone calls me, I lose my train of thought.
So. Why do you think we use the image of a train Talk about thoughts.
Well, when I think of a train... I think of a lot of individual... Aridges are train cars connected together. All heading in the same direction, one after another. And that's why we use this to talk about our thoughts. Your train of thought is the way that one idea follows logically. From another. If someone is trying to tell you how one thing affects another thing and then another thing after that and so on and so forth, then you might reply by saying something like, I'm not sure I follow your train of thought. I'm not sure I follow your train of thought. Which would mean that you're not sure. How the person got from one idea to the following idea in the sequence.
So, you can probably guess that when we say that we've lost our train of thought, we mean that we're unable. To remember. How our ideas connect together and what we're going to say, do or perhaps write next. Now, here's another word for you. This is the word stride, S-T-R-I-D-E. This can be a noun or a verb. What does it mean to stride? In its most basic sense. A stride. Is just a long step. That you take while you are walking or running. If you think about a professional runner, they have a very specific rhythm. When they first start a race, they maybe look a bit stiff. But after a few minutes, they find their natural rhythm. And their steps become smooth and powerful. And At exact moment. We can say, that they have hit their stride. In the third example, we heard: "I've finally hit my stride with this report." So I'm going to keep going while I have the momentum. I've finally hit my stride with this report.
So I'm going to keep going while I have the momentum. In the office, at work, when we use the idiom to hit your stride, We mean to describe the moment you start performing at your best. It's that great feeling when a task or maybe a new job finally becomes easy and natural for you. When you feel like the work is flowing and you're making great progress. When you're not struggling or feeling nervous anymore, and instead you are confident, fast, and everything is clicking. Into place. For example, If a new colleague joined your team last month, you might say, it took him a few weeks to learn our software. But he has really hit his stride now. He has really hit his stride now. It is a perfect, positive way. To say that someone is now working at their full potential and doing excellent work. I was reading some research a couple of weeks ago talking about task switching and how detrimental to our focus this is. Now, for instance, if you're working on something and you get a phone call or you need to go into a meeting, it can take a long time, 5, 10, 20, maybe even 30 minutes for you to really hit your stride again when you get back into that work. This, in the research, was given as an argument against frequent meetings. I wonder what you think. What is your experience of task switching like this? And how long does it take you to regain your focus and hit your stride once you return to a task that you have abandoned to do something else? Let me know if you'd like in a review. That's a great place to contact me, a great place to let me know what you're thinking. If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, then I invite you to leave a review. Every review really helps me out and helps to push the podcast to new listeners and to grow the show.
So. If you found this podcast useful, and you think that there are some valuable things in here, then feel free to write a couple of kind words, and I thank you in advance. Or if you'd prefer, just leave three or four or five stars, whatever you think this podcast is worth. And that's a great place to request a topic for a future podcast. Don't forget that if you would like to discuss any of the ideas, vocabulary, or grammar, etc. In today's episode... Or maybe discuss how you can improve your focus. I'm very happy to chat about that. Then you can book a session to work with me on your English communication skills by going to www.breakoutbusinessenglish.com. That's breakoutbusinessenglish.com or click on the link in the show notes. And use the code PODCAST30, that's PODCAST30, at checkout to get a 30% discount off your first booking. I've worked with over 1,000 non-native English-speaking professionals, from new graduates up to CEOs and government leaders, to help them achieve their goals, and I look forward to meeting you. Thank you. Just search for Breakout Business English. If there's a topic that you'd like to hear me talk about on the podcast, then I'd be excited to hear your ideas. Leave me a message or a comment on one of my YouTube videos and I look forward to hearing from you. Speaking of YouTube, I put a new video out today. It has been a month since I put a YouTube video out. My focus is usually on this podcast, so the YouTube channel sometimes takes a backseat. But there's a new video over there. I think just over 10 minutes. And it's all about whether or not native speakers notice your mistakes and what native speakers think when you do make mistakes in your English communication at work. You can search for Breakout Business English over on YouTube and find that, or go to the website and you'll find it hopefully linked on the homepage there. That is it for today. Thank you so much for listening and for your time. I really do know how valuable it is and I appreciate and respect your choice to spend some of your time with me and with this podcast. I hope you have a great week. And I'll talk to you next time. On the Breakout Business English podcast. Thanks a lot, everyone. Talk to you soon.