keep one's eye on the ball
Maintain your attention
To keep one's eye on the ball is to stay focused on what matters most, maintaining attention on the essential task rather than getting distracted.
The phrase comes from sports where tracking the ball is fundamental to performance.
With all the office politics, it's hard to keep your eye on the ball.
The negative take your eye off the ball means to lose focus at a critical moment.
- concentrationSustained single-minded attention
- stay focusedMaintain mental concentration
- watchfulnessCareful, sustained attention
- goalkeepingDefending the net
- focusConcentrated attention point
laser focus · pay attention · determination · mental toughness · mindfulness · aim · attentiveness · precision · ball · priorities · perseverance · track · strategy · caution · anticipation · single-mindedness · tunnel vision · zero in
keep one's eye on the balltake one's eye off the ball
Become distracted from priorities
lose the plot · miss the point · lose one's way · miss the forest for the trees · fiddle while Rome burns