keeping one's eye on the ball
Maintaining your attention
Keeping one's eye on the ball means staying focused on what matters most.
The phrase comes from sports where watching the ball is fundamental to hitting or catching it, but the figurative sense dominates: With all these distractions, it's hard to keep your eye on the ball.
Someone who fails to do so loses sight of priorities or gets sidetracked from the main objective.
- concentrationSustained single-minded attention
- laser focusIntense, undivided concentration
- mindfulnessAwareness of the present
- vigilanceState of keen awareness
- alertnessActive mental awareness
paying attention · heads up · attentiveness · acuity · reflexes · awareness · timing · reaction time · on your toes · accuracy · commitment · prioritization · diligence · follow-through · observation · scrutiny · tunnel vision · skillfulness
keeping one's eye on the balllosing focus
Inability to concentrate
taking one's eye off the ball · daydreaming · zoning out · spacing out · woolgathering
keeping one's eye on the ballgetting sidetracked
missing the forest for the trees · losing the plot · fiddling while Rome burns · missing the point · mission creep