losing focus
Mind wandering away
Losing focus is the state of becoming distracted or unable to concentrate on what you're doing.
The phrase applies equally to mental attention and optical clarity—a camera loses focus when the image blurs, a student loses focus when their mind wanders.
I keep losing focus during long meetings.
The implication is that focus was present and slipped away, not that it was never there.
- distractedUnable to concentrate
- driftingMoving without purpose
- zoning outLosing conscious attention temporarily
- zoned outMentally checked out
- spacing outLosing focus temporarily
daydreaming · head in the clouds · scatterbrained · foggy · in a fog · hazy · wandering · spaced out · blurry · absent-minded · glazed · drowsy · bored · fidgeting · restless · overwhelmed · scattered · tuning out
- absent-mindednessabsent-minded, forgetfulness, distraction, spacing out, zoning out
- inattentiondistracted, spacing, absent-minded, distraction, obliviousness
- Strategic Mistakesmiscalculation, overconfidence, underestimation, poor timing, overextension
- losing interestboredom, apathy, indifference, disengagement, tuning out
- Derailment tacticsdiversion, deflection, misdirection, sidetracking, distraction
losing focusconcentrating
Directing mental effort narrowly
focusing · paying attention · zeroing in · locking in · honing in
losing focuskeeping one's eye on the ball
Maintaining focus on essentials
persevering · buckling down · doubling down · sticking with it · following through
lose, losing, lost, losers, loss, losses, focus, focused, focusing