I guess you are referring to a state where if you have just had lunch and you are sitting in a briefing..your mind wanders around, and the briefing doesn’t reach you. or there is a cricket match going on in Australia but you have to be doing something urgent in the office and you just cant do it…or you are expecting to meet a friend in the coffeeshop, and in the meanwhile you read your mails..but you just dont feel like responding.
It is a very common state if it happens once in a while, you are distracted, your mind is pre occupied, it is focussed on something else. But if it happens too often, or all the time..it is a medical condition. Let me first talk about this, so i can tell you methods to focus if it is not a medical condition. So if it is a state that happens all the time, you feel tired , not interested in what you do- consult your doctor, consult a psychologist (it could be depression) consult endocrinologist (it could be a problems with some important hormone, thyroid, cholesterol etc etc)
So first get the chemical reasons out of the way. Strange thing is too few people think about seeing a doc as first option (we usually do this as a last option) and normally no one advises us to do that. I am telling you from experience..visit a doctor, there is nothing wrong in that. Get you chemicals in place. I have thyroid, i suffered from clinical depression ( i know no one will believe. but it is true), but no one can tell. I got to good doctors and i am perfectly balanced with my chemicals.
Now, if chemicals are not the problem, solving a focus issue is just too simple and easy. You always focus on things you want to focus on. that means if you are interested in the match ( in Australia) there is no way you can focus on work. Our mind always makes a priority list and focuses in that particular order. Also it can focus only one thing at a time. You need to set priorities in life and keep reminding yourself of these priorities. You have to realise that work is important for you, if you keep thinking it is not and you are forced to be here…there is no way you will focus.
Too many of us (at least in India) get the priorities in life wrong. We spend 2/3rd of our awake time (or even more) working. We do this even if we don’t like it. So trick is to do what you like, or learn to like what you do. If you are interested you will not be bored. Thats is one reason why Artists, designers, performers are always alive..they are doing what they love..they are passionate..it is not work for them.
Find what you like and make that your work. This applies to companies as well. If a company is not passionate about making sweets (products), but makes it just so they earn from it…those sweets will not be very good. See any apple keynote to see what it means to be passionate about what you do. It is not surprising that they sell so much.