How to Stay Focused? (Even when thoughts sweep you away to exciting realms)

Focus has had a complex public image in recent years. On the one hand, it's marketed as a rare commodity in a world saturated with distractions. Conversely, people choose to focus on one thing only when their attention strays from what they want to achieve. That is, if I know how to define my desire, I can remove everything I don't believe belongs to it or contributes to its fulfillment. But if I don't know how to define my desire, I can search for its definition through distractions. In other words, I can think a thought, which will lead me to think another thought, followed by yet another thought. All these thoughts will tell me they've arrived to help me define how to bring what I want into being. In practice, they don't know what to define because they lack a starting point – a basic desire that dictates the train of thought. Focus is an effective tool when people enter a state of overthinking. On the other hand, the moment focus is intended to introduce a different kind of unfocus – that is, an attempt at self-definition while in motion – it becomes a much more scattered focus, with no stable, basic point to return to afterward. Planning isn't an essential tool for life, but when we set out on a journey, we take a compass with us to show us the way. If this direction is constantly within us, we depend on our personal state to understand the direction. Remember – you can't always look inward to consult the compass. Nor do you have to rely solely on yourself. That's precisely what collaborations are for.
Here are 3 questions to help you find your external compass:
1. What external action grounds you and brings you back to yourself, and you can do it without thought or planning?
2. Is there a movement, object, thought, or physical place that can remind you of this grounding?
3. How can you signal to yourself that you've gotten lost in a thought about “how to do” that is actually a lack of focus on “what to do”?

What is your compass?