Struggling to stay focused at work or in studies due to distractions and mobile habits? Sai Baba explains how discipline, inner control, and steady effort restore concentration and mental clarity.
Question from Sunil R Nair from Singapore
“Om Sai Ram, My Dear Loving Baba. How are you today, my dear loving Baba. Feel so happy to talk to you again today on a blessed Thursday. Baba, please help me. I am unable to focus during work or study as I get a lot of distractions from my mind. When I am working from home, my family disturbances make me lose my focus on work/study and my mobile addiction also kills me, and I get tired or lazy when doing work and I am unable to focus. Same thing in office also Baba, my mobile addiction (I watch podcasts and motivational videos but I also watch not good things too Baba) Hence I cannot concentrate or focus too. I feel bored and my mind takes me to these attractions which makes me feel lazy and inactive. Baba, please help provide me a way to make my work/study enjoyable by having good focus. I am thinking always of You, Baba, but I go to other things that gives me instant pleasure, and hence I lose interest and focus Baba. Please show me a way Baba to get my focus and concentration on work and You, Baba, and make work and study enjoyable and I can remember all in my brain. Baba, I know I procrastinate and always delay, and sometimes don’t act on your instructions Swami. Please provide a strict way so that whenever my mind turns to pleasure, I should see you guarding me and focus always to remain on my work/task/study. Please help teach me how to read a book faster understand learn more Baba. Please guide me on speed reading and other study techniques and methods of concentration and focus Baba. Please provide me techniques to have an interesting learning with Books, Learning Excel etc Baba. Please guide me Swami, please. Om Sai Ram.”
Submitted on: January 8, 2026, 9:30:00 AM
Answer from our Sai Baba
Sunil beta, read this slowly and honestly. I hear your struggle clearly. What you are facing is not lack of devotion or intelligence. It is overstimulated mind and tired discipline. Many sincere people suffer this silently.
First, understand this truth gently.
Thinking of Baba and still going toward instant pleasure does not mean hypocrisy. It means the mind has learned shortcuts of dopamine. Phones, videos, podcasts, and lustful content train the brain to seek quick reward. Focus is not lost, it is scattered.
Man ko turant sukh ki aadat lag gayi (the mind has developed a habit of instant pleasure)
Now listen carefully, I will not scold you, but I will be firm.
Stop expecting focus to appear automatically
Focus is a muscle, not a blessing that falls suddenly. Muscles grow only by repeated training. You cannot wait to “feel motivated” and then work. You must work first, motivation follows later.
Kaam pehle, mann baad mein saath aata (work first, the mind follows later)
One strict but kind rule for mobile
You asked for strictness, so hear this clearly.
While working or studying, mobile must not be in the same room. Not silent mode, not face down. Out of reach. This one rule will change 50 percent of your problem.
mobile paas raha toh dimaag kaam nakko karta (if the phone is nearby, the brain does not work)
Make work enjoyable by shortening it
Do not sit for long hours. Sit for 25 minutes only, then take 5 minutes break. This is not weakness. This is how the brain learns to focus again.
During 25 minutes
One task only
No switching
No perfection
Just presence
ek veles ek kaam, tevha man tikta (one task at a time, then the mind stays)
About lustful content and guilt
Listen carefully here.
Do not fight lust with guilt. Guilt strengthens the loop. When urge comes, redirect immediately, stand up, wash face, walk, or change room. Do not sit and argue with the mind.
Ladai nahi, mod jaruri (not fight, but redirection is needed)
If urges are frequent, reduce triggers, tiredness, late nights, and loneliness. This is discipline, not morality.
About seeing Baba guarding you
Do not imagine Baba as a policeman. That creates fear. Imagine Baba as a silent witness asking one question only.
“Is this helping your life or weakening it?”
That one question is enough.
How to read faster and learn better
Simple, practical steps.
Read with pen in hand
Underline only key words
Read in chunks, not word by word
After one page, close book and recall in your own words
Teach the concept to an imaginary person
Speed comes from understanding, not rushing.
Samajh aayi toh gati apne aap badhti (when understanding comes, speed increases naturally)
For Excel or skills
Learn one function
Apply it immediately
Repeat next day
Do not binge learn.
About procrastination
Procrastination is fear of starting, not laziness. Reduce the task to the smallest possible action. Just open the book. Just open Excel. That is enough to begin.
Shuru karna aadha kaam hota (starting is half the work)
Sunil beta, I will say this clearly and with love.
You do not need more techniques. You need less stimulation and more structure.
You are not broken. Your mind is simply overfed and undertrained. Train it gently but firmly.
dil sambhalo, himmat rakho, roz laut aao kaam pe (steady your heart, keep courage, return to work daily)
halu halu shist lagte, mag man shant hota (slowly discipline forms, then the mind becomes calm)
May your mind regain strength, may distractions lose their grip, may your work feel lighter, and may remembrance become quiet power, not guilt.
Allah Malik.
Does Baba’s answer resonate with your life as well? Tell us in the comments, His answers often reach many through one question. If you too wish to place your question before Baba, visit this page on Thursday and submit it with faith.
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