This past weekend I engaged in one of my favorite activities as a beekeeper. I got to catch a swarm of bees.

If you haven’t seen it before, it’s wild. About half of the bees leave with a queen and set up somewhere temporarily while they’re looking for their new permanent home. In the case of this weekend, it was in the branches of a cedar tree. It’s my opportunity as a beekeeper to go put a box or a hive underneath them and try to entice them to go in before they fly away.

It looked really chaotic for a while.

Eventually they settled in. And now they have more room to grow and thrive in their new environment.

The experience always reminds me that sometimes we need to do the same. When our focus is frayed, when our motivation is gone, when we feel stuck, the answer isn’t always to push and then push even harder. Sometimes it’s to disrupt ourselves. Not recklessly but with intention, like the bees.

If you’re in that place right now, here are three ways to “swarm your status quo” and reset your focus.

Change your environment to change your focus

When bees swarm, it’s because their old hive no longer supports their growth. It’s overcrowded, resources are stretched, and there’s simply not enough space to thrive. So they leave. They start fresh somewhere new.

The same principle applies to us. If your physical or digital environment is cluttered, noisy, or just uninspiring, it’s likely stifling your focus.

What would a fresh start look like for you? Maybe it’s rearranging your workspace so it feels more open and inviting. Maybe it’s switching locations entirely: working at a library, a café, or even outside. Small adjustments like better lighting, a plant on your desk, or putting your phone in another room can create mental space you didn’t realize you were missing.

Our environment often speaks to our subconscious before we even realize it. When it signals calm, clarity, and purpose, our focus tends to follow.

Break the pattern before it breaks your focus

Routines can be powerful. They help us build momentum, create consistency, and reduce indecision fatigue. But sometimes, routines become ruts. If you feel like you’re going through the motions without making real progress, that’s a sign it’s time to shake things up. What once felt productive can quietly turn into a pattern that holds you back. Maybe it’s trying a new productivity method, like the Pomodoro technique (working in short, focused sprints with breaks in between). What patterns could you start setting that would help you focus?

It could also mean doing something completely different for a day to reset your mental rhythm. Take a long walk, start your morning without screens, or even do a task you’ve been putting off just to free up mental space.

Patterns are powerful, but only if they’re aligned with where you want to go. If they’re not, break them—and build new ones that actually serve you.

Ask better questions to get better answers

Back in the old hive, the bees sensed that something wasn’t working. It was crowded, overstressed, and unsustainable. They didn’t just keep going. They left. But they didn’t do it randomly; they followed cues and made collective decisions based on instinct and observation.

When was the last time you paused long enough to ask yourself the right questions?

It’s easy to power through the week on autopilot, only to realize we’ve been focusing on the wrong things. Try asking:
• What’s draining more of my energy than it should?
• What distractions have I let become part of my routine?
• What task or goal actually deserves my full attention right now?

The quality of your questions determines the quality of your focus. Don’t ask, “Why can’t I focus?” Ask, “What’s in the way of my focus?” That shift can reveal surprising and powerful answers.

Design your focus, don’t just demand it

In moments when we feel stuck in our work or life, it’s tempting to double down and just try harder. But often, the answer isn’t more effort—it’s smarter design.

Like bees, sometimes we need to swarm. We need to disrupt ourselves—thoughtfully, intentionally—in order to move forward. New space, new habits, and new questions can lead us not just back to productivity, but to purpose.

Published May 12, 2025, in Jones Loflin’s blog.