concentrate the mind

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concentrate the mind

To cause one to focus, typically on what is important in a particular situation. I didn't think I was capable of diffusing a bomb, but nothing concentrates the mind more than the threat of danger!
See also: concentrate, mind
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

ˌconcentrate the ˈmind

make you think very clearly and seriously about something: Being informed that you are likely to lose your job unless you work harder concentrates the mind wonderfully.
See also: concentrate, mind
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
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We can learn a lot from being a Monitor Farm: it concentrates the mind a lot more and this will be a big bonus for us and for the staff."
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Actually composing your thoughts with pen and paper and without the luxury of a delete button to change or start again, certainly concentrates the mind.
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As British literary lion Samuel Johnson once noted, nothing concentrates the mind so wonderfully as the prospect of being hanged in a fortnight.
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Nothing so concentrates the mind as adversity and it has strengthened the fabric of all communities who face economic challenges.
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It's great that the profile has been raised-it concentrates the mind. We've got to convince the county council of the benefits to them, to us and to the district."
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For those of a nervous disposition, the noise certainly concentrates the mind the for the three-hour treat ahead.
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If anything concentrates the mind upon summer, It is winter.
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The prospect of a contract not being renewed concentrates the mind wonderfully," adds Goldsmith.
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"If a policymaker finds himself dealing with a situation in which every item on the checklist seems present," he writes, "it is probably time for the kind of crisis that wonderfully concentrates the mind."
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It concentrates the mind on the extreme pressures men are expected to endure through unjust divorce procedures that favour one sex over the other.
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Diana said: "I find the confines and tranquillity of the canals concentrates the mind and provides a continuous flow of subjects for a variety of paintings."
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Almost everyone has written them off and nothing concentrates the mind more than playing a deadly rival who happens to be unbeaten.
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