I assume Focus is the same thing as PS1's Accumulate? Damn name changes. Formy does bring up another good tip: it's always good to do something. Every successful action gains you additional exp/JP, so it's always good to have some action to do, even if it's largely pointless and you're still miles away from the enemy monsters. Squire's Accumulate/Yell (or whatever they're called in WotL) are good for that sort of thing, and make them useful to have as abilities early on.