How to Focus and Maximize Your Productivity (the Definitive
Guide)
Until you know how to focus, you’ll never be
able to think clearly, solve problems, make decisions, or remember things.
Being focused is important but staying on a task is becoming harder and harder.
A symphony of notifications can draw you out of whatever you’re doing at a
moment’s notice.
Every time your mind wanders from your work,
you have to waste time and energy getting back on track. A recent study
from the University of California calculated that it took people an average of
25 minutes and 26 seconds to get back to work after an interruption. This
means that every time something takes your attention off your work, you lose
nearly half an hour of your precious time.
Interruptions are bound to happen, but when
they happen several times per day, you’ll waste lots of time and energy. In
this guide, you’ll learn more about why it’s so hard to stay focused and what
you can do to reduce distractions, be more productive, and increase your focus.
A.
What makes staying focused difficult
Physically
unfit
Everything is more difficult when you feel
sick or tired. If you haven’t been getting enough sleep, your mind is bound to
wander.
Human bodies are meant to be in motion, but
many of us lead sedentary lifestyles. Not getting enough exercise is another
common reason you might lose focus quickly. Exercising helps your body regulate
hormones and process insulin. It also alleviates symptoms of depression and
anxiety. A British study found that people’s work performance was better
on the days they exercised:
What you eat and
drink can play a major role in your ability
to settle into your work, too. Start by staying properly hydrated. About 60% of
your body is water. If you’re dehydrated you’re going to feel sluggish, and
your brain won’t be able to work as well.
Digestive upsets and imbalanced gut bacteria
are disruptive no matter what you’re doing. An upset digestive system is
uncomfortable, but it also prevents you from making use of all the nutrients in
your food. This means that even if you are eating well, you may not be getting
the nutrition that helps you focus.
For example, B Vitamins are essential for
digestion and we deplete them rapidly when exposed to stress. A lack of B Vitamins
will almost certainly leave you feeling foggy-headed.
An
emotional brain
You know how hard it can be to focus when
you’re worried about something else. Your limbic system, the epicenter for all
your emotions and memories, attaches feelings to everything. Based on a
study conducted by Bond University professor of management Cynthia Fisher,
there are some common emotions at work shown to shape performance:
The way you feel about your work can
destroy your productivity and focus if you have a negative point of view. It’s
worthwhile to take some time to get to know yourself so that you can figure out
what triggers emotional reactions and loss of focus.
One of the best things you can do is infuse
your life with positivity. When your work triggers positive emotions, you’ll be
more interested in what you’re doing, and it’ll be easier to stay on task.
Too
many distractions
We’re fortunate to have so much technology at
our fingertips, but these advances are a double-edged sword. As you work, phone
calls, text messages, emails, and social media notifications threaten to derail
your focus.
A 2012 study from the McKinsey Global
Institute found that people spend around 13 hours or 28% of their work-week managing
emails. That’s not to say that all time spent on technology is
non-productive. It’s just that most of us have a hard time compartmentalizing
our inboxes and notifications so that they don’t pull us from other tasks. As
mentioned, it takes a whopping 25
minutes and 26 seconds to regain focus on average. Distractions are
costly.
Multitasking
through the day
You may think you’re being more efficient
when you multitask, but only about 2% of the population can effectively
multitask. James Clear’s illustration has best described the
myth of multitasking:
For the other 98%, they mutitask in three
different ways:
- Do two things at the same time.
- Switch to a new task without completing the
original thing they were working on.
- Rapidly cycle back and forth between tasks,
which gives the illusion that they are among the 2% of effective
multitaskers.
Human brains aren’t designed to do that kind
of cognitive shuffling. People end up with a nasty build up of “attention
residue” when they switch between tasks.[9]
If you’ve ever been distracted by thinking
about something else you have to do while you’re working on another project,
you’ve experienced the effects of attention residue. Constantly shifting
between tasks can cost you about 40% or 16 hours of your workweek. That’s like
tossing two days out of every work-week in the trash.
Multitasking can cause you to perform as though
you’ve lost 10-15 points on your IQ score. No matter how smart you are, that’s
a significant drop in your effectiveness. A study from the University of London
likened this to missing an entire night of sleep.
You’ll thrive if you can learn how to focus
and carve out time for deep work. You’ll need to create windows of time that
are completely free of distractions like emails if you want to be most
effective.
B.
How to find focus in a distracted world
Tricks
to tackle distractions
1.
Block out time for uninterrupted work
Make sure you schedule important time for
yourself where you can focus on your tasks in uninterrupted silence. Let people
know that you won’t be responding unless absolutely necessary. Think of this as
scheduling a meeting with yourself and treat it the same as you would when
scheduling a meeting with others.
Put your status as “busy” on your messaging
apps and shared calendars. Wear headphones (even if you aren’t listening to
anything) to make yourself appear that you’re focusing on your work.
Intentionally carving out this block of time will help you focus and cause
others to be more hesitant about distracting you.
2.
Email batching
Emails can come into our inbox continuously
through the day and it’s tempting to respond to them as and when we receive
them. Similar to blocking out specific time for focus, carve out time to deal
with emails in one go.
Doing this will create more productivity and
keep you in the flow of dealing with emails one after the other. If you find
you still get distracted easily by every new email, you can install a Chrome
extension called Block Site which
allows you to stop Gmail notifications coming through at specific times.
3.
Turn technology from a distraction into a useful tool
These days, many people feel controlled by
technology and their phones to some extent so make use of the disabling options
it gives you. Turn off email alerts, app notifications, set your phone to go
straight to voicemail and even create auto-responses to incoming text messages.
There are also some really cool apps that
encourage you to be more productive and less distracted by your phone. Forrest is
an app that rewards you each time you focus well, motivating you in a fun way
and encourages you to leave your phone well alone.
4.
Schedule a distraction time
Just as important as scheduling focus time
is scheduling distraction time.
A study conducted by the social networking
company Draugiem Group, found that regular breaks was the key to productivity.
More specifically, the most productive employees spent 52 minutes working
followed by a 17 minute break each time.
This is down to the brain’s ability to stay
motivated – it just can’t sustain long periods of focus and concentration. The
average attention span for an adult is between 15 and 40 minutes. After this,
distractions become more powerful and we become less motivated. So while taking
a mental break might seem unproductive, in the long run it makes the brain more
efficient towards a task.
Techniques
to train a more focused mind
5.
Anticipate your internal needs
You may think it’s the outside physical
distractions that cause us to be unproductive but actually 44% of distractions
are also internal. Think about it – hunger, boredom, stress and lack of sleep
have probably played a part in your demotivation many times.
The good news is, you can control these
factors by understanding your patterns and planning ahead. Do you always feel
sleepy late-afternoon? Does the hunger set in around 11am? Do you start to get
bored towards the end of the day? Taking note of these patterns and
counteracting them is a brilliant way to become less distracted by them.
Mix up your tasks so you alternate the boring
and interesting ones more frequently. Keep a snack close when you know your
stomach starts to rumble. Go for a quick run up and down the stairs to perk you
up.
6.
Practice mindfulness
Mindfulness trains your mind to identify
thoughts that arise throughout your day. When it comes to distraction,
understanding and noticing these moments can help you deal with them more quickly
and increase your attention span.
Meditation and mindfulness practice can be
done at any time. While you eat your food, notice the taste, texture and how it
looks and feels. When reading, really take in every word or while out walking
notice how your body feels and the details of your surroundings. Doing this on
a regular basis will eventually train your mind when it comes to other areas
where distracting thoughts pop up like a work task.
Watch this 20-minute guided mindfulness
exercise guide if you want to learn how to practice mindfulness:
7.
Exercise regularly
Not only is exercise good for the body but
it’s also good for the brain.
Physical exercise fires up the neurons in the brain making you more alert and
willing to concentrate. This means it increases your ability to ignore
distractions and get on with the task at hand.
You can do an exercise routine in the morning
and head straight into work making sure your block of focus time is carved out
first thing. You’ll be surprised at how much motivation you have and how much
you get done.
8.
Create a willpower workout
Just like your muscles need a workout, so
does your willpower in order to build up its strength.
Setting daily self-control habits can train
our mind in the art of control in many other areas. In the book Willpower
by John Tierny and Roy Baumeister, Tierny cites a study in which students were
asked to watch their posture for a week. At the end of that week, these
students performed better on self-control tasks (tasks that were unrelated to
sitting up straight) than another group who weren’t asked to be mindful of
their posture.
A good willpower practice is to watch the way
you speak. Make an effort not to use contractions i.e. try saying ‘I am’
instead of ‘I’m’. Speak in complete sentences and refrain from saying ‘nah’
instead of ‘no’ or ‘yeah’ instead of ‘yes’.
Alternatively, try using your opposite hand
in tasks. The aim is to get your brain used to mental effort and the more it
uses mental effort, the more it builds up your willpower muscle.
C.
A solid routine to stay focused
You don’t have to wonder how to focus if you set
a routine. Having excellent habits leads to a productive routine that saves you
tons of time and helps you focus.
Finding and adopting the right daily routine
will help you regain wasted time. Your mind and body will thank you for the
decreased anxiety and your productivity will be super-boosted.
If you’re looking for inspiration about
habits you should incorporate into your day, check out my post about how to
create your own powerful routine:
A Powerful Daily Routine that Will
Upgrade Your Life (With Exact Steps to Follow)
Now you know why it’s hard to stay focused
and what steps you can take to stay on-task.
Start by addressing your physical health and
emotional needs. Identify what’s distracting you and compartmentalize tasks
like managing email to specific times in your day. If you’re a chronic
multi-tasker, it’s time to hang up that hat and focus on one thing at a time.
Above all, develop productive habits that
lead to efficient routines so that deep focus becomes the norm for you. You
have all the tools you need to figure out how to focus on the things that
matter most to you. It’s time to give your work your undivided attention.
Leon Ho
https://www.lifehack.org/680976/how-to-focus-and-maximize-your-productivity-the-definitive-guide
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