Focus is a fragile concept that needs a lot of effort to be achieved a very little to be lost. It is the place where you allocate your attention that tells you if you are getting things done or not. You might know what you must do, and how to do but you are not getting closer. This is what focus does to you. Focus is affected mainly by our environments. In fact, our brains are made in a way that allows them to respond and notice new information, which helps us live in our environments. In today’s societies, we are flooded by messages from all the ways, especially with the presence of social media. These disruptions not only take from the time we have to do a certain task, but they can negatively impact its quality.
However, there are many ways we can adopt to manage the distractions from our environment to keep our attention in only one place long enough to finish our tasks. Here are 5 tips to improve focus and achieve more.
1- IDENTIFY WHAT IS WORTHY
To know what is worthy of your time, we recommend you create a plan of your day, every morning. In this plan, you will mention the most important things to do and get done with. Throughout the day make sure that your attention is only distracted on this list. To make it easy and ensure you finish your tasks; try to identify 1 to 3 tasks per day. Once you notice your focus ability improving you can increase this number.
2- SET THE TONE
It is essential to have the right environment where you can easily stay focused. Think of all the things you could need during your working time such as a coffee or water. You can put your office hours on the door so others know when they cannot interrupt you. It is recommended that you work at a private pace where others won’t come to bother you.
3- PUT YOUR USUAL DISTRACTIONS AWAY
If you have trouble focusing, then there is a chance that you already know what the things that distract you, are. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb mode, stay away from chatting programs, and if you are using earphones, make sure that they provide noise reduction.
4- TAKE SHORT BREAKS
Sometimes the reason why we lose focus is that because we have been focused for a very long time. According to studies, we can lose focus after 90 minutes of work. So to avoid negatively affecting your quality of work, make sure you take breaks after 90 minutes of work. Take a walk, meditate or stretch.
5- MAXIMIZE YOUR PRIME TIME
Your prime time is the time in which your natural energy cycle is at its highest. Take advantage of these moments to schedule your work time. Start with your most challenging tasks to get them done, and then move to the ones that require less brain energy as your natural energy starts to decrease.
