Organizing your work well is an important element of productivity. Writing to-do lists, generating calendars, and scheduling your events, meetings, and reminders are all part of the game. They help you improve your working process while reducing stress because you don’t have to keep everything in your brain.
However, all of this does not guarantee that you will sit still for a set period of time and do your work. So, after organizing your work, the next step is to enter into a flow and do the things that are waiting for you. Focus is arguably still the most important factor when it comes to productivity.
We’ve outlined four methods for achieving razor-sharp attention, which will help you complete tasks accurately and in less time in this post. Without further ado let’s look at the four ways to improve focus!
“If People Are Doubting How Far You Can Go, Go So Far That You Can’t Hear Them Anymore.”
– Michele Ruiz.
Decide How You’ll Handle Distractions
“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.”
– Babe Ruth
In a nutshell, we live in a world filled with diversions. New messages, e-mails, social media updates, new assignments, and information arrive on a regular basis.
We can easily lose attention or attempt to multitask and manage everything simultaneously. However, even if you work all day, you still get the impression that you haven’t accomplished much.
As a result, there are two approaches to dealing with distractions.
You might start by attempting to eliminate or avoid distractions. The best place to begin is by deciding on your working environment and identifying potential distractions so that every phone ring in the next room does not throw you off track.
Have a look at this post on flow mastery to help you with this.
We understand how tempting it is to have all of your notifications switched on. This way, you believe you have more control over the issue. Anyway, you’re still being controlled by alerts in either case.
Consider responding to your e-mails and texts at a predetermined time, such as before or after lunch or at any given one time. Meanwhile, don’t respond to them.
The only “trick” people tell you you can do is look at the topic of an email and, if it’s imperative, respond to it; otherwise, leave it alone. There’s still a problem with that method. You’ll double the number of times you read the email subjects in the best case (once for scanning and once for processing). The method I apply is the “now” method. If I read an email, I handle it right away, be it in the form of a reply or a move to the paper bin.
When working, utilize earplugs or headphones if necessary, and listen to some relaxing music that will help you relax.
The second strategy for dealing with distractions is to welcome them. You’ve most likely been in a position where you couldn’t avoid becoming distracted by anything. There was a building site directly next to your house/office, or you couldn’t escape certain noises and occurrences.
We can disable notifications on our phones and laptops, but we can’t disable the construction site.
Embracing distractions that are beyond our control while yet being able to focus and complete tasks is the next step.
It’s all about not resisting the current situation. We have no control over the noises, but we do have power over how we react to them.
Begin with a modest project. Allow the sounds to fill your room by opening your window without earplugs, headphones, or anything else. Allow the sounds of the outer world to fill the room.
While it may be difficult at first, once you master the ability to let noises pass through you without analyzing them, you can work in complete pandemonium and yet get things done.
As a result, you have two options for dealing with the current world. Which will it be today?
Make a Plan
“Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.”
– Earl Nightingale
Before you begin a task, decide what outcomes you wish to attain. If you’re creating an article, for example, consider the material you want to write about, the headings, and so on.
The second thing to remember is that your to-do list should not include chores that are overly broad or shallow.
Instead of “create a new landing page,” break the activity down into smaller sections, so you know exactly what to do.
This way, you’ll be able to estimate how long the task will take to finish, and you won’t have to break your flow every 5 minutes to think about what you need to do next.
Deadlines
“If you work on something a little bit every day, you end up with something that is massive.”
– Kenneth Goldsmith.
We frequently discuss the necessity of setting timelines for our projects. This is due to the fact that deadlines create a sense of urgency in our minds, causing us to forget about what isn’t important and allowing us to get into the flow more quickly.
A deadline aids in procrastination and completing chores that should be completed in a day but may be stretched for a week of work because we cannot get into the flow quickly enough.
When it comes to deadlines, though, you must be honest with yourself. When you work for a too short period of time, you may become preoccupied with how little time you have left rather than concentrating on the task at hand.
Finally, deadlines can help you stay on track, but they must be practical and consistent.
Optimize Unhealthy Habits
“The big secret in life is that there is no secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.”
– Oprah Winfrey.
You won’t be able to concentrate on your responsibilities if you only get 3 hours of sleep every night, eat junk food, and drink copious amounts of coffee. We frequently take our eating and sleeping habits for granted. However, optimizing them is critical for our health, productivity, and overall well-being.
Unhealthy behaviors are harmful not just to your body but also to your psyche. They produce brain fog and the difficulty to stay concentrated on the task; you’re more likely to make mistakes, and you’re less likely to succeed in what you’re doing in the long run.
That’s it. This was my short countdown of ways to improve your focus, fast. Here’s a post on how to increase mental processing speed that goes deeper.
I hope these help and you can implement one or the other in your daily routine.