Are you having trouble staying focused and motivated to get work done? If so, you’re not alone — it’s a common struggle! The good news is that there are plenty of strategies to increase productivity and focus, and we have some tips to help you overcome procrastination and improve your workflow.
Research tells us that our attention spans are shrinking. In 2000, we could focus for 12 seconds before our brains wandered. By 2012, social media and other distractions had reduced that time to 8.25 seconds.
No matter your line of work, interrupted focus can cause significant setbacks.
After an interruption, it can take up to 23 minutes to fully return to the same level of focus. Therefore, switching your attention from a task to, say, looking at your phone or your emails, or worse – splitting your focus between multiple tasks – can take a long time to focus again.
High-quality work is produced when you combine the intensity of focus with time. The part you struggle with is the intensity of focus, which is why complex tasks take longer to complete than needed.
So how do you improve your focus?
Various research studies have indicated how effective mindfulness can be for improving focus. One study showed that after practising just 10 minutes of mindfulness through meditation, people showed better focus and better results on subsequent tests than the control group. If you want to take the first step to improve your focus, we recommend a simple mindfulness practice through a short, guided meditation.
If meditation is not for you, you can also improve your focus with other pastimes. Try reading (not listening to audiobooks) books or other long-form content, completing puzzles or Sudoku, playing memory training games, or practising something that requires being fully immersed, such as learning a new language or musical instrument.
The ultimate goal is to achieve a “flow state” or “flow”. Flow is a mental state in which you are fully immersed in energised focus, full involvement, and enjoyment, so you lose a sense of space and time. Understandably, you won’t be able to apply this to all elements of your work, but some tasks you do require a deep level of concentration and could benefit from working in this way.
Get into flow
- Set windows of time where you will focus on one thing. That might be a block of one to two hours.
- Share your plans with the people around you so that your manager, team, or clients know how frequently you will be available via emails, messages or the phone.
- Turn off notifications. Your devices may even have focus settings you can take advantage of.
- During your designated focus time, block all notifications for e-mails, phone calls, social media and messages.
- Identify what a productive work environment looks like to you.
- Work in 60- to 90-minute blocks followed by short 10-minute breaks.
Battle procrastination
We all procrastinate from time to time. You probably all know the frustration when you’ve put off work and then have to rush through it or work overtime to finish it at the last minute. Procrastination happens for many reasons; your brain likes to preserve energy, so if it can take on a more manageable task – like answering emails or checking social media – it will. You may notice that when a complicated or complex job challenges you, you tend to find the energy to clean or organise, and you need to get yourself a snack before you begin. Your brain looks for a distraction.
To combat procrastination, you need to make your goals explicitly clear. Think about breaking more significant tasks into smaller goals; the more specific you can be with these goals and what the outcomes look like, the easier it will be to stay on task and complete them. For example, if you know you have a lengthy report to write, you want to break that down into small achievable chunks. Today’s goal may be to finish 500 words or ten slides. If the only task on your list is “finish the report”, it’s likely that you’ll put it off.
Finally, get some help. Share your goals and deadlines with others who can help you stay accountable. If you’re prone to procrastination, scheduling regular check-ins with your team, your boss or your clients (and the fear of letting them down) will mean holding yourself to the task until it’s finished.
Following these tips can help you stay focused and motivated and ultimately help you battle procrastination. You can achieve all your goals with dedication and hard work!
This article was brought to you by Naluri’s Mental Health Coaches. Naluri empowers you to develop healthy lifestyle habits, achieve meaningful health outcomes, and be healthier and happier through personalised coaching, structured programmes, self-guided lessons, and health tools and devices. Download the Naluri app today or contact hello@naluri.life for more information on utilising digital health coaching and therapy to become a happier, healthier you.