It’s easy to get distracted. Thanks to technology, there are multiple ways to stay connected, but this also means endless potential distractions and interruptions. You have to deal with calls, messages, advertisements, and app notifications, as well as in-person interruptions.
Although these might seem insignificant, distractions and interruptions can diminish your productivity. Once you switch tasks, it takes time to refocus your attention. Even with the best intentions, you may find yourself distracted when you want to focus on an important task or be fully present with another person. It’s impossible to achieve your long-term goals unless you know how to focus better.
How to Focus Better
In this article, we’ll show you how to focus better with nine practical steps you can take to reduce distractions and interruptions and keep them from derailing your goals. These strategies will help you identify what’s distracting you or causing interruptions to your work. You’ll create a plan to address each of these challenges and learn how to stay focused.
1. Keep an Interruptions Log
Write down what’s distracting you. Get specific.
- What was the interruption?
- Who or what caused the interruption?
- How much time was lost?
- Was the interruption truly necessary? (Not every interruption can be prevented.)
- Was it urgent? Could it have waited?
You may not realize how often you’re interrupted. You may be underestimating how much time you’re wasting. You might be telling yourself that you’re too busy and don’t have enough time for what’s important. But in some cases, you may be wasting time. Keeping an interruptions log makes you aware of how often you are being interrupted or distracted, the sources of the problem, and of the amount of time you’re wasting.
2. Make a Plan
Make a list of things that you can do to prevent the distractions listed in your Interruptions Log. Then decide in advance how you’ll handle interruptions so that you can focus better. Be proactive. This advanced planning will reduce the number of times you are caught off guard by interruptions.
Create a plan in this format: “To prevent this interruption, I will do this in advance.” For example: “To prevent people from asking me for documents they need, I will create a shared folder and put all documents there.” Another format to use is, “When X happens, I will do Y.” “When someone calls me during my focused work time, I will let it go to voicemail.”
3. Organize Your Workspace
Clear the clutter from your desk and other surfaces in your office. When everything is in sight, it is easy to get distracted by something catching your eye. You may interrupt yourself by starting on a task that you think will take “just a minute.” This usually takes much longer than you estimated, and you’ve wasted time that could have been spent on your top priority task. Seeing reminders of unfinished projects everywhere you look can make it difficult for you to focus.
This applies to your office and your home as well. Time wasted searching for missing items is stressful. It’s time that could be better spent working on your important tasks. Clear your surfaces. Organize supplies and label them so everyone knows where to find things. This will reduce the number of times you are interrupted by people asking you where things are located.
4. Schedule Focused Work Sessions
Set aside time every day when you will focus on your most important work. Choose a specific start and stop time. Let your colleagues know in advance when your focused work sessions will be and ask that they do not interrupt you during this time. If you work from home, let your family know that this is a period when you are not to be disturbed unless it’s a true emergency.
If you have an office door, put up a polite sign that reads, “Focused Work Session until 3:00 PM. Please check back then.” If you work in an open office arrangement, place the sign on your desk and wear headphones.
By letting people know in advance when your focused work sessions will take place, you can limit the interruptions you receive. When you set a specific start and stop time, others will know when you will be available – making it unnecessary for them to interrupt you with non-urgent issues.
In his book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, author Cal Newport writes, “To produce at your peak level you need to work for extended periods with full concentration on a single task free from distraction… High-Quality Work Produced = (Time Spent) x (Intensity of Focus).”
5. Turn Off Notifications
Reducing notifications is the most common advice given these days for how to stay focused. The sound or flash of a notification interrupts your concentration. Your mind is distracted while you decide whether or not to respond. If you stop what you’re doing to check the app, you’ve completely lost your focus. Update your notification settings to turn off as many alerts as possible.
During your focused work sessions, put your phone on do not disturb. You can program your cell phone to allow calls to come through from certain contacts like your children or spouse. Let everything else go to voicemail. When you answer the phone or respond to an email you are letting other people’s priorities determine your focus.
Set aside specific points in your day when you will return phone calls, respond to emails, and check social media.
6. Do One Thing at a Time
Multitasking doesn’t work with tasks that require your attention. You can wash the dishes and listen to an audiobook at the same time. But trying to do more than one activity that requires your concentration isn’t possible. Your brain is only focusing on one of the tasks. When you try to multitask, you’re more likely to make mistakes, and it takes longer to accomplish anything. Do one thing at a time and give it your complete attention. You’ll feel less drained and get more done.
7. Write It Down and Do It Later
While working on an important task, a minor task may come up that can be handled quickly. Since it’s small, you may be tempted to stop what you’re doing and take care of it now. If it’s not urgent, don’t do it! These “quick” tasks often take much longer to accomplish than you think. You’ve broken your concentration and taken time away from your main goal. Instead, keep a notebook and pen handy. Make a quick note to do the task later. Stay focused.
8. Search With a Purpose and a Deadline
How much time do you waste by browsing online without a purpose or an awareness of time passing? You start to look something up, but then something else catches your eye, and you click the link. Soon, you are endlessly clicking and scanning articles, social media posts, or watching videos. Time passes, but work isn’t getting done.
Then next time you’re doing research online, write down what you’re searching for before your start. Decide how long you’ll search, and set a timer. Setting a timer keeps you aware of how much time you’re spending on this. Stick to only reading articles and watching videos on the topic you’re researching. Bookmark sites to go back to later or use an app like Pocket to save articles to read another time. This takes some discipline, but if you’re serious about spending more time on focused work, it’s worth trying.
Brendon Burchard, author of High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way, has this to say about browsing: “Mindlessly browsing consumes incredible amounts of brainpower; every new link and every new piece of information to pay attention to eats up your mental energy and reserves. It costs you not only your focus but your willpower and future focal power as well. If you’re looking for something, search for ONE thing, find it… and then stop.”
9. Practice Saying No
As you begin to put boundaries into place to protect your focused work time, you will have to get comfortable with saying “No.” The next time someone interrupts you with something that is not urgent, politely, but firmly, tell them “No,” or “Not right now.” Even if the request would take just a minute to complete, don’t give in. Remember that you are trying to strengthen your habit of staying focused. The more often you say no to protect your valuable time, the more comfortable you will become.
Keep in mind that distractions aren’t things that just “happen” to you. Most of the time you are choosing to stop working in favor of doing something else. Be mindful of what you are doing. Are you focusing on what’s important right now, or have you given in to the temptation of scrolling through your social media accounts? In these circumstances, the person you have to say no to it yourself. Be firm with yourself and stay focused.
Conclusion: How to Stay Focused
There is no shortage of distractions and interruptions. Our overly-connected world can leave you feeling like you don’t have control over your time. Adapt the techniques we’ve outlined above for how to stay focused to fit your unique situation. Keep at it. Over time you will develop your self-discipline and your ability to stay focused.
For more help, check out our Productivity Recommendations on the Resources page. Be sure to subscribe to our Newsletter to get notifications when we publish a new article or video.
