Current Task: Stay focused throughout this article
Estimated Time: 10 minutes
Staying focused on a single task is one of the most difficult things to do on a daily basis. Our brains are easily distracted, and it doesn’t help that you constantly have something and everything vying for your attention. I can’t speak for everyone, but some of the biggest distractions in my life are social media, netflix, the outdoors, reading, podcasts, and the constant feeling of wanting to be doing 100 things at once.
The goal of this article is to give you some tips on keeping focused while you’re accomplishing your next task. Think of a task as a single brick in building your empire. I want to lay the foundation of my empire only with bricks of the highest quality. To determine the quality of the brick/task I like to ask myself a few questions:
Do I really want or need to do this task?
The easiest way to cross a task off your to do list is to not do it. If you don’t want or need to do the task cross it off, and move onto the next task.
Does this task help me move forward with one of my goals?
If the answer is NO, then find a way to say no to the task and cross it off your list. Unfortunately there will always be some tasks that you feel obligated to accomplish. In cases like this you can either delegate it, or get it over as quickly as possible.
Is the task essential to your life/business?
Similar question asked a different way.This is another question that it’s easy to say yes to, but often times the task isn’t really essential. (insert quote from essentialism book).
How much time can I give to this task?
This is one of those things I personally need to be better at. When assigning time to a task we often over estimate or under estimate. Quite often you’ll find yourself not focused, and wasting more time than you needed when you could really already have the project done and over with 25 minutes ago.
Staying Focused
We’ve now made it through all of the questions, and we have the one task in front of us. This one task that we have to rid our to do list of. You can hear it laughing at you, it’s laugh is an annoying distracting laugh that we have to stop.
Don’t multi-task. This is like trying to text and drive. Sure you can do it for a little while, but ultimately this behavior can result in some catastrophic event. Same goes for multi tasking while trying to focus. You’ll miss details,
Get plenty of sleep every night. Lack of adequate sleep can affect your attention, judgement, memory, and many other things. If you really want to be focused make sure you’re getting the appropriate amount of sleep on a daily basis. Don’t be afraid to take a nap or two either. You’ll spend more time asleep, but while you’re awake you’ll be far more productive.
Stay hydrated. Dehydration can lead to fatigue, brain fog, headaches, sleep issues, and the list goes on. Drink plenty of water throughout the day.
exercise improves your brain in the short term by raising your focus for two to three hours afterwards.Dr. John Ratey, author of “Spark – The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise
Exercise more. If you haven’t caught on there is a reoccurring theme through this site, sleep more, eat better, drink lots of water, exercise… All of these things will help you focus.
Find the appropriate venue for completing the task. This can range from a desktop, to the grocery store, and I really hope you don’t need to read an article on staying focused for buying some milk. This one really comes down to common sense. Don’t sit on your bed to write an article, and don’t grocery shop at the gas station.
Clear the clutter. I find myself distracted if i’m surrounded by the clutter of my every day life. The work space should be semi clean.
If you’re really bad at getting things done set a consequence. If you don’t get this task done in X amount of time you have to donate to a charity that’s entirely against your values.
Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture. If you’re bored (how is this even possible), or the task is monotonous, focus on the long term goal. The task at hand is taking you towards your goals, not away from.
5 More Quick Tips You Can Use To Increase Focus Today
- Use The Pomodoro Technique (A time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo) Simply put set a timer for 25 minutes on 5 minute break http://tomato-timer.com/ After the 4th time in a given session take a longer break 15-25 minutes.
- I currently have this going for this article.
- Create a clear outline of the task.
- For this article I typed up an outline on WordPress, going back to polish it afterwards.
- Listen to music with headphones, or go somewhere peaceful and quite.
- I’m sitting outside on my porch where I can hear the rain and crickets.
- I have a playlist on my Spotify called Audible Adderall for when I’m using headphones.
- Stay off social media, and any other distracting site during the allotted time. Don’t check email, or your phone. Close any tabs you’re not using.
- There are a few good sites out here that help with this if you lack self control one of the more well known ones being https://www.rescuetime.com/
- Just fucking do it.
- This is the best advice I have for you. Get it done. Don’t wait for the right circumstances to start. You don’t need the moon aligned with the planets, or the perfect title for your article, you don’t need to wait until you’re done with the other 5 tasks you have on your to do list. You need to take your first step right now.