Tips on protecting your focus

March 10th, 2024
Bellevue, WA

Photo by Jeswin Thomas on Unsplash

Something that has been bothering me lately is sometimes I have a bit of a "wandering focus". That meaning that I get distracted or side-tracked while trying to focus on a primary task. So I spent a bit of (more side-tracked) time to put together some tips mostly to remind myself and keep a record of some thoughts on focus.

I hope that it can be of some use to others as well.

The tips

1. Remove distractions

This is an easy place to start. Distractions can be 2 types, physical object distractions and mental thought distractions. Physical objects such as my smartphone can be removed physically from the work space. By placing my phone outside my office area, I won't feel as much temptation to open it and be distracted. Mental thoughts are a lot harder to remove, it requires a lot more disipline and practice to clear your mind and not think beyond the task at hand. Something that sometimes works for me is to have some background music going on, this actually helps me drown out some of the potiential thoughts by occupying some of the mental space with music.

  • Remove stuff that can distract you from your work space
  • Drown out some distracting thoughts with simple music

2. Deep focus time vs. Shallow focus

It is said that an hour of deep focus time is worth more than many hours of shallow focus time. This is because deep focus time is concentrated and productive, whereas shallow focus time can be productive, but generally it ends up being non-important or non-urgent things that get mixed in. Deep focus means that you will dedicate that time to only 1 singular focus. Set a block of time on your calendar dedicated to a focus, name that time block after the project.

  • Don't multitask
  • Set a specific amount of time for deep focus

3. Reset between tasks

After a time of deep focus, make sure you reset yourself and take a break in between. Make sure to be disiplined about the length and extent of the break, it's very easy to become distracted or lose momentum. Set a break time of aprox 5 minutes depending on how long you feel you might need. From the Pomodoro method, for every 25 minutes of focus time, the short break is typically 5 - 10 minutes.

  • Don't forget to take a break between deep focus
  • But also don't rest for too long or you'll lose momentum

4. Be rested for focus

The environment you work in makes a huge impact on the focus you have on your work. And part of that environment is the mental energy that you bring with you. When you are sleepy or tired, you are more likely to become distracted. Make sure that you are reasonably well rested and energized for the work you are about to start.

  • Sleep and energy are important for mental clarity

5. Some days just wont feel right

Not everyday will be a good day for focused work. We all have ups and downs. Some ways we can work around this is to set different levels of expecations. We can set what we feel are "bare minimums" goals that can be fairly easy to accomplish, and also "crushing it" goals for the days we feel brimming with energy and focus. This way we can be realistic about our results even on days that we just aren't in the right condition for focused work.

  • Not everyday will have efficient focus
  • Set levels of expectations to account for the low focus days

References