Maintain focus to increase productivity

If you are someone like me who struggles to maintain focus whether working from home or in an office, here are some tips and tricks that have helped me.

• The most important thing to do first is to get rid of distractions. I do this by finding myself a quiet space or room, putting on a do not disturb sign, switch off email and social media notifications on my laptop and phone. 

• It is also important to take breaks to maintain focus. I learnt this technique (The Pomodoro Technique) at a conference I attended. I set an alarm after every 25 and take a short 5-minute break. These short breaks help me relax and get my focus back on.

• I make sure to have a small snack and a glass of water at hand. Being hungry or thirsty can cause one to lose focus. 

• I, like most of us, have the urge to check my emails or messages to see if someone has emailed me or sent me an urgent/important message. It is important to be aware of our own distractions and be mindful to shut them down and concentrate on the task at hand. 

• I make myself a to-do list and assign specific times in my calendar for each task and sub-task on my list. This helps as a reminder to stay on track and also to let others know when they look at my calendar that I am busy. This helps me stay on target and remain motivated as I can tick off each task/sub-task when done. 

• As much as many of us believe that multitasking is a way to get things done, it is scientifically proven that humans cannot multitask*. What we do when we think we are multitasking is switching on and off from one task to another and this in reality disturbs our focus, and we get neither of the tasks done on time.

I hope at least some of you managed to keep their focus intact to read until here. 🙂 I hope some of my tips and tricks to maintain focus help you as well. It would be great if you could share your feedback and also provide some tips of yours to stay focused.

*Refer HBR article.