Want to get more done at work? Here are some great tips to help your focus and increase productivity.
1. Avoid multitasking
Many people are usually under the impression that they can effectively multitask. But nothing could be further from the truth. While you might think that handling multiple tasks at once helps to increase your productivity, it actually only slows you down and there is a scientific reason behind this. Instead of being focused on the different tasks at hand at the same time, your brain has to switch between the tasks.
2. Eliminate distractions
Distractions are everywhere – both in our personal and professional lives. If you want to improve your focus at work, you need to first identify the main source of these distractions. If I am not wrong, your main source of distractions at work is most likely your phone. Did you know that your memory, intelligence, and attention all decrease every time you look at your phone – even if it is switched off or on silent mode? This is according to various studies. So, if possible, keep your phone away from sight while you are working. Alternatively, consider using an app like Focus to block your distractions.
3. Schedule breaks
You may have never noticed this, but your attention and retention tend to diminish after only 25 minutes of concentration. You can use this newfound knowledge to your advantage by implementing the Pomodoro Technique. This is a time management system created by Francesco Cirillo. This technique involves breaking your workday into 25-minute chunks separated by 5-minute breaks.
After four cycles, it is recommended that you take a 20-minute break. Why this technique is so effective is due to the fact that your brain understands that it only needs to keep focused for 25 minutes and then enjoy a short break.
7 brain hacks to refocus your attention
In addition to those useful tips from Jim Kwik, we have also provided some useful brain hacks for you to try out. After all, you can never know whether something works until you try it.
1. Keep a distraction notebook
One of the key reasons we get distracted is coming across something we deem important or fascinating, for example, a coupon for Panera, an article about fitness, etc). This is why it is helpful to always have a distraction notebook with you at all times while working.
A distraction notebook allows you to note down everything that you’d want to come back to later. Thus, after you are done with work, you can go back to your distraction notebook and check whether there is something you’d want to get into.
2. Automate some of your decisions
Among other things, Steve Jobs was famous for wearing the same outfit every day. However, what you may not have known is that Simon Cowell, Micheal Kors, and Grace Coddington do too. All these people wear the same things every day to avoid wasting time making a decision about what to wear that day.
So, take a step back and think about some of the decisions that can be automated, for example, what to eat for breakfast or lunch. When such things are already cared for, you don’t have to spend time worrying or thinking about them, thus, you are able to focus more on work.
3. Have a recovery ritual
While the concept of having a recovery ritual is typically recommended for adults suffering from ADHD, it can prove to be very helpful if you struggle to concentrate. Here are some common recovery rituals:
Walk up and down the stairs
Do one-minute stretches
Meditate for two minutes and unwind
Do a quick tidy
Anytime you get distracted while working, you can rely on your recovery ritual to help you refocus. A recovery ritual helps you to feel more energized and allows you to focus on the task at hand.
4. Occasionally shift your workspace
Did you know that a change in your working environment can help you re-energize? By disrupting your typical pattern, you help brain to reboot and stimulate its creativity. To prevent my productivity from stagnating, I choose to move around two or three times in my workday.
While this might be more difficult if you work in a traditional office setting, you can still move and spend a few hours at a vacant desk, or in an empty room or conference room.
5. Always finish what you start
Often, we tend to jump to a new task if it seems more exciting or more important. However, if we kept on doing this, we would never get anything done. While I don’t mean that you stick to a 5-hour project without taking a break, you should, at the very least, spend an hour or so on it before transitioning to the next. Use Track Time 24 to plan your time effectively.
6. Begin with what seems more difficult
Besides aiming to finish what you start, you also need to start with what you don’t think you can finish. In most cases, people procrastinate because they feel overwhelmed by a particular task or project. In case you are feeling overwhelmed by anything, it is always better if you can get started at it.
Remind yourself that you are only going to spend 10 minutes on a complicated task before you take a break. In most cases, you will be able to get into a flow and work on it for even longer than you initially expected. After starting something you have been avoiding to start, it becomes way easier to continue with it.
7. Try a shortcut to focus
This is perhaps the simplest tip on the list. For this, you just need a Hapbee Band and press play on focus. Hapbee is among the most popular wellness wearables. It uses a safe magnetic field technology to transmit signals to your brain and alter how you feel.