Focus is deemed as the most valuable commodity today. Apps like BeFocused, StayFocused, Focus Booster, and others alike have been created to help people regain their focus and finish important tasks on time. This is understandable as researchers from Microsoft pointed out, people nowadays lose focus in a span of eight seconds--a second behind the attention span of a goldfish. According to the researchers, the decrease of human attention span from twelve to eight seconds could be attributed to the highly digitized environment. Everything is within the fingertips. One can move from a task to another without regard for outcomes. These are some of the reasons why now more than ever, people have to be equipped with means to keep themselves focus. Here are five ways:
1. Mute notifications
Of course, many people are immersed in everything social media. It can even be argued that it is not the pervasiveness of these social media that’s dangerous, it’s the high that people get through likes, shares, retweets, and many self-aggrandizing activities. To be focused, mute or silence all notifications and just allot a schedule to deal with these AFTER the most important tasks are done.
2. Write down distractions
They say that the mind is for processing thoughts and not for storing them. Distractions pop and demand attention, and because many of these are not critical at the moment, these tend to derail the ongoing desire to focus on the task at hand. Writing down these distractions serves as a commitment to deal with them later. In a way, these won’t bother you while you work towards your daily goals.
3. Save articles and videos in a time-shifted reading app
People often get caught up in a funny cat video or a captivating profile of this celebrity or that entrepreneur. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t avail yourself of the pleasure to sit back and do some light watching or reading. There are time-shifted reading apps such as Pocket or Instapaper where articles and links can be saved for later.
4. Work in different environments
Co-workers, relatives, friends tend to bother us at critical times and critical stages of work. If you foresee such a scenario, scout for locations where you can work in solitude. Authors such as Maya Angelou are known to rent hotel rooms just to write. You can do the same, too. Hotels might not be your cup of tea, but you can always find yourself a location to get going and progressing.
5. Take a break
Willpower is exhaustible. Continuous, non-stop work may also hamper creativity. That is why known productivity and focus techniques such as the Pomodoro technique ensure that one includes the necessary breaks to gain more focus and insights to finish any tasks. Make sure to make time for breaks, too. It certainly won’t hurt.
No matter what your lot in life is, you definitely can benefit from having an intense focus. It is something that visionaries like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett swear by. Use these five ways and start exercising your focus muscle.