5 Ways to Stay Focused on a Task

How often do you get distracted when working on a specific task?

If most of the time, something grabs your attention when you work, no worries: by applying the suggestions below, there is a good chance that you will be able to stay focused on a single task and improve your productivity.

The more you can plan and prepare your work environment in advance, the more optimized your work conditions will be to get things done.

Find your favorite place to do your task

Find a quiet place to work in a peaceful environment and to avoid any additional stress. In case you are in public area such as a coffee shop, even if you can’t control the noise level, try to avoid locations with lots of people passing by.

Turn off all electronic devices

Turn off your phone and any other electronic devices that could stop you from concentrating on your task. I often have my mobile phone on mute during specific blocks of time.

You might think that it is more challenging with a landline but you can train people on the best way or time to reach you out. When I have a tight deadline to get an important thing done, I don’t answer the phone. However, make sure that you are not out of reach for a long period of time and have a system to handle real urgent requests.

Avoid online distractions

If you work on your computer, close all your applications except the ones you are using for your work: don’t let emails or Facebook notifications disturb you. Turn off your Skype or other messengers.

Set a timer

Use a timer to make sure that you don’t constantly check the time in case you have an appointment or other activities scheduled after your current task. It can be tempting to look at the time on your smartphone, then it does not take long to see that you end up checking your emails on your phone.
Also, having a notion of time limit helps you focus on finishing your work before the alarm rings.

Don’t set more than one hour for the timer as you also need breaks between your different tasks. If you need two hours to finish your work, you should still plan a 5 minute break before starting the second hour of work.

Free your mind

In case you worry that your mind could switch to other thoughts or ideas, write them down and tell yourself that you will take care of them after you are done with your current task. This will help you be in the moment and you will start feeling less overwhelmed.

Congratulations if you already apply all of the tips listed above. If that is not the case yet, let me know in the comment section below which change will make a huge difference to your productivity if you apply it from now on.