Focus at Work: Essential Tips for Staying on Task
Modern life means we are surrounded by distractions: from smartphone notifications and multiple social media streams, to a surplus of unnecessary commitments and a never-ending to-do list. There is always something we should be busy with, and so many distractions pulling our focus from the task in front of us.
This conundrum is made even more challenging when we face it in an open office setting. Spontaneous interactions with colleagues, ringing phones, loud conversations, people moving about, or doors constantly opening and closing can all contribute to more distractions and less productivity.
Here are a handful of strategies to consider if you are exploring how to stay focused in an office without coming off as rude or antisocial to your colleagues.
Benefits of Learning How to Stay Focused in an Office
As with anything that requires effort, the benefits of exploring how to focus better at work serve as an excellent incentive. Some reasons to put a little more energy into your concentration levels in the office include:
Getting More Done in Less Time
Distracted workers are less productive, sometimes losing over two hours a day to interruptions. That could mean more than 10 unproductive hours per week. Simply reducing work hours can be motivating when considering how to focus better at work.
Building Momentum
Uninterrupted time spent on projects is the key to completing them efficiently – or at all. 45 minutes of undisturbed focus is likely to produce more work than 45 minutes of total work time broken up by indulging distractions whenever they crop up. Uninterrupted work could also mean putting smaller, less important daily tasks aside to pursue a higher priority one with more important outcomes.
Reducing Stress and Promoting Better Work/Life Balance
Working less productively means more hours spent on work than is necessary. This may result in work bleeding into your private life, with you taking work home or staying up late to complete tasks. When you finish the work you aimed to complete in the day, you are less likely to feel guilty about clocking off and reduce stress by promoting better work/life balance.
Tips for How to Stay Focused in an Office
Put Aside Time for Your Colleagues
While fellow workers may be one of your biggest distractors, there is also merit to having company in the office. Getting to know your colleagues and interacting regularly provides opportunities for connection, collaboration, humor and support. Mentally block out time each day to catch up and interact with other staff members. This will help you set more realistic deadlines and feel less stressed or rushed for time if a colleague wants to catch up.
Go With the Flow
If you are establishing how to stay focused in an office, dedicate time to observing your circadian rhythms. They dictate the times of day we are most likely to be energetic, focused or drowsy. Pay attention to peaks and dips in your concentration, assigning more important tasks to those hours where you feel the most productive. Digital time trackers can help you observe time spent on the same activity during the morning versus afternoon, helping you deduce when you are at your most efficient.
Align Expectations
Sharing an understanding of office dos and don’ts can help colleagues in a communal space to work more effectively together. Perhaps all team members agree to speak in whispers when a colleague is on the phone, or there is an earbud protocol in place where wearing two earbuds means “do not disturb”, wearing one earbud means “ask before disturbing” and no earbuds in means “I’m free to talk”.
Wear Noise-Cancelling Headphones
When you are in “do not disturb” mode, noise-cancelling headphones can help to drown out distractions – whether you choose to play classical music, white noise, or whatever helps you concentrate best. As discussed above, these can also serve as a visual cue that you don’t want to be interrupted – although you should use them sparingly so as to still promote healthy social dynamics.
Move Around the Office
Even the most open-plan offices are likely to have a few secluded areas for more concentration-heavy work. If you are exploring how to stay focused in an office, ask your boss if you can keep an eye out for an open conference room, semi-private cubicles or even desks that may be free due to absenteeism. If you work in a large company, it can be helpful to move to a different floor of the building, where you presumably know fewer people and are thus less likely to be distracted. You may even request permission to leave the office temporarily to a nearby coffee shop when you are busy with particularly focus-demanding tasks. This is a smaller ask than requesting to work remotely.
Use Your Commute Wisely
Having energy to focus requires taking full advantage of your “off” time. If you have a commute to the office each day, make use of the precious alone time with a consistent “pre-work routine”. Whether it is listening to a podcast, reading a book, planning a holiday or even napping on the train, targeted, routine downtime can help to not only provide you with extra rest, but also condition you to slip into work mode once your commute is complete.
Keep an Organized Work Space
A cluttered space can create a restless mind. When exploring how to stay focused in an office, try freeing your work space from old post, unnecessary office supplies or non-urgent filing. Even if your desk is tidy, remove extra items and create a simple, even slightly boring environment. Too much visual stimulation – even if it is organized and appealing – can contribute to brain fog and lower productivity.
Adjust Your Environment
Learning how to focus better at work requires you to adapt the ergonomics of your chair and desk. Raise or lower your seat so your feet sit flat on the floor or on a foot rest. Ensure your computer screen is slightly below your eye level – computer risers can help if this isn’t the case. Adjust the back support of your chair to sit flush against your lower back (there are portable back supports that can help with this). Reducing stress is an important part of considering how to focus better at work. Plants have been shown to relieve stress in the workplace – so invest in a small houseplant to place on your desk. Try to bring in as much natural light as possible, opening shutters near you if available, or bringing your own overhead LED lamp to work to emulate natural lighting.
Just Start Working and the Brain will Catch Up
You don’t always have to start strong to get stuck into a project. Even if your mind is blank, get started on the task at hand. If, for example, you are writing an article, sit at your desk and begin writing, even if the quality is poor. Simply starting the process can be enough to kick start the brain into focus-mode, regardless of getting off to a bumpy start.
Write Down Other Thoughts and Ideas
Often, a plethora of thoughts, to-dos and ideas crop up while you’re busy with something else. Rather than allowing your brain to follow each thought, simply write all of them down on a nearby notepad. This way, you won’t worry about forgetting them later, but you’ll resist disturbing your concentration to address ideas in live time. If you’re writing up something, the same goes for editing. Rather than disrupting your focus by checking your grammar and spelling as you go, return to editing once the whole body of work is complete.
Improve Your Bedtime Routine
While this obviously doesn’t refer to in-office practices, the standard of other routines in your everyday life can influence your productivity at work. Focus and performance are dependent on sleep quality, and if your office hours are fairly rigid, you will benefit from consistent sleep patterns. If you are considering how to focus better at work, aim for more than seven hours of sleep each night, following the same pre-routine daily to queue the body for sleep.
Stay Active at the Office
If you are office-bound for the majority of the day, chances are you are stationary for hours on end. This can result in energy slumps and poor focus. Incorporate activity into an otherwise sedentary environment: consider sitting on an exercise ball for a few hours at a time; stand up and stretch every 45 minutes; take the stairs where possible; keep a mini-rebounder in your office if space allows, jumping on it between tasks (which proves more effective than a power nap); or keep a pair of dumbbells under your desk to practice bicep curls, weighted lunges or shoulder presses a few times in the day for a surge of blood circulation and concentration reboot.
Have a Focus Mantra
There are certain practices we can instill to bring the mind back to the present each time it wanders. A personal mantra designed to remind you of the task at hand can serve as a useful reset. Each time you find your focus straying, try repeating a statement in your mind, such as “It’s time to keep working on this task” or “Do what you are doing right now”. This can quickly become an effective tool to resume your concentration when working on how to stay focused in an office.
Do the Hardest Task First
Leaving the most challenging task on your to-do list for last encourages procrastination and casts a negative lens over the time leading up to it. Often the hardest part of a project is getting started, so commit to simply beginning the work, even if you don’t complete it. Getting used to knuckling down on unattractive activities is a powerful tool to teach your mind discipline and train it to push through procrastination.
Physically Remove Distractions
It takes willpower to ignore distractions such as smartphone notifications and social media. Rather than using energy to resist temptations, put them out of sight. A smartphone should be placed in a drawer or another room rather than simply set to silent, put your emails into “do not disturb” mode for chunks of time, and try app-blockers to keep you off of distracting platforms for predetermined time periods.
Plan Your Week
Having a game plan of tasks you want to complete will rope the brain’s reward system into your work day, triggering a satisfying release of dopamine after completing work. Take some time at the beginning of the week to realistically map out your responsibilities – there are apps that can help you plan your week, manage your time and knock important items off your to-do list.
If you are exploring how to stay focused in an office, there is also a range of other tools you can recruit, including food, medicine and supplements, that aren’t necessarily specific to working in a communal space. Whether you find yourself zoning out on Zoom call meetings, or working through your email inbox instead of addressing an important deadline, remember that focus is like a muscle: the more you work on exercising it, the more your focus can improve. Give the above tips a try and see if you can train your brain to stick to the task in front of you when you are office-bound.
Increase Attention Span: Tips and Strategies for Better Focus
The length of time you manage to stay focused on an activity or object is considered your attention span.
While short attention spans are typically associated with children, the reality is that many adults struggle with attention deficits too. On average, individuals are thought to hold an attention span of just 14 minutes. Individuals check their phones as often as 150 times a day, which is every six to seven minutes of their waking lives. University students have been found to give in to distractions such as social media or texting a mere five minutes into studying. While it’s not unusual to have your mind wander when you should be concentrating on something else, attention spans are at an all-time low.
Just how low they sink depends on the task at hand. A neighbor complaining about a stranger, for example, may not hold your attention as long as a circle of friends talking about their latest news or a gripping action movie.
There are, however, a few measures that can be taken to help improve diminishing concentration.
Why Do We Lose Attention?
In the same way, it is necessary to seek out food and water, the brain is designed to be on the lookout for new information. And just as the body is satisfied with the primitive rewards of eating and drinking, the mind is rewarded by the dopamine system for information-seeking behavior.
This positive reinforcement of discovering novel information means humans are far better at giving in to distractions than they are at completing tasks. From an evolutionary standpoint, it makes sense: it was more important to realize there was a wild animal nearby than it was to continue with the activity at hand.
Why Are Attention Levels at an All-Time Low?
In today’s fast-paced society, we are overwhelmed with offers of convenience and instant gratification that hinder our ability to stay focused. Constant distractions and the temptation to seek out immediate satisfaction through online shopping or social media constantly bombard us, with attention spans shortening as a result.
Studies of grey matter show that tuning out things that may distract you is also taxing on the brain – it is not a passive process. So not only do you have the challenge of giving enough attention to the task in front of you, but the brain has to extend resources to cancel out the many annoying or tempting distractions around you too.
Chronic stress levels are also soaring, putting us on high alert for threats. Our tendency to seek out new information therefore increases, resulting in loss of focus and decreased attention spans.
Other Causes of Short Attention Spans
A short attention span may sometimes be the result of an underlying physical or mental health condition.
ADHD is a common disorder that is most often recognized in childhood and lasts into adulthood. Those with ADHD typically have difficulty paying attention and controlling their impulses.
Individuals suffering from depression experience persistent feelings of sadness and loss of interest in activities previously enjoyed. Along with these, struggling to concentrate and hold attention is a common symptom of depression.
Attention issues are also amongst the most common symptoms in individuals after sustaining a brain injury, from mild bumps and concussions to traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Children and adults with learning disabilities such as dyslexia may have difficulty paying attention alongside their issues with basic learning skills, such as reading or spelling.
Poor diet, lack of exercise, autism spectrum disorder and head injuries can also impact an individual’s ability to concentrate.
Skills Needed to Increase Attention
The ability to lengthen one’s attention span is often correlated with specific skills. The first is your ability to handle boredom, restlessness and other uncomfortable emotions that give you the urgent need to switch tasks. This is closely connected to the second aspect of longer attention spans- patience. Practicing more patience can help prevent boredom, and allows you to sit with a slower pace or more subtlety without craving a quicker or more elevated experience. The ability to take an interest in anything is the third aspect of a longer attention span. The more interest you can show in particular tasks, the longer it will be able to hold your attention.
Benefits to Improving Attention Span
Many people think of their attention span concerning their work or study performance. In reality, the ability to hold your attention affects many areas of your life, from work/life balance and achieving goals to improving friendships and romantic relationships, as well as having more control over your mental and emotional well-being.
When you increase your attention span, you work more effectively in less time, as well as generally support your memory and problem-solving skills which impact all areas of your life. Holding your attention for longer allows you to stay engaged in interactions with friends or romantic partners, contributing to better relationships. When you increase your attention span, you are also able to dedicate more time to your hobbies, boosting proficiency and feelings of satisfaction. The inability to hold attention has also been correlated with anxiety disorders, where more attentional control may assist in the limiting of certain thoughts that contribute to anxiety, helping you to feel better overall.
Instant Strategies to Increase Attention Span
Drink Water
Drinking enough water is critical for your mind and body. Dehydration can worsen your ability to think, including mild dehydration that you may not notice. Dehydration for as little as two hours can negatively affect your ability to focus, so ensure you are drinking plenty of water throughout the day if you are exploring how to increase your attention span.
Chew Gum
Chewing gum appears to improve attention and performance, increase alertness and lower stress – at least in the short term. Rather than the gum itself, the act of chewing produces “mastication-induced arousal”, sending more oxygen to the brain that wakes us up and ensures we are fully focused on the task at hand.
Stay Actively Engaged
If you are struggling to pay attention during lectures or meetings, stay actively engaged by asking questions or taking notes. This helps you keep your mind on the present activity versus allowing it to drift. Jotting down notes during an enjoyable podcast could also keep you more present than simply listening. Taking notes by hand is more effective at increasing attention span than using a laptop or other device, which can provide additional distractions.
Remove Distractions
Our brains use precious resources to resist distractions when trying to stay focused. If you are working on how to increase your attention span, an easy strategy is to remove any possible distractions that may serve as obstacles between you and your concentration. Smartphones are an obvious distraction and can interfere with concentration simply by being in the room, even if on silent.
Batch Check Notifications
Keeping your phone and laptop notifications on silent or disabling them together allows you to check them on your terms. If possible, try batch-checking your emails, texts or social media notifications in allotted slots. Even if you need many slots in one day, it is likely to beat the on-demand checking we usually do every few minutes and buy you more uninterrupted time to increase your attention span.
Strategies to Increase Attention Span Over Time
Extend Time Between Breaks
Many breaks are good for refreshing your concentration between tasks. But if you are exploring how to increase your attention span, you can work to extend the time taken between breaks to slowly lengthen your focus in one sitting.
Do More of What You Do Best
Most individuals naturally have a few activities that fully absorb their concentration e.g. drawing, putting together a piece of furniture, finishing a crossword or building a puzzle. These instances where you feel productive, focused and “in the zone” are known as flow states. Practicing those tasks wherever you can and naturally staying focused for extended periods helps increase attention span overall. When considering how to increase your attention span, you can try working on one of these tasks for 30 minutes and then switching to the activity that requires your attention. This will help you stay in a flow state as you work.
Seek Out Flow State Activities
If you’re not sure what naturally absorbs your attention, there are a few characteristics of activities that may induce a flow state. One of those is high consequences that pose a physical, mental or social risk (e.g. surfing, karaoke or engaging in sensational or vulnerable topics of conversation). Another is engaging in multiple sensory streams at once (e.g. playing a team sport or a dance class with a partner). Activities characterized by a stimulating environment offering complexity, novelty or unpredictability could also induce a flow state (e.g. an immersive art exhibition or live concert), as could particularly creative exercises that require out-the-box thinking, such as brainstorming or problem-solving. Seek out activities that offer one or more of these characteristics if you are exploring how to increase your attention span and want to spend more time in a flow state.
Practice Active Listening
While listening requires us to be silent, it is not a passive act. Failing to listen properly is often a sign of a short attention span. We can improve our listening skills and therefore our focus by practicing active listening.
Rather than thinking about what you’re going to say next, focus intently on what the speaker is saying. This leads to more pauses as you contemplate your answer and more thoughtful responses. Building your empathy in conversation also helps hone your focus and keep your mind in the present. This involves constantly imagining yourself in the person’s position to better understand how they would be feeling, using phrases such as, “If I were you, I imagine I’d be feeling…” You could also try reflective listening, where you reflect sentiments that are shared with you in your own words. This requires you to listen attentively to ensure you have understood, encouraging the brain to focus a little harder than it normally would.
Get Moving
The benefits of exercise extend to all areas of our wellbeing, including our cognitive function and therefore attention span. Exercise has been shown to help improve attention and focus particularly in those with attention deficits, such as people with ADHD. This could include activities as simple as a brisk 30-minute walk taken four or five times a week.
Build Your Meditation Practice
Mindfulness and meditation are highly regarded as a method to improve mental health and function. If you are considering how to improve your attention span, evidence suggests meditation can increase focus, with continued meditation potentially improving sustained attention over time. Building upon a meditation practice by starting with two minutes each day at a time and leading up to 10 minutes or more can similarly help increase attention span incrementally.
Try Extreme Temperatures
Recent trends are giving more attention to age-old practices such as cold plunges and saunas. Part of increasing attention span has to do with improving one’s ability to stay with unpleasant feelings. Cold exposure is thought to stimulate the vagus nerve, which can help to both increase attention span and combat depression. If you don’t have access to a cold pool or plunge, try running a cold bath – even adding ice to it – and see if you can sit in it for two minutes while taking deep breaths. Increase this length over time.
Saunas can help increase levels of two hormones: norepinephrine, which increases focus and helps increase attention span, and prolactin, which helps repair nerve cell damage and improve brain function. Endorphins in the body get a significant boost as well, due to heat stress induced by the sauna. Beginners should start with 5-10 minutes, while more seasoned sauna goers should aim for 15-20 minutes in one sitting.
Listen to Music with Your Eyes Closed
Music is a stimulus that may help or hinder when it comes to concentration. Ambient music is discussed more here, but music can also be used front and centre as a tool to increase attention span. Try listening to music with your eyes closed, starting with one song and focusing on the lyrics and tune rather than letting your mind wander. Increase to more songs daily over a week or more. This will help to improve the length of time you can give your uninterrupted focus on the task at hand.
Work Hard, Play Hard
Concentration can be thought of as a muscle when considering how to increase attention span. Strengthening it requires full exertion followed by total rest. Too much exertion results in burnout, while too little rest equals inadequate recovery. If you are exploring how to improve your attention span, breaking up your time into periods of complete focus followed by dedicated rest can help: knowing there is an upcoming break can help incentivize you to sustain concentration and resist distractions. If preoccupying thoughts or ideas arise during the work block that you don’t want to forget, try jotting them down in a notebook to address later. Periods of full rest could include a 15-minute nap, gazing out the window or engaging in casual conversation.
An inability to concentrate despite the motivation to complete tasks is a common occurrence in modern life. Recognizing the influence poor concentration has on your day-to-day can determine the effort you need to give to improve your attention span. This is an ongoing practice that can be cumulatively built upon over time, allowing you to accomplish more of what’s important to you and simultaneously feel better and more efficient while doing it.