Strategies to Increase Your Focus
Focus is very important in every activity, it has to do with presence, presence is the key to focus. When you are not really where you are then you will not be able to give your best or get the best from whatever you are doing, whether you are a student reading you need to be focused on that activity at that particular time so as to get the best from the study or probably you are a working class person working in a bank or in some company, you need to be focused as well so as not to miss out on important details while working. Focus is also very important because it helps you to concert all your energy, effort and your resources into something, one particular thing at a time and you are able to get the very best experience from it.
While it may be somewhat difficult to stay focused on a particular task for a long time, it is important to learn how to be focused because that is the key for maximum productivity and maximum benefit
Human beings are said to have short attention span, and this is a reason to be concerned because it will mean that to focus for a long time will demand some dose of effort. And in this age where there is so much distraction all around looking at the digital age in which we are with so many technology devices the phone is there, the TV, the internet all these things are contributing to the distractions all around us apart from the inner distractions, these are external distractions, so it is very important for everyone to know how to improve or work on focusing better to be more productive. The following are some strategies to increase your focus.
Evaluate your focus level
You will need to first evaluate your level of focus how focused do you think you are? Do you have a high level of concentration when working on something or do you struggle to concentrate? Are you easily distracted, or you’ve mastered to some extent how to be focused? You need to evaluate yourself and know where you really are so that you will know how seriously you need to work on your focus.
Set the right environment
Your environment really matters when you want to do anything that demands focus or concentration. If you are in an environment where there are lots of distractions and side attractions, then it will be more difficult for you to concentrate. If you are a person struggling with focus and you stay in that kind of distracting environment then you can tell how distracted you will be but if you create an environment that is all conducive for the activity and comfortable and that encourages you to focus on whatever you have to do then that will help. Be deliberate about your environment, set it in such a way that you clear off all distractions from your side so that you’ll be able to concentrate, for example if you know staying in the house will make your siblings to disturb you, they will want to talk with you or tell you something or you might be called to do one thing or the other then you will have to look for a place where all that will be out and you will not be disturbed. Sometimes, if it is possible to shut your door for some activities then you should do it so that you’ll be able to concentrate fully at such times to be very productive with whatever you’re doing. Just ensure that you take all the measures necessary to aid concentration.
Use a good background music
To improve your focus or concentration you might need to use a background music you know something playing at the background and just helping your thoughts. When you have a music that you love playing at the background then you are likely more focused of your thoughts at that particular time, it doesn’t have to be a very loud music as that may be distracting.
Pause on social media
Improving your concentration will demand that you do away with things like social media, phone and things that could distract is very important at such time you must do away with all those distracting elements because you need to focus you cannot be working and you are checking up on Facebook checking up on twitter checking up on your emails at the same time. Your mind will not be concentrated and the funny thing about social media is that when you click on something and you just want to check that thing before you know it you’ll go checking other things and then you all the time is gone so you are unable to achieve what you’re supposed to achieve because your focus was affected, it is therefore better to just put those things aside for period of time you are working.
Press do not disturb
If you have to carry out a task on activity that demands the use of your phone then it is advisable for you to put your phone in a mode where you will not receive notifications from why WhatsApp of Facebook, just press the do not disturb button on so that while you’re using your phone you don’t get notifications that can distract you.
Allow/schedule the distractions
You can also give some time to indulge in some ‘distractions’ as a form of break from a working spree. If you have worked for a long time then you can just go ahead and have a break and do something that you really love so that when you are coming back you are coming back to work, your mind is ready to work again. You can factor in the distractions; you should put it in your schedule to have a time when you can do the things you count as pleasure. You know just working for a long time without even having any time to play or have fun is not the best you should have a time when you can just quickly do what you love and then get back to work more alert.
Deal with internal sources of distraction
To really improve your focus this is very important, in as much as you deal with the external sources of distraction you have to also deal with the internal sources of distraction like you have a score to settle with someone and then you want to go to work and think you will be focused at that time that may not be really possible, therefore ensure that you settle all necessary things before setting to work. If there is if there is an activity that is pressing, you need to quickly do that before going to settle on the other activity which demands real concentration and focus this is very important deal with all the internal sources of distraction because if you don’t deal with them your mind will not be collected enough to really focus as you ought.
Rest before
Ensure you take a good rest before setting out to a task that demands real focus and concentration. When you take a good rest, your mind will be more collected, calm and fresh.
Don’t juggle
Also try to avoid juggling, avoid doing multiple tasks at the same time especially when they demand more concentration, you need to understand that multitasking is not as productive as it always seems because your attention is being divided, you’re jumping from one activity to the other. Just take for instance some rays of light if you focus different rays of light on a particular point they will have more impact than when they are divergent, when you take one task at a time you’re able to focus your energy and your mental capacity to get maximum productivity.
Choose a particular activity
When trying to focus the first thing is to first know what particular activity you want to focus on you may have a lot of things to do in a particular day or at a particular period of time but you must pick out the one activity that is important now for you to do so that you can push all your energy and Resources time into that and then after that you can move to the next tasks.