Focus is hard in today’s world of constant notifications and distractions.
Imagine what you could accomplish if you could pay attention for just 60 minutes a day !
You could learn a new skill or practice a new hobby – if you had just more time.

In this article we will look at 20 tips that will help you to win back your focus. (and reclaim hundreds of hours of your life )

Unleash Your Productivity with Mind Maps

This is an amazing tool for thinking, concentration, and memorizing.
It has always helped me to come up with new ideas, focus on complex tasks, and reduce overwhelm.

Tony Buzan invented mind mapping as a visual thinking aid.
It is an effective tool for organizing information and ideas.
You can use it for tasks like brainstorming, note-taking, or problem-solving.

When you have a difficult problem or your ideas are cloudy, quickly scribble down a simple mind map.
(even without illustrations or colors).
That will expand your thinking and will make the subject more clear, understandable.
This is how to do it:

1. Identify the central problem or topic.
   What are you trying to solve or understand?
   Write this down in the center of a piece of paper.
2. Brainstorm all of the related ideas and subtopics.
   Don’t worry about organizing your thoughts at this point.
   Just write down everything that comes to mind.
3. Start to organize your thoughts.
   1. Group related ideas together under main categories
   2. Draw main category branches from the central topic.
4. Add subbranches to your mind map.
   For each main branch, draw subbranches related to that topic
   (does not need to be perfect, just whatever comes to mind)
   This will allow you to drill down into more specific details.
5. You can quickly transform a mind map to a task list by translating the branches into list items and subbranches.

Below is an example.

Control Your Focus Easily by Monitoring your Activity

You can use a plain sheet of paper, an index card or a note taking app as a simple focusing device.

Steps

1.Write down the current task and its many steps quickly in few minutes.
This will build a roadmap for the activity.
If you lose focus or are interrupted, you can simply recall where you were.

2. Once you complete a task, cross it off from your list.

3. You are interrupted, after that you want to resume your work.

4. Simply look at the first non-crossed item on your task list to remember what you were working on.
This way, you will stay focused and there will be no need to remember everything all over again

Set a Deadline

Having a deadline with consequences helps to concentrate your efforts.
For example, suppose you are planning a trip and have purchased a plane ticket.
I’m pretty sure you’ll get all the stuff ready before that, or you’ll end up missing the flight.

Similarly, If you were to have a conversation with a high-priced expert, chances are you’d be laser focused in that phone call.

Find the Essentials: Apply the 80/20 Rule

Master the Pareto Principle to achieve more with less.
By putting in just 20% of your efforts on the most important tasks, you can achieve a stunning 80% of the desired results.
This also means that a whopping 80% of those annoying diversions come from just a few places .
( like social media, email, phone calls and constant online surfing)

Here are some ideas to reduce online distractions and stay focused
1. Set aside specific times for checking your email, web surfing, checking social media
2. Turn off notifications for social media apps
3. Delete the apps from your phone
4. Use a website blocker

To use your time more efficiently
1. Select the vital few 20% parts of the important task that will provide the most results.
2. Practice focusing your valuable time and energy on these, rather than smaller unimportant tasks.

By reducing your exposure to these distractions, you will free up more time and energy to focus for the things that really matter to you.

Organize Your Work Environment

By reducing the clutter in your desk, you will see a direct improvement in your ability to concentrate and focus.
Because with each added item, the complexity grows rapidly.
The less objects you have on your desk, the simpler it will be to think and focus.

Steps
1. Collect papers, books, and pencils on your desk into groups.
(Gather all documents in one group, all books in another group, and pencils in another group)

2. Find locations for these groups.
(Put pencils in a pen holder, organize loose documents in a folder. Attach other papers together. Place books in a bookshelf )

3. Remove anything you do not need right now from your desktop.

4. Consider discarding or archiving anything you have not looked at in more than a year.

Also, if you work from home, try to designate a separate space where family members will not interrupt you.

How To Maintain Focus During a Hectic Schedule

Sometimes you need to juggle many things simultaneously.
This strategy will help you do that and get back on track when you get distracted

How to do it:
1. Make a list of your numerous activities on a sheet of paper or spreadsheet.
Write Activity name and under that list all the steps.
Check off the activity that is finished.

2. When something interrupts you while doing an activity, write down precisely where you left off (with a few vital information).

3. When you come back to the same work later, look at the list to see which item you were doing last.

4. Effortlessly pick up where you left off.

This will save you a considerable amount of time.
Because it will reduce the time the brain spends on remembering the task and its details.

Boost Your Cognitive Abilities with the Dual N-Back Game

Have you ever wanted to expand your brain’s capacity and develop greater focus but didn’t know how?
This game is incredibly effective for boosting your brain’s RAM capacity, memory, attention, speed of thought and fluid intelligence.

After just two weeks of playing, I noticed a significant improvement in my ability to hold multiple thoughts in my mind.
I no longer needed to jot down notes!
Surprisingly, the benefits stuck around even after I stopped playing the game.

It is based on a scientific study made by cognitive psychologist Susan Jaeggi’s and her colleagues, published in 2008 titled “Improving Fluid Intelligence with Training on Working Memory,”
There are several free and paid versions of the app you can find on the web.

Take Care of Physical Needs

Address your essential biological needs and wants.
Stay hydrated when you’re thirsty, enjoy a meal when hungry, and ensure a restful night’s sleep, so they don’t disrupt your focus.

Aim for 7-9 hours of sleep every night.

A good night’s sleep improves the brain’s capacity to maintain focus over time.
Sleep deprivation can cause attention lapses, making it difficult to focus on tasks for lengthy periods of time.
The brain goes through activities during sleep that assist restore and revitalize cognitive capabilities.

Achieve Better Focus using Early Morning Hours

Early mornings are excellent for thinking, planning, learning, reading, and writing.

This is because the brain is fresh when you get up and there are little distractions from the environment. So, consider getting up one or two hours earlier than normal, ideally before 6 am. You can get a lot important work done before everyone else starts their day.

Do One-Task At a Time

Break down large tasks into smaller tasks that are more manageable .
This will make the task seem less daunting and will make it easier to stay focused.
Concentrate only on one thing at a time.
Because each interruption will lead you to lose track of your assignment, and returning takes time.
According to one research, persons who multitask while performing a task took 50% longer to complete than those who focused on one activity at a time.

Benefit from Meditation Practice

Meditation can help you augment your attention and cognitive abilities.
Decades ago, I have stumbled upon Transcendental Meditation, and adopting it as a daily habit changed my life.
It not only helped me finding inner peace but also expanded my mind.
I noticed that I was able to maintain my focus on tasks for much longer at work.

A study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology found that TM is associated with improved attention, memory, and executive function.

Take Small Steps to Handle Overwhelm

When you are feeling overwhelmed, establish or revise your boundaries to maintain your attention.
You can do that by writing the details of the result you are seeking.

Perhaps you’re attempting to do too much at once.
What is an attainable aim for the task that overwhelms you?
It’s crucial to have a clear understanding of the end goal.
What is the most likely consequence of setting unrealistic goals

After that, find what is the smallest possible activity you can take toward that objective within a small time frame.

Example 1)
If you are conducting a research: simply open the main page of a website of interest and take note of the key headers for one minute.

Example 2)
Let us say you are a student learning a complicated topic: read one paragraph of the lecture and note down the 10 main ideas.

Example 3)
You are an author who is overwhelmed with writing a large book: write only one phrase for the next chapter.
You’ll probably go on longer than that, and you’ll acquire momentum quickly.

Increase Your Focus by Working in Silence

To develop laser focus, you need to concentrate all your energy in one place.
Maximize your focus on your goals and increase productivity by working in complete silence (or with background natural sound – white noise).
Listening to music, radio, or television while performing a work can significantly diminish your focus.
This is because it divides your attention and makes it difficult to concentrate.

Clarity

Fine-tune your goals or desired outcomes just like a camera focuses its lens to make sure the image you perceive is crystal clear.
This will define boundaries for that activity and keep you from doing things you do not need to do.
Incidentally, mind mapping will help you gain clarity very quickly.

Use Self-Talk to Help Inner Peace

Self-doubt negatively impacts both confidence and progress.
Without restricting negative feelings, your energy and focus will improve.

Here are some ways:
1) Change the language patterns:
“I can’t do this” to “How can I do it”.
“This is difficult” to “This is an interesting challenge”
“I’m afraid I’m going to make a mistake.” to “Mistakes are part of learning process..”

2) Ask for evidence:
If you doubt yourself and think you are not good enough, clever enough, young enough, old enough,…
Ask yourself “What is the evidence for that “.
If the evidence is weak challenge that thought and replace it with a more positive one.

3) Acceptance
Sometimes, the negative voice might often be too powerful to overcome quickly (because of years of conditioning).
In that case, accept it as a part of life.
Now gently guide your attention back to what to what you want to accomplish.
It will eventually lose its strength, since energy flows to where we focus our attention. (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) )

By learning about how does the brain play into mindset and changing it your confidence and attention span will improve.

Set Boundaries by Learning the Art of Saying No

The best time management tool can be just saying no.
When you say no, you’re setting up personal boundaries that will shield you from unnecessary distractions and demands.
These might be job requests that aren’t urgent or vital, or emails, text messages, or social media or commercial pings that you don’t need to respond to right away.

You can respond to those questions whenever you have time.
You may also choose whether to answer a phone call or leave it on voice mail.
This will save your time and energy.

Make the Task More Enjoyable

Have you noticed sometimes when you enjoy something so much you don’t notice how the time goes ?
Try to make the activity more fun by combining it with things you like. This way it will absorb your full attention.

The trick is to make the task more enjoyable than the alluring distractions or the next shiny object.
This will also reduce the movement of mind from one topic to another.
Every task or job will have some parts you like and some you do not like.
If you can make the task enjoyable it will hold your attention longer and you will develop greater focus.

Rest After Activity

To maintain balance it is helpful taking breaks every 20-30 minutes or longer depending on your abilities.
You may have observed in nature most living beings gets rest.
See also the Pomodoro technique for details.

Fuel Your Brain with Healthy Foods

Eating healthy foods gives you the energy you need to focus and concentrate.
Avoid sugary drinks and processed foods, and focus on eating whole, unprocessed foods.

Fish, especially fatty fish like wild-caught salmon, is rich in omega-3 fatty acids which are known to support brain health and cognitive function. These nutrients can contribute to improved focus and concentration.

Fresh blueberries are also excellent. They are rich in antioxidants and flavonoids and especially good for improving focus and concentration

Please note that I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice. If you are considering taking fish oil supplements, please talk to your doctor first to make sure they are right for you.

Regular Physical Activity

It enhances attention, focus, and cognitive performance by giving your brain a healthy boost.
Increased circulation and the release of neurotransmitters like dopamine come into play, working their magic on your attention and focus.

Activities like taking a walk, dancing, or just moving around in fresh air does wonders for your overall and brain health.
It’s way better than just sitting around!

Final Thoughts

In a world full of distractions, these 20 strategies will empower you to navigate the modern world with confidence. As you integrate these strategies into your life—one step at a time, you’ll discover that maintaining focus is both achievable and transformative, guiding you towards a more fulfilling journey.

Resources

Book Use Both Sides of Your Brain: New Mind-Mapping Techniques by Tony Buzan
Focus Training app Lumosity
Meditation technique
Pomodoro technique