Research shows that we dedicate only 53% of our focus to the task at hand. To beat this lousy stat, let’s hone our central executive, attention, and focus muscles on giving our undivided attention. This entails learning our mind-wandering habits, honoring them at their own appropriate time, and minimizing distractions.
If you’re only focused half the time, it’ll take you twice as long to complete the task; devoting focus to one thing in a given time, as deliberately as possible, will boost efficiency. Time is the most limited resource we have; manage it wisely and intentionally. It’s not to say you can’t multitask to some degree, but addressing one major task deliberately will prevent you from being spread too thin, overwhelmed, and doing poorly on them all. Prioritize important, high-reward tasks and consider how intricately your time and focus are connected.
How Can We Optimize Focus?
The Rule of Three suggests we leverage our central executive, attention, and focus functions to best concentrate on a central task. Each;
- Central Executive: This is the planning & thinking part of the prefrontal cortex. It plays a small role in improving your ability to concentrate.
- Focus: The narrowing of your attentional spotlight so that you can focus on the task, helping you work more efficiently and enhance your productivity.
- Awareness: Being more aware of what’s going on in your immediate internal and external environments, helping you be more diligent with the details of the task, is part of a larger holistic cognitive function.
Here are three tips to strengthen and train all these mind muscles so you can accomplish more meaningful tasks in less time.
Learning
Tracking your thinking patterns will tell you exactly where you’re getting lost and help you understand & control this natural, ‘default’ wandering mode of our brain. We don’t have to punish it; we just need to understand its habits.
Make notes of how many times during each activity thoughts wandered, escaping to autopilot/daydream mode or tempting you to pick up your phone. Note what you were doing just beforehand and whether or not you’ve had a break, eaten, or slept recently, as these can all affect concentration. Note also if something external caused the distraction. You want to learn what your mind resists concentrating on most (finding it boring or difficult perhaps), and when it’s more likely to act up (sleepy, overworked, etc).
The next time it happens, think of what your mind wandered off to think about, cognitively bring your focus back to your task, promising yourself you’ll circle back to exploring it later rather than shunning it forever.
Honoring
Honoring all thoughts, even the off-topic ones, is beneficial – just delegate them to the appropriate time. Let’s say you’re distracted with brainstorming the perfect gift for Mom: schedule a reminder to think about it later so you can push it away to focus, knowing it will be revisited.
Free-flow thoughts let your brain relax, form subconscious connections, and think more creatively, without structure or performance pressure. This boosts productivity when the important tasks continue – but only if it has its own deliberate time and isn’t overlapping concentrative tasks; otherwise it will hinder productivity and increase chances of forgetting or overlooking things. Your body will tell you when it needs a break from intense focus.
Most successful people have simply mastered the skill of balanced and compartmentalized productivity, and you can too!
Managing
Distractions provide us with stimulation/escape, pulling us away from meaningful tasks. Create a zone conducive to concentration by redirecting low-return tasks/distractions to dedicated time later, so you can focus without interruptions. Make a space just for work (work an office vs kitchen table) to create brain associations with work and not other activities.
