Techniques to Stay Focused at Work

In today’s post, we’ll explore different ways or techniques to stay concentrated while working, whether you’re at home or in the office.

Productivity is a topic that concerns most companies around the world, especially now after covid, as companies have been forced to allow work from home, and many, mistakenly, assumed that productivity would decrease.

We know this hasn’t really happened, however, it is possible to feel less productive, or more burnt out at work. In this post, we’ll see how to keep your mind fresh, with different techniques that will help us maintain productivity and maximized focus.

1 - Pomodoro Technique

The first technique we’ll look at today is the Pomodoro technique, which consists of focusing as much as possible during a determined period of time. The specific period can vary from person to person; you can’t force yourself to focus longer than your body allows, or the final result will be the opposite of what you’re seeking.

For this, you just need a clock or even your phone’s alarm, which you set for the number of minutes you’re able to work absolutely without distractions. Personally, I usually do 45-50 minute sessions, but it’s no problem if your sessions are 20 or 25 minutes, do whatever feels comfortable.

Before starting, I pick a task I’m going to work on, and during the allotted time, I work on it with no distractions, no browsing other websites, no chatting about soccer with colleagues, etc. The goal is to be focused during that timeframe.

Once time’s up, take a break (see point 5).

And repeat the process when you’re ready.

Using the Pomodoro technique allows your brain to focus for a certain period and then rest and start over.

For those who go to the gym, it’s similar to doing sets, you do X repetitions and then rest, the brain works in a similar way.

2 - Keep Your Phone Far Away

We can all agree that the cell phone is one of the biggest sources of distraction. The solution is simple: keep your phone away to stop yourself from checking WhatsApp every two minutes.

Personally, what I do with my phone is not charge it at night, but charge it during the day. This way, it doesn’t have much battery life, and I don’t keep the charger at my desk either. Maybe it isn’t the most effective solution, but it works for me.

Even if you use your phone as a Pomodoro timer, you can keep it out of your hands, the alarm will ring just the same.

3 - Avoid Doing Multiple Tasks at the Same Time

Unfortunately, in our sector, multitasking is way too common. But this is actually very detrimental to both performance and focus.

Physically, we cannot do two tasks at once, for example, you can’t drive and write at the same time, so why force yourself when you work?

The most common answer is that we have to get all our work done by the end of the day, or by a certain deadline, but this way of working brings only stress, which in the long term is very harmful. If your team can’t get everything done, the problem isn’t yours, it’s the company’s, the company needs more people.

On a less serious, but still important note: every time you switch from one task to another, you have to "switch gears," remember the context, and this takes time, time lost. In addition, human error tends to increase when context-switching, and these are mistakes that probably wouldn’t happen if you were fully focused.

The solution to multitasking is simple: eliminate it. Even though it’s not always possible, reduce it as much as you can. When you’re working on a task, stick with it until you finish it before moving to another. It might seem easy, but it’s not always simple to do.

4 - Eliminate Distractions

We already talked about the phone in point 2, but it’s not the only source of distraction. Now that everyone is working from home, many do it from the same room they sleep in, the kitchen, or even the living room.

We have to try to let our environment affect us as little as possible. The easiest way to avoid distractions is to not create them: try to have a specific, isolated place just for work. Avoid running the washing machine, doing the dishes, or day-to-day chores while working, this will help you concentrate better.

Of course, the best situation is having a room dedicated only for work. If you don’t have enough space, having a desk used solely for work is also a good option.

Of course, having a clean desk without unnecessary “gadgets” is fundamental to performing your work well.

4.1 - Distractions Within the Work Environment

But not all distractions are external, like your kids, sometimes an email, a message, or a conversation can lead you to stop what you were doing.

I personally recommend closing your email while working and checking it every hour or two, after all, nothing is so important that it needs instant attention, and if it is, someone will message you or come up to you directly.

5 - Take Your Work Breaks

As employees, we’re entitled to certain rights, and one of them is the right to take breaks during the workday, so use them!

At this point, it’s worth mentioning that combining this with the Pomodoro technique we mentioned first is really easy.

Taking a break helps your mind relax, and ideally, you’d go for a walk or do something physical. Realistically, a coffee or a trip to the kitchen for some water is usually enough.

Personally, this is what I try to do, depending on whether I have meetings or not:

If I don’t have meetings in the next few hours: 55 minutes of uninterrupted, focused work (Pomodoro), break for water, come back, then read and answer emails. Once emails are done, I start the process over again.

If I have meetings, I set the Pomodoro for however long I need so I have 4-5 minutes of rest before the meeting, because lately, my meetings last hours and I sometimes have two or three in a row.

6 - Music

It’s very common to walk into an office and see everyone wearing headphones, mainly, we do this to block out noise from the office itself or from colleagues.

And with headphones, there’s all kinds, people with noise-canceling headphones, which you put on and hear nothing, or just regular headphones that dampen, but don’t eliminate noise.

Therefore, we use music to help concentration, but not just any music, you could put on rock, rap, or any “normal” genre, but that kind of music won’t help because it has lyrics, and you’ll want to sing along.

On the other hand, you can use what we call beats (like lofi girl on YouTube), music with no vocals, just repetitive rhythms, and no dramatic changes.

Personally, I use beats; I play them at a low volume and after 5 or 10 minutes, I “don’t hear it anymore” and I notice that I’m fully focused.

7 - Mental Health

Finally, this is a long-term point rather than an instant fix like the others.

Mental health is super important because good mental health reduces stress and improves your mood. Indirectly, this helps you focus better on the tasks you’re working on.

The most common ways to improve mental health are exercising or meditating, in fact, meditation has really taken off lately.

Conclusion

That’s it for today’s post, where we looked at different techniques to stay focused at work, whether in the office or at home.

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Note: Images by rawpixel.com / Freepik