Every day we make hundreds, if not thousands of decisions. In particular, we decide what we will spend time on, and how we will approach the task. Without the ability to focus on the main thing, it makes no sense to describe goals, tasks, and priorities. We have learned to set tasks and identify the key among them. But we often forget that to achieve a goal, we need to remember it. Planning a week, a month, or a year, we are surprised that some tasks move from one list to another. Lack of concentration is a common reason a person cannot achieve what he wants, get rid of bad habits, move up the career ladder, earn more and put small things in order.

The concentration of attention can decrease in people at any age, this is a fairly common problem. For children, this is manifested in the deterioration of grades and school performance in general. For adults, working capacity decreases, and a change in concentration of attention can affect family life and, in general, negatively impact daily life. It can even disrupt our social, working relationships, etc. Therefore, taking the necessary measures in time to solve problems with concentration and improve mindfulness is extremely important.

The inability to concentrate for a long time is a common problem in modern reality

It is difficult to focus on one thing in the current reality, consisting of social networks, smartphones, and hypertext links, invading at the very moment you read something. According to a 2015 report by the Consumer Insights team of Microsoft Canada, the concentration of people’s attention has decreased from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds — it has become less than that of the average aquarium fish, which is able to maintain its attention for 9 seconds.

There is a lot of data about this: both in Time magazine, and in the newspapers Telegraph, Guardian, USA Today, New York Times, and National Post. A Harvard professor also spoke about this on American radio, and it is also written in the Brief manual for business managers.

Major reasons for the low focus

It is essential to understand why concentration is impaired because, in some cases, it is necessary to treat the root cause of this problem.

Fatigue and emotional stress can lead to a deterioration in concentration.

Lack of sleep and lack of rest. It works worse when we don’t give our brain the necessary and sufficient rest due to lack of time or stress. Lack of sleep is one of the most apparent causes of concentration problems.

Any hormonal changes, stress, or moving to a new place can affect our cognitive functions.

Hunger and an incorrect diet can also be the causes of impaired concentration. Hunger is a very unpleasant sensation in the body, with which our body warns us about the lack of nutrients and energy. This sensation will completely absorb our cognitive resources, not allowing us to focus on something else. Lack of nutrients also disrupts the proper functioning of the brain.

Excessive anxiety. We are all well aware that if we are apprehensive about something, it is difficult for us to concentrate on other things. As a rule, it passes. However, some people constantly experience increased and excessive anxiety, which does not allow them to concentrate on something else.

Physical pain. Concentration decreases with prolonged physical pain when we get injured or suffer from chronic pain or fibromyalgia.

Medicines and drugs. Some medications can affect concentration and attention. Drugs disrupt the brain and cognitive abilities, while attention suffers the most.

The environment in which we work can also impair our attention. In the presence of many distractions — noise, people, gadgets, etc. — most likely, we will start to get distracted and lose concentration.

Our individual ability to concentrate. There are people whose ability to concentrate is higher than others, just as some people are more “flexible” than others. However, this does not mean that concentration cannot be developed. Attention is like a muscle, it can also be trained.

How to improve productivity?

• Plan a vacation to get rid of distraction and concentration problems.

Concentration often worsens due to fatigue. After completing tasks that require significant efforts, such as work or study, concentration is disrupted if we do not rest. It is necessary to rest every hour and a half for 10 minutes — this will help you take up the task with renewed vigour. You can use this time for walking, stretching, going to the toilet, or making yourself a cup of coffee.

• Eliminate everything that distracts you.

If you are one of those people who are easily distracted when completing tasks, it is better to remove everything that can distract you. Hide your gadgets, and if you work on a computer, try not to open pages that are not related to what you are working on. If you are distracted by noise, use headphones or earplugs.

• Prioritize.

Complete complex tasks when you are fresh and rested. In this case, you will be able to solve them effectively and then pay attention to simpler ones. If, on the contrary, you first do what is simpler, you will be tired when solving more complex tasks. A list of tasks in descending order of importance and complexity will help you prioritize.

• Set aside time to answer calls and messages.

Often we feel like slaves of e-mail or phone calls. We mistakenly believe that we should be available 24 hours a day. Not only does it reduce our productivity, but it also worsens our efficiency and concentration. Therefore, set aside a particular time during the day when you are available for phone calls and answering messages.

• Focus on one thing.

Multitasking, which is not a bad thing in itself, can nevertheless increase stress levels and distraction. Therefore, it is best to focus on one thing in this situation.

• Shorten the to-do list.

How many items are on your typical to-do list? Eight? Twenty-eight? No matter how many, you will feel good when you finish each and cross them out. But you will never join the ranks of performance superstars if you don’t cross out some of them before you even start making them, because higher performance requires focus.

• Increase your concentration by taking care of yourself.

One of the most significant investments in improving your cognitive abilities is keeping your body in great shape. Eat right, don’t starve, eat healthily and set aside time for sleep and rest — 7–8 hours of sleep is enough. Devote time to leisure and relaxation. This will help reduce stress levels and improve concentration.

Bonus activity

Time-boxing will help you to manage your activities and to become more productive. It is a technique of working with a list of tasks when a person lays down a fixed period for performing specific actions, called time-boxing. It is often used for project management, the organization of joint idea generation sessions, and personal planning. In fact, this is a more general version of the well-known tomato method.

To start using this technique, first of all, you need to assign a certain number of time boxes (for example, 30 or 50 minutes each) for your tasks. For example, you are writing an article and decided to allocate at least 40 minutes to it in your schedule. Ideally, you need to finish it, but if there are only 40 minutes, it doesn’t matter, go to the next task.

According to Parkinson’s law, the work will take all the time you allocate. Therefore, if you do not limit the time to complete any task, you can do one thing all day. And it seems that you are doing something, and at the end of the day, it turns out that there is no smell of any result. But if you work on a task within a limited period of time, there is a chance, even if not to do everything-everything-everything in one day, but at least to advance in all important directions.

In addition to this thought, time boxing has some advantages that make the method effective and popular. With time blocking, you:

• You feel the time. At first, it seems that 30–50 minutes of one time-box is not enough for deep immersion in the task, but gradually you get used to doing it quickly and well.
• You focus better. This is perhaps the most important advantage — you are entirely focused on a single task. Often this is enough to increase your productivity.
• You can evaluate your progress. Stopping after each block helps to step back a little and look at the big picture. It is crucial not to get lost in the routine.
• Protecting yourself from burnout. Time-boxing helps to fight emotional burnout with a variety of tasks. But thereby, I risk burning out. Therefore, I try to allow myself to switch to another job, hobby, or just relax.

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Staying focused is necessary if you want your goals, objectives, and priorities to be realized and not just remain items in the diary. Listen to the signals of procrastination.

Allow yourself to perform one task in one period of time. Determine the optimal concentration zone and learn how to quickly return to it. Arrange the priority of tasks in such a way that the rest is also reasonably planned.

Do not wait for quick changes, and do not give up. Try different approaches and their combinations.