How to Improve your Focus: 10 Steps to Laser Focus

Focus is an important part of work. It is often overlooked, but it is essential to getting quality work completed.

We live in an age of distractions. With cell phones chirping messages in our ears and constant emails and IMs adding to the confusion. Due to this mass amount of digital connection the problem with focus is one that is getting worse and not better.

It seems these days that the average cat has a longer attention span than the average human. So since focus is so important, and it is so rare, how can we improve focus?

This 10 step guide on how to improve focus will give a clear path to improving this important personality trait.

1) Prepare your Environment

The first step to becoming focused is to prepare your environment. This is simple requirement has many sub requirements.

First of all the temperature of the space you're working in. Just like Goldilocks do not want to be too hot or too cold, but "just right". Most people focus best with a room temperature between 69° and 79°.

The next important environmental factor for focus is comfort. You want a large work area, with little clutter, so that you're not cramped and distracted by miscellaneous gewgaws. Additionally it is important to have a large and comfortable chair. The important part of both of these is to not have these environmental factors become distractions, but they should be things that give you a sense of ease.

2) Prepare Yourself

It is just as important to prepare yourself as it is to prepare your environment. At a minimum you want to see just off comfortably before starting, take a few deep breaths, and prepare yourself mentally for the work you're about to do. Just like you'd want your head in the right place before an exercise or physical labor, you will need to have your head in the right place before you can truly focus to the level that you need.

If you are into yoga or transcendental meditation this can be a good time to use these tools to relax a little bit and prepare yourself for the focus of some real work.

3) Unplug

Stop Unplug and Focus

This may be one of the most important factors in improving your focus. It is absolutely impossible to truly focus when you're constantly distracted by chirps from the cell phone or dings from incoming email. Whether you need to physically unplug or just close out programs that are distracting (such as Facebook and Twitter) is a choice of is left up to you. But I would err on the side of disconnecting completely. 

4) Keep it Short (no more than 30 minutes)

You'll want to limit your time of intense focus to little bursts. First of all this gives you a chance to get all of your distractions taking care of. In between, "focus times" you can deal with all the minutiae of life. This can be time to answer emails, look at Facebook, check out your IMs, and take care of all the other distractions that are part of your life.

One of the important points of focus is that you're not going to deny yourself all the distractions, you are simply going to put them in their place. I believe the Bible said, that "there is a time to reap,a time to sow, a time to focus and a time to tweet". It is important to give time to all the aspects of your life, and if you try to simply ignore things that are important to you, thoughts of these other events will surely intrude in your important focus time.

5) Play some music (or white noise)

One of the most important factors of focus is your audio environment. Loud noises are an obvious culprit that can be a large distractor. But just as bad are some of the low noises you can barely hear. People talking outside the door, a leaky faucet or other barely heard distractions.

For some people,  a head set playing music can drown these noises that would no ill effects. For others the music itself will act as a dis-tractor. This can be a matter of personal preference. My recommendation is that the best music for focus is not necessarily your favorite music. In fact, your favorite music can often be one of the worst distractions, as you may try to hum along or sing with the music. It is my opinion that the best music to play when trying to focus is something soft and low that only has a musical component and no voices. Jazz or classical music will often work perfectly for this, "focus music".

Another option works great for many is white noise. Having been in the Navy, I got quite used to the sound ship constantly makes. A loud heavy thrumming noise. It got to the point where the moment the power went out and the ship went dead in the water I would wake up from the deepest sleeps. Even though the sound was fairly loud all the time it became soothing and relaxing to me. This is the same theory that is used in many of the, "white noise generators" that you may find. These white noise generators will create a constant and steady noise that will block out other ambient sounds, at times will blend into the background so you never even notice it is there.

6) Take breaks

It is important to take time off in between sessions of intense focus. I would recommend not going more than 30 minutes without a break. The mind need some time off. In between sessions of focus you can work on some of the dull problems, have a little, "me time", or simply get up and walk around for 5 to 10 minutes. Just like you would not want to continue working out a muscle between sets, you'll want to rest your mind for a bit to prepare for another session of focus.

7) Grab some coffee or tea

The caffeine you get in your morning coffee or tea does not just act as a pick me up; it actually helps you focus throughout the day. In the afternoon, when your mind feels dull and listless after your body is working off a heavy meal, a little shot of caffeine in the form of your mocha latte or green tea will help improve cognition, keep you alert, and give you the boost to focus you need. This caffeine will also make you less likely to be distracted and help you have the intense focus you need for any difficult task.

8) Write it down

The act of writing down information will reinforce  it in your brain. If you want to maximize focus on a topic one important step is to write the information down.  

Not only does this create a set of notes that you can use in the future, but it also helps you focus, retain and process the information.

Reinforcing facts in this manner is a key to continuing focus.  (Plus gives a wonderful set of notes)

9) Prioritize tasks

The human mind is a wonderful thing, but it can also be a pain in the butt. Your mind will often churn over old ideas, and think about tasks you're not working on. This leads to mental interruptions and can keep you from working efficiently. Somehow your mind actually knows whether you will get to tasks are not. If your mind feels you are avoiding important tasks it will keep popping into your head and distracting you. 

The only way to avoid this issue is to properly prioritize your tasks. If your mind knows that you will always deal with the most important tasks first, yet not ignore or forget the tasks of lesser importance, your model feel at ease that the tasks will all be completed eventually and let you put full focus into the task at hand.

How to Focus Infographic

10) Make focus time a part of your daily routine

One reason why people fail at things they try is that they only attempt the tasks sporadically. When you create a routine, the tasks become second nature to you.  It seems, after time to be difficult to NOT reach your goals.

Almost every successful entrepreneur has a daily routine they follow.  Success is not a matter of working harder, or turning yourself into a some sort of superhero, but is simply a means to make the most efficient use of your time. 

Check out some: Extreme Focus Ideas