In a world of distractions, staying focused can be a challenge. Even in the workplace, it’s hard to escape social media, text messages and other distractions vying for our attention. Unfortunately, focus isn’t something that comes naturally or easily. Like many other things in life, it’s a skill that you need to learn and improve.
But where do you start? Try these 14 helpful tips on how to stay focused on work.
How to Stay Focused at Work – 14 Helpful Tips
1. Create and Organize Your To-Do List
It’s easy for your mind to wander and get lost in distractions when you don’t have a to-do list for the day. At the end of each workday, create a task list for the next day that includes everything you need to accomplish.
When creating your to-do list, start with the most important and time-consuming tasks. Tackling critical tasks and the most time-consuming tasks first will make the rest of your day feel like a breeze. This concept is known as Eat That Frog.
Eat That Frog! is a book written by Brian Tracy that provides helpful tips on how to stop procrastinating and get more done during the day. Tracy suggests doing the most challenging task of the day first so that the rest of the day feels easy and manageable.
We all have that one thing that we dread doing each day, and that dread makes us procrastinate and drag out the day – whether we realize it or not.
By creating a to-do list with the most difficult and important tasks first, you may find it much easier to stay focused and get more done.
You can create a good old-fashioned to-do list on paper, or you can use an online task manager like:
Your team may also have a collab or project management solution that allows individual team members to create their own task lists.
2. Ditch the Multi-Tasking
Many of us pile our plates so high that we wind up trying to juggle multiple things at once. When you’re in the moment, multi-tasking may seem like you’re getting more done, but in reality, you’re probably taking longer to complete each individual task.
Research shows that trying to do more than one task at once can really hurt productivity, especially if they are complex tasks. The more complex the tasks, the more time you lose when switching your focus.
If you have a habit of multi-tasking, it may be making it harder to remain focused at work. Rather than trying to do it all at once, try staying laser-focused on one task at a time. Remember that to-do list you created? Go through each item one by one. Try to avoid phone calls, text messages and other distractions while you’re accomplishing each task.
When you can put all of your focus and effort into one task, it will be much easier to get the job done faster and more efficiently.
3. Plan Your Day
Creating a to-do list is a great first step and can help you stay focused on just one task at a time. But it’s also helpful to plan out your day.
For example, you may work for three straight hours before taking a 20-minute break or stopping for lunch. Break your day into chunks and plan what you’re going to get done during each chunk.
When you have your days mapped out, it’s much easier to stay on track. And if you do lose focus or fall off the bandwagon, you know exactly where you left off and what you need to do next.
Planners are helpful for mapping out your day, but you can also use Google Calendar or any other online calendar to plan your days.
4. De-Clutter Your Workspace
Looking for tips on how to stay focused working from home? Start by looking at your workstation. Is it cluttered or disorganized? If so, it’s time for a little spring cleaning.
Even if you’re working at an office, co-working space or out on the road, it’s important to make sure that your workspace is clutter-free and organized.
Why? Because clutter can lower your productivity and even lead to procrastination or avoidance strategies. In other words, clutter is distracting. For some of us, it’s downright stressful.
The brain likes order. When your space is disorganized and chaotic, it drains your brain’s energy and makes it harder to focus. Research has found that removing clutter from a home or workspace makes it easier to process information, focus and get things done.
Getting organized is easier than you think. Here are some tips:
- If your desk is cluttered with files and paperwork, invest in a filing cabinet or file folder holder. Desk organizers can also store papers and files neatly on your desk.
- Limit the knick-knacks on your desk to just one or two.
- Keep the items that you use most often within reach of your dominant hand.
- Use shelving to display personal items and free up desk space.
- Store pens and pencils in one convenient place.
Ditching the clutter and organizing your space will make it easier to stay on task and get things done more efficiently. If you’re having trouble letting go of things, try going slowly and removing just one item at a time until your space becomes more manageable.
5. Create a Productive Home Workspace
Many people are looking for tips on how to stay focused while working from home. Even if you’ve been working from home for a while, you may be struggling to be productive. It’s easy to get distracted by chores or other people in the house.
If you’re working from home, it’s important to create a space that promotes productivity instead of hindering it.
Here’s how:
- Establish a dedicated workspace in your home. This could be a separate room or a designated corner of your kitchen, living room or bedroom. Having a designated space for work will make it easier to get into that mindset and stay on task.
- Keep it quiet. Choose a peaceful space in your home to work. Noise and distractions will only make it harder to get things done. For example, working at the kitchen table when the kids or your partner are getting ready to leave for the day will make it nearly impossible to stay focused and get things done.
- Make sure your workstation is clean and organized.
- Give yourself a view of nature if you can. If you can’t work near a window, try adding some greenery.
- Allow in as much natural light as possible.
Your home work environment should help you stay productive and focused. Try a few of these tips or sit down and consider your ideal work environment. Create a space that you look forward to coming into and one that helps you get into that focused, “flow” state.
6. Set Clear Goals
If you have tasks or projects that you need to complete, make sure that they are clear. Clarifying your goals and daily tasks can help you stay on point and create a plan of action.
Your goals should:
- Be clear, specific and concise
- Have an expiration date
- Have a way to track your progress
Whatever you need to accomplish, make sure that you set clear and specific goals. Doing so will give you a clearer picture of what needs to be done and how you’ll get there.
7. Schedule in Distractions
It’s virtually impossible to completely eliminate distractions from the workplace. Whether it’s chatting with co-workers or getting engrossed in that cat video your friend sent you, distractions are everywhere.
To set yourself up for success, schedule in distractions. Use some of your break time to check your phone, call a friend or hop on social media. For this to work, you need to be dedicated and strict.
8. Establish Boundaries
If you want to stay focused at work, it’s essential to establish boundaries. By setting boundaries, you allow yourself to stay on task without distractions, like phone calls, a chatty co-worker or emails asking for an update on another project.
Here are a few ways to establish healthy boundaries in the workplace:
- Say “no” to things. If you continue to pile more onto your plate, you’ll never get anything done.
- Block off time on your schedule for tasks. During that time, ditch the distractions and stay focused only on the task at hand.
- Communicate your values and priorities. Maybe you’ve decided to stay focused on important tasks from 2-3 pm each day. Let your co-workers know that you will be unavailable for phone calls, emails, or chats for that hour. You may still need to be available for your boss or unexpected emergencies, but you’ll eliminate unnecessary distractions.
9. Keep Your Web Distractions in Check
If you spend your day working at a desk from an internet-connected desktop or laptop, it’s not always easy to stay focused. After all, you have a million distracting websites right at your fingertips. Of course, it doesn’t help that we all have smartphones that can just as easily connect us to those distracting websites.
So, how do you keep your web distractions in check?
- Turn off Wi-Fi – if you can. You can’t get lost in a sea of web distractions if you can’t access the internet.
- If you need an internet connection for work, you can use tools like Cold Turkey or SelfControl to block certain websites while you’re working. Just create a list of websites to block, and you’re well on your way to working distraction-free.
It’s much easier to stay focused and on track when you’re not constantly tempted to find a distraction online.
10. Limit Social Media Use
Worldwide, people spend an average of 2 hours on social media. It may not seem like a big deal to check Facebook, Instagram or Twitter while you’re doing a menial task like answering emails. However, those few minutes add up throughout the day. And if you get stuck down a rabbit hole, you may find yourself on social media for 10-20 minutes at a time.
If you want to be a more productive worker, limit your social media use at work.
Some of you may have the discipline to do this without any help. For the rest of us, there are blockers that will limit your access while you’re at work.
Some of the most popular social media blockers are:
- Freedom. Available for Windows, Mac, iOS, Chrome and Android, this app can be used on virtually any internet-connected device. The only downside is that it has a monthly subscription fee.
- RescueTime, which works as either a browser plug-in or an app. RescueTime tracks the amount of time you spend on sites, programs and documents. But it can also block certain websites for a set period of time. Plus, you get access to other productivity tools like goal-setting, and it integrates into Calendar or Slack.
- FocusMe is another app that works on Windows, Mac and Android. It allows you to create your own routine for web browsing, work and more. You can even set productivity goals. Of course, it also blocks distractions. Even if you try to delete an app or stop the timer, FocusMe will continue to block distractions.
If you’re struggling to stay off social media during the workday, one of these apps may help.
11. Start A Meditation Practice
If you’re having trouble staying focused at work, start a meditation practice. Meditating first thing in the morning can help you get started on the right foot and with the right intention.
Over time and as you master the practice, you may find that it’s much easier to stay focused without needing additional tools or technology to block distractions.
In fact, research has shown that even brief periods of mindfulness meditation can help improve attention. And Italian neuroscientist Giuseppe Pagnoni’s study found meditators are better able to control wandering thoughts and prevent them from spiraling out of control.
Pagnoni looked at brain scans of experienced meditators and those who had never meditated. Compared to novices, those who were experienced meditators had increased stability in the ventral posteromedial cortex (vPMC) area of the brain, which is linked to wandering and spontaneous thoughts. In other words, they were better able to stop distracting thoughts from becoming all-consuming.
In the workplace, being able to control your wandering thoughts would be an advantage.
In general, living more mindfully can help you stay more focused while potentially curbing stress and anxiety.
12. Stay Active
Most of us lead sedentary lives. We work desk jobs, and we drive everywhere. All of that pent-up energy can make it hard to stay focused.
Exercise is crucial to both your mental and physical health. In addition to helping maintain a healthy weight and body, exercise can help you stay more focused at work.
Research has shown that moderate and high-intensity physical activity can help improve concentration, memory and problem-solving. You can get these effects from just one workout, and the results last for up to two hours.
Along with better focus, you can enjoy higher energy levels.
Exercising before work can help you take advantage of the focus-boosting effects of exercise, but you only need a few minutes to see a difference. So, if you can’t get in a workout before you start your day, a brisk walk on your lunch break can help.
If you get 15-minute breaks throughout the day, you can also use this time to stay active and help boost your focus when you get back to work.
13. Break Down Big Projects into Bite-size Tasks
When a big project lands on your desk, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by it all. Those feelings of being overwhelmed can cause you to procrastinate and make it hard to concentrate on work.
To make more significant projects feel more doable, try breaking them down into bite-size tasks. You can do this by breaking the project down into:
- Phases
- Parts
- Categories
From here, you can then break each one down into tasks. Start by:
- Identifying tasks
- Determining which tasks are priorities
- Setting deadlines for completing these tasks
By setting deadlines for your tasks, you ensure that your project moves along at a steady pace. At the same time, you feel rewarded and motivated each time you check a task off your list.
It becomes more manageable and less overwhelming when you break a big project down into bite-size tasks. Yes, the entire project may be a big undertaking, but you can certainly handle each individual task.
14. Make Sleep a Priority
A lack of sleep or poor quality sleep can make it hard to stay on track. After all, sleep deprivation makes you feel groggy and sluggish. Your reaction time isn’t on point, and your brain, essentially, turns to mush.
Research shows that sleep deprivation has a negative effect on cognitive function. So, when you try to stay focused on a task at work, it feels like you’re trudging through mud.
To stay focused and on task, make sleep a priority. Aim to get about eight hours of sleep each night, and do your best to wake up and go to bed at the same time every night.
Learn How to Get to Sleep on Time – Starting Tonight!
Final Thoughts
It’s not always easy to remain focused at work, especially if you have to deal with noisy distractions and a pile of tasks each day. These tips can help you learn how to focus on work, so you can get more done and waste less time.
You can also use these tips to stay focused with online learning!
In a world of distractions, staying focused can be a challenge. Even in the workplace, it’s hard to escape social media, text messages and other distractions vying for our attention. Unfortunately, focus isn’t something that comes naturally or easily. Like many other things in life, it’s a skill that you need to learn and improve.
But where do you start? Try these 14 helpful tips on how to stay focused on work.
How to Stay Focused at Work – 14 Helpful Tips
1. Create and Organize Your To-Do List
It’s easy for your mind to wander and get lost in distractions when you don’t have a to-do list for the day. At the end of each workday, create a task list for the next day that includes everything you need to accomplish.
When creating your to-do list, start with the most important and time-consuming tasks. Tackling critical tasks and the most time-consuming tasks first will make the rest of your day feel like a breeze. This concept is known as Eat That Frog.
Eat That Frog! is a book written by Brian Tracy that provides helpful tips on how to stop procrastinating and get more done during the day. Tracy suggests doing the most challenging task of the day first so that the rest of the day feels easy and manageable.
We all have that one thing that we dread doing each day, and that dread makes us procrastinate and drag out the day – whether we realize it or not.
By creating a to-do list with the most difficult and important tasks first, you may find it much easier to stay focused and get more done.
You can create a good old-fashioned to-do list on paper, or you can use an online task manager like:
Your team may also have a collab or project management solution that allows individual team members to create their own task lists.
2. Ditch the Multi-Tasking
Many of us pile our plates so high that we wind up trying to juggle multiple things at once. When you’re in the moment, multi-tasking may seem like you’re getting more done, but in reality, you’re probably taking longer to complete each individual task.
Research shows that trying to do more than one task at once can really hurt productivity, especially if they are complex tasks. The more complex the tasks, the more time you lose when switching your focus.
If you have a habit of multi-tasking, it may be making it harder to remain focused at work. Rather than trying to do it all at once, try staying laser-focused on one task at a time. Remember that to-do list you created? Go through each item one by one. Try to avoid phone calls, text messages and other distractions while you’re accomplishing each task.
When you can put all of your focus and effort into one task, it will be much easier to get the job done faster and more efficiently.
3. Plan Your Day
Creating a to-do list is a great first step and can help you stay focused on just one task at a time. But it’s also helpful to plan out your day.
For example, you may work for three straight hours before taking a 20-minute break or stopping for lunch. Break your day into chunks and plan what you’re going to get done during each chunk.
When you have your days mapped out, it’s much easier to stay on track. And if you do lose focus or fall off the bandwagon, you know exactly where you left off and what you need to do next.
Planners are helpful for mapping out your day, but you can also use Google Calendar or any other online calendar to plan your days.
4. De-Clutter Your Workspace
Looking for tips on how to stay focused working from home? Start by looking at your workstation. Is it cluttered or disorganized? If so, it’s time for a little spring cleaning.
Even if you’re working at an office, co-working space or out on the road, it’s important to make sure that your workspace is clutter-free and organized.
Why? Because clutter can lower your productivity and even lead to procrastination or avoidance strategies. In other words, clutter is distracting. For some of us, it’s downright stressful.
The brain likes order. When your space is disorganized and chaotic, it drains your brain’s energy and makes it harder to focus. Research has found that removing clutter from a home or workspace makes it easier to process information, focus and get things done.
Getting organized is easier than you think. Here are some tips:
- If your desk is cluttered with files and paperwork, invest in a filing cabinet or file folder holder. Desk organizers can also store papers and files neatly on your desk.
- Limit the knick-knacks on your desk to just one or two.
- Keep the items that you use most often within reach of your dominant hand.
- Use shelving to display personal items and free up desk space.
- Store pens and pencils in one convenient place.
Ditching the clutter and organizing your space will make it easier to stay on task and get things done more efficiently. If you’re having trouble letting go of things, try going slowly and removing just one item at a time until your space becomes more manageable.
5. Create a Productive Home Workspace
Many people are looking for tips on how to stay focused while working from home. Even if you’ve been working from home for a while, you may be struggling to be productive. It’s easy to get distracted by chores or other people in the house.
If you’re working from home, it’s important to create a space that promotes productivity instead of hindering it.
Here’s how:
- Establish a dedicated workspace in your home. This could be a separate room or a designated corner of your kitchen, living room or bedroom. Having a designated space for work will make it easier to get into that mindset and stay on task.
- Keep it quiet. Choose a peaceful space in your home to work. Noise and distractions will only make it harder to get things done. For example, working at the kitchen table when the kids or your partner are getting ready to leave for the day will make it nearly impossible to stay focused and get things done.
- Make sure your workstation is clean and organized.
- Give yourself a view of nature if you can. If you can’t work near a window, try adding some greenery.
- Allow in as much natural light as possible.
Your home work environment should help you stay productive and focused. Try a few of these tips or sit down and consider your ideal work environment. Create a space that you look forward to coming into and one that helps you get into that focused, “flow” state.
6. Set Clear Goals
If you have tasks or projects that you need to complete, make sure that they are clear. Clarifying your goals and daily tasks can help you stay on point and create a plan of action.
Your goals should:
- Be clear, specific and concise
- Have an expiration date
- Have a way to track your progress
Whatever you need to accomplish, make sure that you set clear and specific goals. Doing so will give you a clearer picture of what needs to be done and how you’ll get there.
7. Schedule in Distractions
It’s virtually impossible to completely eliminate distractions from the workplace. Whether it’s chatting with co-workers or getting engrossed in that cat video your friend sent you, distractions are everywhere.
To set yourself up for success, schedule in distractions. Use some of your break time to check your phone, call a friend or hop on social media. For this to work, you need to be dedicated and strict.
8. Establish Boundaries
If you want to stay focused at work, it’s essential to establish boundaries. By setting boundaries, you allow yourself to stay on task without distractions, like phone calls, a chatty co-worker or emails asking for an update on another project.
Here are a few ways to establish healthy boundaries in the workplace:
- Say “no” to things. If you continue to pile more onto your plate, you’ll never get anything done.
- Block off time on your schedule for tasks. During that time, ditch the distractions and stay focused only on the task at hand.
- Communicate your values and priorities. Maybe you’ve decided to stay focused on important tasks from 2-3 pm each day. Let your co-workers know that you will be unavailable for phone calls, emails, or chats for that hour. You may still need to be available for your boss or unexpected emergencies, but you’ll eliminate unnecessary distractions.
9. Keep Your Web Distractions in Check
If you spend your day working at a desk from an internet-connected desktop or laptop, it’s not always easy to stay focused. After all, you have a million distracting websites right at your fingertips. Of course, it doesn’t help that we all have smartphones that can just as easily connect us to those distracting websites.
So, how do you keep your web distractions in check?
- Turn off Wi-Fi – if you can. You can’t get lost in a sea of web distractions if you can’t access the internet.
- If you need an internet connection for work, you can use tools like Cold Turkey or SelfControl to block certain websites while you’re working. Just create a list of websites to block, and you’re well on your way to working distraction-free.
It’s much easier to stay focused and on track when you’re not constantly tempted to find a distraction online.
10. Limit Social Media Use
Worldwide, people spend an average of 2 hours on social media. It may not seem like a big deal to check Facebook, Instagram or Twitter while you’re doing a menial task like answering emails. However, those few minutes add up throughout the day. And if you get stuck down a rabbit hole, you may find yourself on social media for 10-20 minutes at a time.
If you want to be a more productive worker, limit your social media use at work.
Some of you may have the discipline to do this without any help. For the rest of us, there are blockers that will limit your access while you’re at work.
Some of the most popular social media blockers are:
- Freedom. Available for Windows, Mac, iOS, Chrome and Android, this app can be used on virtually any internet-connected device. The only downside is that it has a monthly subscription fee.
- RescueTime, which works as either a browser plug-in or an app. RescueTime tracks the amount of time you spend on sites, programs and documents. But it can also block certain websites for a set period of time. Plus, you get access to other productivity tools like goal-setting, and it integrates into Calendar or Slack.
- FocusMe is another app that works on Windows, Mac and Android. It allows you to create your own routine for web browsing, work and more. You can even set productivity goals. Of course, it also blocks distractions. Even if you try to delete an app or stop the timer, FocusMe will continue to block distractions.
If you’re struggling to stay off social media during the workday, one of these apps may help.
11. Start A Meditation Practice
If you’re having trouble staying focused at work, start a meditation practice. Meditating first thing in the morning can help you get started on the right foot and with the right intention.
Over time and as you master the practice, you may find that it’s much easier to stay focused without needing additional tools or technology to block distractions.
In fact, research has shown that even brief periods of mindfulness meditation can help improve attention. And Italian neuroscientist Giuseppe Pagnoni’s study found meditators are better able to control wandering thoughts and prevent them from spiraling out of control.
Pagnoni looked at brain scans of experienced meditators and those who had never meditated. Compared to novices, those who were experienced meditators had increased stability in the ventral posteromedial cortex (vPMC) area of the brain, which is linked to wandering and spontaneous thoughts. In other words, they were better able to stop distracting thoughts from becoming all-consuming.
In the workplace, being able to control your wandering thoughts would be an advantage.
In general, living more mindfully can help you stay more focused while potentially curbing stress and anxiety.
12. Stay Active
Most of us lead sedentary lives. We work desk jobs, and we drive everywhere. All of that pent-up energy can make it hard to stay focused.
Exercise is crucial to both your mental and physical health. In addition to helping maintain a healthy weight and body, exercise can help you stay more focused at work.
Research has shown that moderate and high-intensity physical activity can help improve concentration, memory and problem-solving. You can get these effects from just one workout, and the results last for up to two hours.
Along with better focus, you can enjoy higher energy levels.
Exercising before work can help you take advantage of the focus-boosting effects of exercise, but you only need a few minutes to see a difference. So, if you can’t get in a workout before you start your day, a brisk walk on your lunch break can help.
If you get 15-minute breaks throughout the day, you can also use this time to stay active and help boost your focus when you get back to work.
13. Break Down Big Projects into Bite-size Tasks
When a big project lands on your desk, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by it all. Those feelings of being overwhelmed can cause you to procrastinate and make it hard to concentrate on work.
To make more significant projects feel more doable, try breaking them down into bite-size tasks. You can do this by breaking the project down into:
- Phases
- Parts
- Categories
From here, you can then break each one down into tasks. Start by:
- Identifying tasks
- Determining which tasks are priorities
- Setting deadlines for completing these tasks
By setting deadlines for your tasks, you ensure that your project moves along at a steady pace. At the same time, you feel rewarded and motivated each time you check a task off your list.
It becomes more manageable and less overwhelming when you break a big project down into bite-size tasks. Yes, the entire project may be a big undertaking, but you can certainly handle each individual task.
14. Make Sleep a Priority
A lack of sleep or poor quality sleep can make it hard to stay on track. After all, sleep deprivation makes you feel groggy and sluggish. Your reaction time isn’t on point, and your brain, essentially, turns to mush.
Research shows that sleep deprivation has a negative effect on cognitive function. So, when you try to stay focused on a task at work, it feels like you’re trudging through mud.
To stay focused and on task, make sleep a priority. Aim to get about eight hours of sleep each night, and do your best to wake up and go to bed at the same time every night.
Learn How to Get to Sleep on Time – Starting Tonight!
Final Thoughts
It’s not always easy to remain focused at work, especially if you have to deal with noisy distractions and a pile of tasks each day. These tips can help you learn how to focus on work, so you can get more done and waste less time.
You can also use these tips to stay focused with online learning!
Rene is a creative, little gnome. When she’s not diving deep into research on health and wellness, she’s spending here time out in nature, growing her homestead, photographing wildlife, doing yoga or enjoying a zen (depending on the day) moment with her fur babies. And on top of all of that, she’s a professional writer by day, helping businesses around the world grow.