Concentrating on a chore can sometimes be so tough that you need help to get rid of it. Extreme focus is the odd problem of the youngsters of our generation. They find difficulty in focusing and keeping up long enough to complete a job. The capability to focus even on mundane tasks has become troublesome.
In this article, we will be discussing how to give up bad habits and develop good habits that help your focus boost.
What are the bad habits I must give up to achieve extreme focus?
In order to accomplish your goal and boost your focus, you must get rid of the following practices.
- Multitasking: It is good to do several tasks at a time, but the drawback of multitasking is that you end up losing your focus. In my opinion, you must complete a task and then head to another chore so that you complete both of them efficiently. Sometimes nervousness regarding the completion of multiple tasks makes your focus weak in them. Moreover, if you succeed in multitasking, you would be fatigued at the end of the day.
- Social media: Staying online on social media most of the time can cause distraction. A single notification during work can spoil your extreme focus. Furthermore, users compare themselves to others on social media knowing that the internet shows only a part of their life.
- Less sleep: When you don’t get enough sleep you lose your ability to focus. Less sleep means less focus as the brain will not be able to recall the information required to execute a particular task. A sleep-deprived person is always less concentrated and lacks vigilance henceforth difficult to focus and pay attention.
- Distraction in the environment: We often sit around many people and start working which is not a good sign. It is better to choose a place for work that has peace and is quiet which lets you focus. Disturbance around you during a task can diminish your focus and hence you don’t finalize your task satisfactorily.
How can I help myself focus? What are the good habits that I should adopt?
Numerous techniques can be adopted for focus boost. These are the methods that help you focus and helps you concentrate properly. It is up to you to follow all the mentioned procedures or adopt a single technique that proves to be beneficial to you.
- Distraction-free environment: As mentioned above, not getting rid of distraction is a bad habit that doesn’t let one focus. So, the first thing you must do is select a place that is free of commotion. The most possible things that you could do to create a peaceful work environment are:
- Moving to a quiet room or place
- Closing the door of the room to muffle the voices
- Informing people around you to not disturb you during work or task
- If working on a computer or laptop, closing unnecessary apps and programs to avoid distraction
- Turning off the notifications in your mobile phone
- You can also sign out to your social media accounts in a case by turning off notifications you miss an important text or call
- Adequate Sleep: Getting enough sleep is essential, as it is said by Benjamin Franklin: “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
These days many people lack sleep which is not a good quirk. Few nights with minimum sleep are not harmful; however, frequent sleepless nights impact your physical and mental health negatively. Inadequate sleep affects your extreme focus and the ability to concentrate.
To achieve a focus boost you must create a healthy sleep pattern that gives you enough sleep. Adults aged between 18-60 are recommended to have 7 or more hours of sleep.
For improvement in your sleep routine, you must create a peaceful environment ideal for a relaxed sleep. For this purpose you might find the following tips useful:
- Maintain silence and calmness in your bedroom. A cool bedroom also helps to have a peaceful sleep.
- To loosen up you might like a warm bath, some music, or a book to help you sleep.
- Turn off all electronic gadgets especially cell phones as the light from a mobile phone disturbs and prevents you from sleep.
- Caffeine can have an unsettling impact on sleep so, after lunchtime, you must avoid drinks containing caffeine to build your healthy sleep pattern.
- A to-do list: A to-do list can help you in creating a wonderful planner that eventually builds up your extreme focus. When you have a lot of work to do and have no set planner you mess up things. Making a to-do list will resolve all these issues.
Modern studies state that a written planner can increase the output. So making a to-do list must begin from the list of important tasks. Rank them into the order of their significance and start working on them following the order. In this way, you fulfill the important duties early and also when your energy levels are high.
- Similar chores: You might have heard about multitasking and how it ruins your extreme focus. Multitasking can be exhausting and less productive. However, you can group similar tasks to get more work done. Finish with the chores that are alike instead of jumping from one chore to another.
- Nourish your body: Generally, when people have a lot of work to do they stop doing everything else even skip their meals to complete the project. But it is a wrong practice. When you skip meals and take an unorderly diet your body doesn’t get what it requires and you lack focus.
So, you must properly fuel your body to keep your brain concentrated and your energy levels high.
- Keep yourself hydrated.
- Balance your diet with lean protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats.
- In between meals, take fruits, vegetables, and nuts as snacks.
- Consume caffeine in moderation
Proper diet is essential for mental and physical health. So, never skip meals in your hectic routine otherwise you would lack focus.
- Social media blockage: Focusing on a task can be much easier without the interference of social media notifications. But what next? Even if you mute or turn off the notifications still many of us switch to various apps like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, snap chat, and many more. Once you open these apps you lose the track of time and instead of ten minutes, you might have wasted one hour scrolling your feed. So, to your surprise, there is a great solution to this problem. There are several apps that block social media and other distractions as well like YouTube, Netflix, and games, etc.
These apps work on your phones, tablets, and computers and before the scheduled time prevent your access to the blocked apps even if you restart or delete the block app. The most commonly used apps include Freedom, AppBlock, and Self-control, etc.
The above-mentioned focus boost techniques are advantageous if you follow them. You might have heard “Where there is a will, there is a way”. So if you want to boost your focus and get rid of social media distractions you have to work for it. Nothing can be achieved without willpower. You can attain extreme focus once you possess the determination to increase your productivity.