How to Regain Focus At Work – A Detailed Guide

We spend billions (probably trillions) of dollars on the workplace. From designing the right office to securing just the right address, office space is often the second biggest expense a business has (after salaries). But increasingly, the workplace is a terrible place to get work done.

From the distractions of open office spaces to the constant requests for meetings, actually getting work done isn’t easy. On top of that, the whirlwind of choices brought by technology makes it harder to stay focused even when you’re alone.

The Process to Regain Focus

Since writing Under New Management, I’ve received a lot of emails about how to work against the forces of distraction at work and actually retake productivity. Over time, I’ve settled on a streamlined process for finding focus:

Step 1: Leave the Office

Find a coworking space, a public library, a coffee shop, or anywhere that has a table/desk and people who don’t know you. Hopefully, your manager has enough faith in you that if you take half a day to go somewhere else, they won’t assume you’re slacking off. 

If not, see if you can book a conference room (without glass walls) or somewhere else inside the office where it’s hard for people to find you.

Step 2: Leave Your Laptop Cable

Charge your computer ahead of time, but leave the charging cable behind. That way, once you power it on, you know you only have so much time to work.

In psychology, this is what’s known as a commitment device—a choice you make ahead of time to restrict your future choices. With limited power, you don’t have time to waste surfing the internet or watching random YouTube videos. 

In fact, those things usually drain more power than whatever work you’re there to do. Even if you find your attention wandering, the little voice in the back of your head will remind you that you’ve only got a few hours before the screen goes black.

Step 3: Schedule Deep Work Sessions

The next thing you need to do is keep specific time slots in your day where you will work uninterrupted and focused. 

Shut down your phone or put it on silent mode during these slots, and do not have any distracting or irrelevant tabs open.

Let your colleagues and everyone around you know that you are not available to talk unless it’s an emergency. This technique, “Time blocking,” will help you give dedicated and undivided attention to your work, which is very important for the priority tasks on your list. 

Step 4: Declutter Your Workspace

The next thing you need to do is declutter as much as possible. Remove unnecessary stuff from your desktop screen and workspace, and keep everything around you clean and easy to reach.

Go for a minimalist environment and keep only your essentials, like a bottle of water, a cup of tea, a pen, and a stack of sticky notes. The less messy the environment around you, the more you will be able to focus and feel productive at work. 

You’ll also find it peaceful working in such a setting and improve your concentration.

Step 5: Prioritize Your Tasks

Before you get down to work, make a priority list with the three most important tasks for the day.

Keep the tasks that require the most focus and are time-bound on top, and try to finish them during your peak productivity hours when you are at your highest levels of energy and attention.

In this way, you will also feel less overwhelmed and will be able to complete more things in a more organized manner. This is much better than dragging yourself to do everything, which usually just leads to getting nothing done by the end of the day.

Step 6: Incorporate Mindfulness

Begin your day with mindful exercises like breathing or meditation to relax your mind. 

It will also reduce stress and increase your focus and concentration at work. Just take five to ten minutes out of your work routine and sit down at home or the office for the exercise. 

This way, you won’t have any task on your mind but will be able to fully engage in a calm and focused environment. This will set the tone for your day, and you will see how it affects your focus and productivity.

Conclusion

Lastly, staying focused at work is very important for mental clarity and staying productive.

Unfortunately, modern workplaces and technologies pose new challenges to staying focused. You have to use them, but they are also very distracting.

So, just making a few changes in your daily habits or rituals, like incorporating meditation exercises, leaving out the charging cable, or getting more organized, will lead to a huge improvement in your output.