These principles and methods can be applied to anything:game, workouts, start-ups, study.

Focus is going to be a huge component of achieving any type of success in today’s world.

I’ll be discussing some ways you can increase your focus right now. Firstly before I get into some of the steps required to increase your focus I want you to think carefully about the reasons why you want to be focused. Maybe you have your eyes set on a prize.

Think carefully about how bad you want it. How bad do you want this goal of yours, really bad I’m guessing? Great.

Now you must understand that without focus you will never get anywhere close to where you want to be. Any type of success or accomplishment is going to demand at least some level of focus from you on a consistent basis.

There seems to be some type of common belief in our society that multitasking is one of the most admirable skills you can possess. Multitasking seems to be portrayed as a quality one must aim to be proficient at, benefiting them in an extraordinary ways. Rather, multitasking is a great way for you to swim backward and get left behind.

We’ve covered the obvious fact that focus is going to be an important part of getting fit, starting a business but how do you actually level up your focus in a world full of constant distractions?

Write Simple Lists

I’m not talking about to do lists. To do lists aren’t going to determine how productive you are. Some people actually strongly believe they can take away how much work you actually get done.

Let’s talk about how you can take advantage of lists to benefit your level of focus.

Write down, at most, 4 reasons why you are getting distracted (be honest!). For me, it’s my phone, food and talking with other people, especially that last one.

So what distracts you? Figure this out and don’t just think about it, physically write it down, use a pen and paper. Writing it down will force you to take it more seriously.

Practice Mindfulness

Now I’m going to briefly cover the contrary of what focus really is. When you think about it this in logical way, the answer to why you can’t focus is right in front of you.

The opposite of focus is multitasking! Multitasking is being distracted by multiple variables in one present moment. Rather than one singular focused task in the present, you see what I’m getting at? When you are striving for success to reach a personal goal your full attention must go towards this.

Even though your mind may make you think you’re doing more by doing multiple things at once, in all honesty, this is just exacerbated by how constantly distracted we are in our daily lives and because that is the norm. The norm tends to be what we perceive as right. It’s not! Remain focused on the task you are doing. If you are writing, write, don’t write, sing, eat and dance.

Meditation can really help increase your ability to be mindful. Think of mindfulness like a muscle it needs to be worked. Meditation is your barbell.

Have A Present Mindset

When you are doing something, give it your 100% attention, no matter what you are doing. This can also be described as mindfulness, a concept taught in meditation.

Basically, the best way to practice focusing without actually making it feel like work in your daily life is to just be aware of what you’re doing.

For example, if you’re stirring tea, don’t think about your day, just focus your full conscious attention on the motion of stirring tea. I have a video on this concept which you can watch.

Another great way to approach improving your focus is to try and rid your life of things you don’t need.

A simple example of this is becoming a minimalist. Ridding your room of unwanted things you don’t need, tidying you room, throwing way items you don’t need. Clutter provokes distractions. To optimize your mind, work in a tidy, organised environment so that your attention is forced into what you intended to do.

Use Time Blocks For Sharp Focus

So what exactly is working in a time block? Let’s say you have 2 hours to work on a research project, instead of trying to write it down over the 2 hours, spend 10 minutes writing with a 5 minute break.

The difference between this and what you normally do is that even though you may possibly be ‘working’ less, the brief periods of deep, focused work will make up and often exceed the difference.

So for the time block of 10 minutes, make sure it is completely focused undisturbed work that you partake in. These 10 minutes are when you take the distractions you previously listed and completely eliminate them, this could mean turning off your phone.

Once you have successfully completed the 10 minute time block of deep work you can turn on your phone, fiddle around with it and have fun with your distractions, then once that time is up you continue to work. Rinse and repeat.

This method of productivity has actually been scientifically proven to be way more efficient. I guarantee as long as the time blocks consist of deep and cognitively demanding work, you’re going to see a noticeable difference, fast.

Remember to not keep the time blocks too long, because if you are truly putting in all your focus and energy, it can be quite taxing on the mind, hence the frequent breaks.

Consider splitting your days tasks into blocks. For example 1 block for project 1 and 1 block for project 4, rather than trying to fiddle with them all in the same time period.

This principle applies to every type of task. I’m a personal trainer and even in exercise programs, the best results arise when workouts are done in blocks of focus and high intensity, rather than sporadic spurts of energy.

The more I utilize time blocks with myself and clients I see it more as a universal truth rather than just something that works well for certain things.

Avoid Multi-Tasking

If the focus is the key to success and focus is defined as undivided attention to one task, how on earth can multitasking be better than this!?

Multitasking has its place in life and it’s useful for monotonous tasks. This could include: reaching for your credit card and talking to the cashier, but that’s about it.

If we are talking about deep, cognitively demanding work, multitasking should be perceived as the devil, something you want to avoid at all costs. Why? So that your mind is able to unravel in the complexity of the deep and niche topic(s) you are trying to explore. Every time you get distracted it takes time for your mind to re-focus on previous tasks. This further increases your time spent without deep work.

When you engage in deep work, it is satisfying because of the gravitational pull towards present energy.

The more you focus on something, the deeper you can immerse yourself in it. What this entails is wonders for your creativity, the quality and also the quantity of work you produce.

Take Away Message

I’m going to wrap this up with a few things I want you to remember. Write lists (not to do lists). List down 3-4 of the factors which really distract you when you’re working.

Secondly, make sure to be present with your work. Give whatever you do in daily life (not matter what it is) your full attention. Use time blocks to work more efficiently. 10 minutes on and 5 minutes off works great.

Lastly, forget about multi-tasking. Never place this action on a pedestal. Multitasking isn’t a skill to be proud of. Practice deep work and centred focus; this is what will bring out the ripest fruit of your labour.

Video Version