When I need to concentrate, I switch my iPhone to Do Not Disturb, I tell Siri to set a timer for one hour and maybe I put on headphones. Write until the hour alarm goes off, done. It works for me.
But right now, this moment, I am finding it hard to concentrate because I’ve been working on one big project all week. The one-hour bursts are fine for that but it’s like I’ve reached a limit. I am full of that work, my head is folding over, there’s no room for anything more to do with it. Consequently even though I am right on deadline, I am actively seeking out distractions.
Naturally, then, the first thing I find is this about not being distracted.
Knowing what you have to do during the day, and scheduling time slots for each task, will help you to break you workload into manageable chunks. Prioritising the more important tasks first will ensure these get done and aren’t impacted by the less important tasks over running.
Purchase a calendar with enough space on each day to write in your workload. As you work through your day, tick off the complete tasks to show what you’ve accomplished and what you’ve left to do.
If you’ve any items that are flexible in terms of deadline then these can be moved to a different day if required and it’s always a good idea to leave some time during the day free for any unplanned things that might arise.
Barry “No Surname” Given also proposes eating well and sleeping, amongst – hang on, counts on fingers – nine other ways to keep you focused.
Fortunately, he mentions one way to be distracted: YouTube. I’m off there right now.