Need to stay focused and boost your productivity ?Try these 7 proven tips !

Are you facing a lot of distractions while trying to complete a task.Do you feel unmotivated and lose productivity while working? This will leave us feeling angry and frustrated within ourselves.But not to worry since this blog post covers several methods to increase your productivity and focus.

Importance of productivity and focus 

Productivity is not only about doing more work in less time or being busy,it is about what quality of work we produce.Productivity is important in our personal and as well as professional lives to become the best possible version of ourselves.It is crucial to stay focused at the task in hand if we want to increase our well being.Productivity and focus go hand in hand.When we are focused at work we can,

• Produce good quality and good quantity work 
• Get into the hyperfocus mode in getting work done 
• Eliminate toxic productivity 
• Remain Calm and increase productivity

If you want to be focused and motivated to become a better version of yourself,read my latest post on “How to close the gap between your current self and ideal self”

Causes for poor attention span 

Research shows that when you are distracted from the task in hand,it will again take 23 mins for you to refocus on it again.This is crazy right ?  Every time you experience poor attention and focus at the task in hand,take a step back and evaluate the reason why you feel so.It could possibly be one of the reasons below.

• Having distractions :Social media is the biggest distraction of this age,it can easily take you away from the work that you are doing.
• Being hungry: If you are hungry or having a poor appetite it will lead to losing focus at work.
• Feeling tired/sleepy: When you are not getting enough sleep it will lead you to being fatigued at work.This will also happen when you are overworking.
• Being stressed: When you are experiencing high levels of stress in any part of your life it will automatically be reflected at your work leading to burnout.
• Poor working environment: When your working environment is toxic or if you are working at a dirty space it will directly influence your productivity and focus. 
• Having health issues:Be it physical or mental health issues, research shows us that it can directly affect our productivity.
• Boredom :When the task at hand is not something that we have a passion towards or not something that we enjoy,love doing then we might feel bored doing the task leading to decreased focus and productivity.

Now that we know the importance of productivity and the reasons that we might be losing focus,now it is time to rebuild our focus and productivity 

Ways to boost productivity and focus 

Eliminate Distractions 

Before starting your work take time to limit interruptions and eliminate your distractions.Distractions are the major cause of lack in productivity.Even though we cannot completely eliminate them all,we can limit them to an extent.Some of the ways to eliminate distractions are 

• Have time sensitive/focused notifications,putting your phone on Do not Disturb while working or also by using focus modes 
• Moving to a quieter place to work 
• Listening to some calm instrumental music 

Tidy up your workspace

Your space is a reflection of your mind.When there are multiple scattered items on your workspace it will forever keep you distracted.Taking a minute to clear out the papers,stationary items and a dust wipe is more than enough to keep going.A clean space will help us to work better and focus better thus increasing our productivity 

Practice Pomodoro Technique 

This is the technique that is time and time used and recommended by productivity gurus over and over again.I have tried and it has vastly increased my levels of productivity.This is a simple method helps you to stay on track with your tasks for shorter periods of time,while taking breaks.

• Set your timer for 25 mins
• Work within that timeframe with no distractions 
• Once the timer goes off,take a 5 min break 
• And repeat

What this technique helps us to do is,during the 25 mins of worktime even though sometimes we might want to look at that notification sound or check that email we control ourselves knowing that we can do that in the 5 min break.This method drastically improves our productivity and limits distractions 

Focus on one task at a time 

There are multiple research done to understand whether multitasking or single tasking is better.But all of these research shows us that multitasking has negative effects on cognitive outcomes.Brain cannot focus on multiple tasks at a single time,we might feel busy put we are not actually productive.We will not get the important things done.

Yes we can listen to music and cook,we can clean and watch tv,these tasks require very less of our attention space so they can be multi tasked together.But when you are working on a core project it will require you to focus only on one task at a particular tIme,to make most out of your productive juices

Set SMART goals 

When you feel scared about starting a new project or a task and don’t know how to handle it,break it down into smaller parts and set SMART goals for it.

Setting smaller goals can make you feel accomplished while helping you move forward with your larger vision.

Take care of your body 

Exercising regularly and eating healthy meals will automatically help you to increase productivity.Since you have actively started to take care of your body.Getting a good night’s rest will eliminate sleepiness when you need to work.Eating healthy meals will provide you with energy throughout the day.

Take time for mindfulness practices 

Even though we feel like we have eliminated our distractions,taking care of ourselves and keeping our space clean,our mind might still wander making it harder for us to focus on the task on hand.Mindfulness is just learning to be at present with whatever that we are doing.Being mindful can help us to bring back to the task even when at times we might get distracted-helping us to stay focused

1. How to practice mindfulness
2. Eating your food by paying attention to the taste,quantity,colour and savouring each bite
3. Meditating 
4. Observing the space you are in and listening to all the sounds around you 
5. Some mindful stretches in yoga 

These are the tips that helped me to improve my focus and productivity.I know focusing can be hard sometimes,but with the tips described above I really hope you can put them into use for your advantage.Tell me in the comments below as in which are your major distractions that is making you lose focus and tell me how you are going to deal with them.