We’ve found 7 ways to keep you more focused and less… all over the place. Sounds useful, doesn’t it?

Casual Meditation

Before starting a new task, take the time to calm your brain. You don’t have to chant or sit a certain way, just get comfy and feel your body against the chair or floor and breathe. Try not to think about anything at all.

Not Every Distraction Is Bad

Distractions aren’t necessarily bad, but you have to pick and choose the right ones. You can’t let every little thing steal your focus, and you have to identify what good and bad distractions are. Pay attention next time you are trying to get some work done and see what your big distractions are.

Take 30

We get it. Life is crazy hectic. But the emails can wait for 30 minutes if it means you’re more productive the rest of the day. Take some time for yourself so you can recharge and think clearly.

Coffee Is Life

It doesn’t get any simpler than a good ol’ cup of coffee. You’ll feel alert and focused in no time. Drink up!

Stay Cool

Multiple studies show that temperature affects how well you work. Apparently the low 70’s is where you want to stay for optimum focus. If you work in a crazy cold office (you know what I’m talking about), you might want to consider bringing a sweater.

Jam Out

Music really does help you focus on your thoughts, but here’s the catch – you have to like the song. Good music helps, bad music hurts. Grab your headphones and jam your way to a better workday.

Doodle

If you’re sitting in on a long meeting or conference, improve your focus with a pencil and paper. According to a study from the University of Plymouth in England, doodling aids in cognitive performance and recollection.

Zone out

It might seem counter-intuitive, but allowing your mind to wander may be a great approach if you are struggling to focus. There is a growing realization among psychologists that we spend an awful lot of time daydreaming – almost 50% of the time by some measures. This has led some psychologists to suggest that mind wandering is not so much a glitch, but rather a key part of the system itself that can help our brains function.

Looking at the brain itself can help to reveal that our focus wanes for a good reason. Concentration requires a network of brain regions including the frontal cortex, which is responsible for resisting distractions and controlling our natural impulse to do something more fun. Keeping this network functioning requires more energy than the group of brain regions that are active when we are thinking about nothing in particular. Inevitably, at some point during the day, we run out of steam and that’s when mind wandering kicks in.

So if it’s going to happen, then why not schedule it at a convenient time?

Giving yourself permission to think about anything but work not only takes the guilt out of mind wandering, it also helps tick a few things off the mental to-do list that caused the mind wandering in the first place.

Bop around

Funny cat videos are often seen as the ultimate distraction for procrastinators, but some psychologists think that they might actually help put us in the right mental state to get on with work.

This is because, no matter how much you love your job, staying focused on something difficult requires willpower. According to a recent study, a good way to boost your reserves of willpower is to have a good laugh. In experiments, people who had watched a funny video tried longer and harder to complete an impossible puzzle than a control group of people who watched a video that was relaxing but not funny. The study concluded that humor replenishes our reserves so effectively that workplaces should encourage a more “playful” culture.

Take a break

When you’re up against it, taking a break might be the last thing on your mind. But there is a huge amount of evidence to suggest it can actually help you get more done. The challenge is working out when to take a break, for how long, and what to do with that downtime.

Some studies dating from the 1990s suggest that due to natural variations in our cycle of alertness, we can concentrate for no longer than 90 minutes before needing a 15-minute break.

Other studies have found that even a micro-break of a few seconds will work, provided it is a total distraction – in the studies, people did a few seconds of mental arithmetic, so you may have to do something more  intense than staring out of the window.

Exercise is a good thing to do in with your break, as it seems to rev up the brain, putting it into a better state to knuckle back down, particularly, according to this study, if you follow it with a caffeinated drink. Take your exercise outdoors and get a further boost – spending time in nature has long been suspected to improve people’s ability to focus.

Meditation is another option. There is growing evidence that experienced meditators have better control over their attention resources than non-meditators and are much better at noticing when it’s time for a break.

If that all sounds a bit time-consuming, the good news is that, with or without exercise, a quick dose of caffeine improves memory, reaction time and attention in the short term. So however you choose to take your break, always stop to put the kettle on as you make your way back to your desk.

Minimize multitasking

While multitasking may look like it could save you an hour or two a day, studies show that people that identify themselves as multitaskers get more easily distracted and can’t stay on track. Focus on one thing at a time (if you can) and you’ll see that your day runs smoother and you can complete tasks in a timely manner.

Exercise regularly

Exercise is good for the body and the mind. Hitting the gym a few times a week promotes your capacity for concentration. Scientists believe regular exercise may help stimulate the release of a chemical in the brain that helps rewire memory circuits to function better.

Make a to-do list

To-do lists not only serve as a record of uncompleted tasks, but they help you prioritize what you need to get done first. Thinking about incomplete work eats away at your concentration, so writing things down helps you to get them off your mind so can work on tasks at hand.

Take breaks

Whether it's taking a walk, or closing your eyes for a few minutes, or even watching a funny video on YouTube, taking the occasional break from work helps you focus in the long run.

Keep work at work

While this is easier said than done, just giving your brain a rest after you get off the job could help you focus better during the next workday.

Find a quiet spot

Ambient noise, like cars honking or kids screaming, can stimulate the release of the stress hormone cortisol and too much cortisol can impair your focus. This is why scientists are beginning to argue with the open office concept, especially when there is music blasting through the entire floor.

Get enough sleep

The main symptoms of sleep loss is poor concentration. Getting the recommended seven to eight hours a night could be the difference between feeling dull and being laser-focused the next morning.

Embrace boredom

Instead of checking your phone while binging Netflix, take a break from any stimulation. In small doses, boredom can be helpful, especially if it keeps you from multitasking.

Devote specific hours to tasks

Try to keep a consistent schedule for work, for the gym, for household chores etc. This will help train your brain to stay focused during certain hours and give it a chance to relax when the time is right.

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