How many tasks can you do at once?  Actually, let me ask this question instead, are you good at multitasking?  Wait wait wait!!!  Here’s the real question, do you get good results when you multitask?  You might think so, but I’m willing to bet they’d be even better if you learned to focus.

One of the best things a person can do to increase productivity is learn to focus.  Often times we feel as though we’re accomplishing a lot, but we’re really just doing a lot. Being busy is not the same as being productive.  Our goal is the latter.  In order to achieve it, we must learn to focus.  Here are 5 tips that can help improve your ability to focus.

1. Do physical activity just before a complex task. I’ve found that slightly stressing my body before going into deep thought helps me to focus.   The blood gets pumping and my excitatory neurotransmitters are released. When I sit back down to work, I’m firing on all cylinders.
2. Hide the phone. Easily, the cell phone has become one of the most distracting devices on the planet.  This little thing connects us to the world 24/7 which means it connects us to interruptions.  In the back of our minds, we’re always wondering who is trying to get in touch with us, or who we need to get in touch with.  Access is a great thing, but too much access leads to decreased productivity.  Before beginning key tasks, consider hiding your phone .
3. What does your workspace look like?  Are there random papers scattered all over the place?  Water bottles on your desk?  Old sandwich wrappers (this is just nasty, throw your garbage away).  Working in chaos can lead to a chaotic result.  Your physical environment should reflect your mental environment.  To perform at your best, you want that to be one of clarity.
4. Go potty before you begin working. Yes, I said potty (I’ve got little kids).  Do you ever get in the zone and feel like everything is flowing perfectly with your work?  Then you have to go potty.  That potty break leads to a snack break, which leads to a “check your phone” break.  Next thing you know, you’ve been on Facebook for an hour.  Before beginning a complex task, make sure you’ve done anything you need to, so you won’t have to take an unscheduled break.
5. Identify the single most important task. In Gary Keller’s book, the One Thing, he suggests that there is always one most important task at any given moment, and that’s what we should be working on.  If we can identify that single task, we won’t feel guilty that we’re neglecting something else.  And we break large projects down into single tasks, we’ll be eating the elephant one bite at a time.

In today’s world, t’s becoming harder and harder to focus.  To placate ourselves, we say things like, “I’m great at multitasking”, however what that really means for most of us is we’re being less productive than we’d be otherwise.  Use these five tips to become an individual with laser-like focus and increase your productivity.

So, I’d like to know, what other tips have you tried that helped to increase your focus?

Are you a premed? Join Diverse Medicine now. It's free!