7 Strategies To Improve Focus (Part 1)

You’d be surprised by how many people lose track of where their time goes. They might think they are focused on a single task, but are they really? One way to find out is to keep track of how you spend your time for a week.

You might find out you’ve been wasting time on little things like checking Facebook once an hour.
Here are my strategies for improving your focus and increasing your productivity:
1. Track your time. Analyze the results after a week. Tweak and get rid of time wasters.
2. Plan your week. At the end of your week, find a quiet spot to plan out your week’s tasks.
Write down key projects and the tasks associated with them. Don’t forget to add in family activities that you participate in as well.

3. Prioritize your list. Break down your tasks from most important to least important. Use a calendar to mark out blocks of uninterrupted time (anywhere from 15 to 60 minutes) to work on each one.

4. Eliminate what isn’t essential. Outsource what you can for things you need to do but which aren’t your strengths.

This could be anything from mowing your lawn to hiring a virtual assistant to take care of your social media for the week.

5. Set your goals. Break down big or long-term goals into smaller weekly or daily goals to make them easier to focus on.

6. Set aside a specific amount of time each day for checking/answering email and social media.

It could be the first 30 minute task of the day, the last 30 minutes of your work day, or maybe the 15 minutes before your lunch break. Only do it once a day though.

Don’t be stopping in the middle of a task to check your email. The same goes for social media channels as well.

7. Do away with multitasking. It takes a while to learn how to focus on one project at a time, but stick with it and it will become a habit. Finish one project/task before moving on to the next one. Become laser-focused on one task at a time. This can really increase your productivity. Have a wonderful day.

Read Part 2 Here.

5 Reasons Why Multitasking is Overrated

If you’re like many people you spend most days multitasking.

You’re probably so used to multitasking that you don’t even realize when you’re doing it.

After all, it’s a skill many employers look for in their employees.

Many people believe multitasking saves them time. There are many reasons why multitasking is bad.

It’s better to focus instead though.

Focusing lets you concentrate on one task or thought at a time, helping you create a better result for each task.

Many people like to multitask because they become bored working on one task at a time.
Why is multitasking bad?




You have to switch from task to task. This takes time for your mind to change into the right mindset for the new task.

You have to take the time to remember where you left off.

1.      Multitasking leads to attention and memory loss. According to a study by Harvard Professor Clifford Nass, in findings published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, people who use online social media and other forms of electronic communications have trouble focusing their attention and have lower scores on memory tests.

2.      Cognitive performance is diminished. A recent study by Zheng Wang, a professor at Ohio State University, showed that multitasking caused students to feel more productive, but showed they were actually reducing their cognitive skills abilities such as studying.

3.      It turns people off when you are interacting with them. People who multitask often find themselves coming in contact with others.

If you only half pay attention to them, answering texts and phone calls while talking to them, you will lose their respect.

4.      Multitaskers lose productivity. Switching between tasks is counter-productive. You lose time and concentration every time you switch to a different task.

5.      Multitaskers are less likely to finish one quality project. They may finish all their tasks for the day, but they will most likely be sub-par than if they had focused solely on one to completion.


Multitasking makes it difficult to focus entirely on each task you are doing.

 You are thinking about emails you have to respond to when writing a report and the phone calls you need to return even while you are thinking about the next task on your to-do list.

This type of working environment doesn’t do anything but cause you stress.

Instead of multitasking among several tasks, you should prioritize your tasks and break them up into workable time chunks.