9 Ways to Improve Concentration and Increase Productivity

We've all had days where we've convinced ourselves that we're not as productive as we should be. Perhaps it's because we're comparing ourselves to others or there's a real drop in productivity. No matter what the reason, we could get to a dead end, push the emergency button and start adopting new systems and processes. In fact, the root of the problem could be much simpler. Lack of focus may be the cause.

9 Ways to Improve Concentration and Increase Productivity:

1. Continue to complete only 1% of tasks:

Choncé Maddox, a Certified Financial Education Instructor (CFEI) - freelance writer in the field of personal finance writes: “A 1% achievement doesn't seem very impressive, but it makes all the difference when it comes to developing ingrained habits.” and James Clear discusses the same idea of small achievement and its long-term impact in his book Atomic Habits, by sharing the theory that “habits represent the compound benefit of self-improvement.” Getting 1% done makes a difference, but it does that and more with time, especially when it comes to developing solid habits.

Committing to 1% change each time is more manageable than setting unrealistic goals. This small change accumulates over time and facilitates the transition to achieving 2% or 5% higher changes. Eventually, these habits become part of your life and the results to be achieved begin to appear.

“It's not so much about the goal as about the systems that are put in place to achieve long-lasting results,” Maddox says, “The atomic habits that we acquire stack up against each other and multiply the results over time, and that's the only way people get things done and reach specific levels of success.”

To get started, focus on the following atomic habits:

• Wake up an hour before the actual time daily, by waking up 15 minutes before the appointment each day, so you can wake up 60 minutes later.
• Increase physical activity, which will increase energy and concentration, and add 30 minutes of any exercise to your daily program, and if possible, go for a walk or ride a bike. It has been proven that spending time in nature improves concentration and productivity.
• Refrain from watching TV overnight, reduce screen time and exposure, and use downtime more productively.
• Determine one task and make a plan to implement it. When you feel distracted by multi-tasking, choose one assignment and focus on it, or choose one mission from every aspect of your life.

2. Live in the Moment:

Kendra Cherry, a writer at remote psychological counseling site Very Well Mind, wrote: “It's hard to concentrate when time is spent thinking about the past, worrying about the future, ignoring the present moment for one reason or another. It's not uncommon to talk about the importance of living in the moment and concentrating mentally in the present; It's about getting rid of distractions, whether they're sensory like a mobile phone , or moral like anxiety, and staying engaged in the present moment. Living in the present is also essential to regaining mental focus and enhancing your attention and mental abilities to keep you focused on details that will be important at some point.”

Can this advanced stage of mental concentration be achieved without distractions in a short time? No, it will take time and training, but remember that the past cannot be changed. The future has not yet happened, and what we do today can help avoid repeating past mistakes and pave the way for a better future.

3. Exercise Advance Commitment:

What exactly is a prior commitment? Writer, lawyer, and businesswoman Marelisa Fabrega responds: "It is important to identify the tasks that will be worked on early and specify the duration. Once you specify the task to be carried out, it is preferable to write it on paper, index card, or note as a reminder. This is because writing gives space for the mind to focus on practical steps. For example, the need to write a new publication for the website by allocating 25 minutes to this activity. It can be written on paper with a time frame and set the alarm clock to 25 minutes. During this period, only the specific task will be focused on."

4. Putting an end to distractions:

When it comes to limiting distractions, each of us has our own way of doing so, such as putting the phone on “Do Not Disturb” mode, closing the window, or putting on headphones. Despite our best efforts, we will not be completely isolated from distractions. The best way to deal with distractions is by allocating time to them. The technique of setting a “time for distractions” helps achieve balance. For example, before starting this day's work, a person can browse social media to avoid the fear of missing events or the so-called FOMO mentality. The solution is to set time restrictions, so you do not waste much time on this unproductive activity.

5. Travel to 1918:

The problem of poor concentration has always been a debated matter over time. In 1918, Theron Q. Dumont. Dumont published the best-known book in the focus improvement field The Power of Concentration, which includes several exercises to strengthen concentration and increase attention span. While some of these exercises may seem silly, they are active and give you a chance to separate from the distracted world around you temporarily.

An example of one of these exercises:

Sit quietly on a chair for 15 minutes, focus on the fingers, then raise the right arm until it is at shoulder level, towards the right, look around you with your eyes without moving the head, focus on the fingers, and keep the arm completely fixed for one minute, and then do the same exercise with the left arm.

After that, 5 minutes are spent focusing only on opening and closing the fists of the hand, and when you finish, lie down to relax the muscles, and focus on the heartbeat. The second hand can be followed with the eyes as it rotates. Continue this for five minutes. You should not think about anything other than the second hand.

6. Mind Exercises:

When it comes to mind-training games, many complex and exciting games can be acquired with ambiguity. Research shows that games, such as Sudoku and crosswords can improve short-term memory, strengthen concentration, speed up response time, develop reasoning skills. Even specialized video games can improve focus and sharpen cognitive functions such as (Peak) and (Brain Age Concentration Training).

Kim Willment, a neuropsychologist at (Brigham and Women's Hospital) said: “The goal of playing these games is not to develop your skills in them but to enhance cognitive activities for everyday life.” However, there is evidence that a person's ability to concentrate can be improved through improved performance. So, if a certain level of attention and sustained focus is reached, moving to the next level will help improve it, and this may translate into mental performance in daily life.

7. Non-urgent communication:

What happens when we receive an email, text, or notification from an app? Some people will stop completing their work and respond automatically. However, productive people prefer to postpone the response and prioritize doing the work.

Steve Glaveski, CEO and co-founder of (Collective Campus) note that “aside from the well-known benefit of not auto-responding in increasing focus and thus mastering business, delaying communication gives people better opportunities to think about decision making by increasing the amount of time they have to respond to a request. When a phone call or video call is made, decisions are made in real-time, while when communicating via email, more time is given to think about a response.”

How to increase focus by slowing down the communication process successfully? “The arbitrary urgency that is still pervasive in workplaces to perform tasks around the world must be eliminated,” says Glaveski. One of the most effective strategies to combat this urgent bias is the Eisenhower Principle.

It's a simple way to prioritize work within a specific timeframe by distinguishing between urgent and important tasks. Eisenhower quotes Dr. J. Roscoe Miller, President of Northwestern University, as saying: "There are two types of tasks: urgent and important, urgent tasks may not be important, and important tasks may never be urgent," recommends Glaveski to optimize the use of asynchronous or non-urgent communication and avoid getting a lot of follow-up emails, including the following in the message:

• Enough detail.
• Clear action items; that is, the tasks you will need to complete.
• Scheduled appointment.
• Sources to use in case the consignee has difficulty fulfilling your requirements.

8. Reduce daily clutter:

A radio song called “Just” has the following line: “You're doing it for yourself, and it is what really hurts.” This is an excellent suggestion when it comes to improving focus. For example, If someone has an exhaustive list of twenty tasks to accomplish, how will they be able to identify the two or three most important tasks for the day? If  their workspace is too confusing, you'll be too distracted during the work.

Conflicts between tasks can occur, such as scheduling a remote meeting at the same time as the construction workers in your home, which will reduce the effectiveness of performance in both tasks. Each of us has our way of managing it, and this is not arrogance or opinion in something. So, to reduce the chaos in the lives of each person, it is necessary to rely on common sense and insight.

9. Focus on what can be done, not what cannot be done:

Anthony J. D'Angelo, a pioneer in higher education development: “90% of time should be focused on solutions and only 10% on problems.” Often, making excuses are made to allow distractions to creep in between tasks and reduce focus and performance.

One of the most common distractions is living in a crowded place full of noise. It is annoying, but it can be overcome by putting on a pair of anti-noise headphones or working in a quieter place. In addition, you can commit to carrying out a difficult task where it can be overcome by dividing it into smaller tasks and only start processing the easiest parts first, and other tasks will be completed successively, or waiting for a colleague to send an email or fulfill their part of the project, in which case some other tasks can be carried out during this waiting period.