How to focus on current task? What are the useful ways to effectively focus on your current work and avoid distractions? How to your improve focus?

 

How to focus on current task?

You may have felt like there is so much to do and you feel overwhelmed about the situation and then you think about the what task you will do first then exactly what happened is 1 hour goes by and you are still thinking and later in the evening you have a kind of a guilt that you didn't do anything productive today which was very much important but just because of confusion and lack of focus you couldn't complete any of your important tasks.
 
‍‍‍‍Here I am going to share with you about how I focus on the immediate work or task I am doing so that if you find them useful then you can apply them too in your life and improve your focus.

I have found these useful ways after experiencing lots of distractions and failures while focusing on the task in hand. Sharing with you what I do and hopefully you can do to focus on the activity I am presently doing or wish to complete:-

Also read – “Do what you must be doing presently. How to complete your tasks effectively?”

(1) Organize and gain clarity of thoughts - organize your surroundings for mental clarity. If you try to focus on a project on a messy desk then you won't be able to complete it.

So it's better to organize your task area first for clarity and easy access to everything, whether you are cooking breakfast in the kitchen, doing office work on your office desk or doing other activity in a specific area.

 

 
What I do is, I firstly take all the stuff from my office desk and then I keep them somewhere else. After that I clean the desk with a cloth and sanitize it, especially to prevent myself and others from getting the coronavirus as I keep touching the floor of the desk so I need to keep it clean and sanitized.

Read the article “clean and tidy up your space. Why you should clean up your space? How clean space helps us in life?” to understand  and know benefits of a clean tidy space and more.

 

Then I keep back all the necessary items on the desk after cleaning and sanitizing them too. I make sure I keep everything in an accessible and organized manner.

I also try to keep my desk decorated with desk plants, cuttings of motivational and inspirational quotes in such a way that it attracts me towards it and I feel more like to work on it. Only after this I start working.
 
(2) Write a quick task list for the day - After sitting at my office desk I write a quick to-do list breaking the task in hand into small parts. For example, if I have to make banner for my blog then I write mg the to do list in this way:

a. Make a rough design with pencil on paper of the banner.

b. Do color combination marking.

 

c. Decide and write the text and place it on the banner.

d. Do the rough work graphically on the computer and save the file in the design folder.

So by doing this it becomes clear to me what all I have to do and any major task becomes minor after breaking it into parts and it doesn't feel overwhelming to do it as a major task. And when I complete every sub task it gives me a sense of accomplishment.

 

(3) While working on my current task I use a pomodoro timer to stay focused and do the task in a particular and decided span of time.

Some people don’t feel right to do any work thinking about the time and they may feel stressed that they have to complete it in that specific time. But I feel a kind of drive and responsibility to complete it during the decided time and that's why I use pomodoro.

But I do keep my schedule flexible to avoid stress if any urgent task comes in front of me which is more important than the task I am presently doing. 

For example, while designing the banner if my mother tells me to bring her medicines, I will obviously give her medicines first then I'll get back to the banner design work.
 

(4) Avoid distractions. I don't take unnecessary calls at the time I am working or doing a specific activity and try to do that task mindfully. I set aside time for calls and entertainment but only after completing my current task. So the leisure time becomes like a reward to me after finishing the task in hand.

 
(5) Let other people know (inform them directly or indirectly, choose your way). You have to let others know that you are focusing on something and you have to complete it. No need to explain the reason. If it is important for you to complete then it has to be done.

 Tell people through your body language and try to not be rude at all as much as possible. And if that doesn't work then tell them directly, firmly and politely.
These are my ways of being focused. Share with me in the comment section what you do to stay focused and which of these ways mentioned above is useful to you or you can relate with.