How to Maintain a Razor Sharp Focus

Do you have trouble staying focused on a thrilling three-hour movie? How about the finals of a cricket match or the NBA playoffs? We don’t have short attention spans, says Julian Shapiro. We binge on 14-hour shows. We have short consideration spans. If this article doesn’t hook you in the first few seconds, I’ve lost you.

It’s the same with work. Some tasks hook you immediately, and you’re in the flow within minutes. Other times, you lose focus. You check social media, WhatsApp, and YouTube every few minutes. A two-hour task takes an entire afternoon, and you’re still not finished. And then you feel awful, especially when you know you could have been done if you had just focused.

Let me share a method for maintaining a razor-sharp focus on any task, big or small, exciting or boring.

Split the task into steps

In a notebook, break down the task into as many steps as you can think of. Get to the smallest units possible. Overwhelm may be why you spend more time on a task than you should. The mind wanders to all the little things needed to complete the task, and you get stuck in decision paralysis. If a book didn’t have chapters, would it be as easy to read? If a 14-hour TV show wasn’t split into episodes, would it keep your interest? When you feel stuck, it’s a sign you need to break down the work further. When you break it down, you can focus on one actionable step at a time. When you’re done with one step, strike it out and move on to the next. Each strike not only bumps up your motivation curve but also gives you clarity on what’s remaining.

You could use a digital tool like Workflowy for this, but you’ll miss out on the pleasure of striking things out when you’re done. I’ve found the pleasure matters.

Add estimates

Estimate how long each step will take. Anything over an hour? Break it down further. Add up the estimates to get a sense of the total time–you’ll frequently discover that a project takes far less time than you anticipated. Knock off the small items and whittle down your list. Then focus all your energy on the bigger ones.

Run micro sprints

You split your task into steps. Now split time into segments. Rowan Atkinson’s new show Man vs. Bee is a great example. The whole thing is only about 2 hours long, but it was released as a series with 10-minute episodes rather than a movie. There’s no distinct theme in each episode. They are simply time markers. I think they did this to give the mind a reset every 10 minutes. Apparently, even watching Mr. Bean destroying a house gets monotonous! What then for your daily tasks?

For years, engineering teams have used this method. They work in two-week cycles called sprints with specific goals for each sprint. It’s easier to work towards small goals in short bursts rather than in an indefinite fashion. It’s like running a marathon as multiple 100m sprints (with breaks in between). I use the same method for my own work. I keep a kitchen timer at my desk and work in 30-minute segments.

You could use a digital timer (like the egg timer). But the visual aspect of the kitchen timer makes it easy to see how much time is left.

Take restorative breaks

After every sprint, I take a 5-minute break. Focus naturally degrades over time. The break resets your mind and refreshes you for the next sprint.

Don’t check social media or WhatsApp during your breaks. Even if it’s just a five-minute distraction, you’ll experience what Cal Newport calls “attention residue.” Studies show it takes more than 20 minutes to get your mind back to where it was after being distracted. Take a walk. Eat some almonds. Stretch. Jump. Sing. Dance. But don’t go near your phone. If you’re itching to consume information, read a magazine or a book. Though I’ll allow myself to cheat once after several sprints if my curiosity is bugging me too much. But I’ll ask myself this: What am I seeking? Will checking WhatsApp give me what I’m really seeking?

Remember, your break is for restoration, not distraction.

Remove distractive things

You’ll eventually cave if you have gulab jamun at home. That’s normal, right? You’re human, and you have instincts. But you can choose not to keep it at home. Same with distraction. It’s tough not to get distracted when you’re surrounded by distractions. But you can remove the things that distract you. Don’t keep your phone on the desk. Studies have shown even if your alerts are off, simply having your phone in sight reduces focus. I keep my phone in a different room. Don’t keep your email open. Snooze Slack. Install News Feed Eradicator (you’ll see an inspiring quote instead of your feed when you visit Facebook or Twitter).

Capture interruptive thoughts

What do you do when you get (important) thoughts when you’re focusing? An urgent task you remembered, a flash of insight, or a brilliant idea. If this happens, I recommend not to context shift, but to note it down for later. It’s good to have an effective capture system (will share my system later) to save every valuable thought that comes to mind, so you can continue focusing with confidence that your ideas are saved somewhere safe.

Create a Focus playlist

Music takes you back to a place and time. Every time I hear Baby One More Time, I’m transported back to my college room, where my roommate, Sagar, eagerly persuaded me to watch Britney Spear’s newly-released schoolgirl video.

Create a “Focus” playlist and listen to the same songs every time you work. Over time, your brain will associate the music with your work. I’m not saying you can’t have variety, but it’s helpful to have a core list of songs that take you back to work mode when you feel distracted. I find lyrics distracting when working, so I prefer instrumental music. Alternatively, you could listen to computer-generated sound purpose-built for focusing (see brain.fm), but I find real music more enjoyable. Here’s my playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/22FZKLCfSpJ2NaEtxzO0hU?si=7dc0ca12fb2345d7

Consider a hard reset

Sometimes you’ll struggle to focus despite trying everything.

The best thing you can do is make a mental shift. Your brain needs a reset. Go for a long walk. Take a 30-minute nap. Get yourself a snack. Then return to work.

So there you go. This is the recipe I use for focus. It works particularly well for large projects, but I use it all the time, even for small tasks. The key is to get your work to hook you immediately. By turning confusion into clarity, overwhelm into actionable tasks, and marathons into sprints, your work will hook you.

Comments from coworkers

After reading my draft, a coworker mentioned he doesn’t see the value of running micro sprints when working on PO items. That’s a good point. When you’re working on a pressing task, your adrenaline is pumping, and focusing isn’t an issue. It’s the mundane that causes our minds to wander.

Another coworker commented that breaking down tasks and running micro sprints are all good, but finding the discipline to do those things is the main issue. True. This is why most productivity articles (including mine) are pointless unless you are seeking change. The desire to be more productive comes from personal experience. If you’re satisfied with your current lifestyle, there’s no need to change what isn’t broken. But if you are seeking change, what might help is to ask yourself, “where do you want to be in 5 years?”